Living Liturgy - Living Languages

[John Ainslie]

Sub-title: The Tasks of Translating the Liturgy

This is the title of a seminar organised by the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain in conjunction with the Centre for Catholic Studies, Durham. Speakers are Prof Paul Bradshaw (who gave the SSG's Crichton lecture a few years ago), Dr Tom Whelan (Milltown, Dublin), Dr Juliette Day (Helsinki), Prof Tom O'Loughlin (Nottingham) and Dr Patricia Rumsey (Sarum) - an impressive line-up.

It will take place from 10.30 to 16.30 on Saturday 28 April at the Poor Clare Monastery, 102 Galley Lane, Barnet EN5 4AN - right on my doorstep so I'll be there and will report on it in Music and Liturgy in due course.

Booking: email poorclares102@gmail.com or write to the above address. Cost (including lunch) £35, or £15 for students and unwaged. Sponsored by the Tablet and the Pastoral Review.

[JW]

An excellent line-up indeed and at a fraction of the cost that a similar day would cost in the commercial world. I know this smacks of deafitism, or even defeatism, but my immediate reaction is to wonder why bother having a seminar on translation when the recent excercise on the Missal not only ignored all opinions outside a small circle but also arbitrarily re-wrote the rules for what constitutes a good translation. We're back to the days of 'pay up and shut up' so there doesn't seem much point to me in educating people who aren't part of the priveledged few! I look forward to reading your review with interest, John.

[VML]

We have/ are stuck with/ are lumbered with the Missal, depending on your view, but there is still the lectionary etc isn't there? Excuse a very lay person commenting here.

[JW]

I'm also an extremely lay person. As regards the Lectionary, rather than a liturgical excercise, won't this be adaptations of a revised Bible translation? This exercise is even more specialised than a Missal translation, needing scholars extremely well versed in Greek and Latin, as well as in Scriptural interpretation. Rome has to be very careful to whom it entrusts this task.

If the new translation is any guide at all, clarity, intellegibility and conciseness don't appear to be major priorities compared to a slavish adherence to the original text. Will the liturgists will have much of a say, especially the English, Irish and American ones leading this seminar?

Questions that occur to me straight away about the new Lectionary are:

. Will it be the New American Bible Revised Edition or something else?
. What number Grail for Psalms?
. What about inclusive language - e.g. will the opening of the Angels' Hymn of Praise be translated as "peace to people", as in the New Translation, or peace to men"??)

[nazard]

or perhaps "tranquillity to humans of a benevolent disposition?"

[Southern Comfort]

Questions that occur to me straight away about the new Lectionary are:

. Will it be the New American Bible Revised Edition or something else?
. What number Grail for Psalms?
. What about inclusive language - e.g. will the opening of the Angels' Hymn of Praise be translated as "peace to people", as in the New Translation, or peace to men"??)

Answers that are already known are:

* Until recently, it was known that it would be the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). However, Rome has been so footling with that text that the copyright owners have said that they have reached the end of the road in trying to accommodate the requirements of the Congregation. It is now thought that the translation of scripture will be the ESV (English Standard Version). One thing that it certainly will not be is the NAB. (In any case, the partial revision of the US Lectionary has modified even the revised edition of NAB.) ESV is based on RSV, by the way.
* Grail IV (the latest version) is what is supposed for the psalms, as will be the case in the USA in the fullness of time. However, there are a few problems with the text of Grail IV which are making the Bishops nervous.
* NRSV would have had inclusive language throughout. It seems probable that the version of ESV being proposed will not.