It’s back to the future for Catholics around the world.
A new, stricter English translation of the original Latin version of the Mass will now be mandatory at all churches starting on Nov. 27, officials said.
The revision is the biggest change to the religion’s central act of worship since the reformist Second Vatican Council did away with required Latin Masses in the ’60s.
“There’s going to be some going back to formal language and some theological words that we’ll have to step up to,” said Monsignor William Belford, the vicar for clergy in the Archdiocese of New York, who’s been heading a task force to introduce the changes.
“We’ve held about a dozen workshops in the last two months,” he said. “I like to tell people, ‘The translation we’ve been using is like very good television. But then you get high definition — and you realize that’s clearer.’ ”
The changes include the section of the Mass when the priest refers to Jesus celebrating the first Mass at the Last Supper and says, “When supper was ended, He took the cup.”
The priest will now say, “He took this precious chalice in His holy and venerable hands.’’
And when the priest says, “The Lord be with you,” the traditional response, “and also with you” will be replaced with “and with your spirit.”
Belford, in a recent interview with Catholic New York, said the change is “not just about being theologically precise.
“It’s also about being inspired and having language that is more poetic and more beautiful.”
Not all agree: Critics say the Vatican dismissed years of work by scholars, and little-used words may be unintelligible to modern ears.
“People should be able to understand them when they are heard,’’ Erie, Pa., Bishop Donald Trautman told The Washington Post.