Today's guess at when new Missal will come in

[Southern Comfort]

At today's meeting of the US Bishops' Conference, their chief liturgy bishop is reported as follows:

The Proper of Seasons is one part of the much-anticipated new translation of the Roman Missal, the comprehensive collection of prayers and other texts for the Mass. During brief floor discussion yesterday, Serratelli was asked when he expected the project to finally reach completion. The liturgy committee’s hope, he said, is that the U.S. bishops will finish their review of all the translations by November 2010, sending them off to Rome in hopes of speedy approval. That would give publishers a year to crank out new English editions of the Roman Missal, he said, with the roll-out date in parishes thus tentatively set for Advent of 2012.

Knowing the long and bumpy history of translation debates, however, Serratelli quickly added: “All this is subject to change.”

As things stand currently, there are 13 sections of the "grey book", ICEL's proposed final text, to be processed by bishops' conferences. So far, only 2 of them have been. The proposed timetable only two weeks ago was for them all to have been completed by June 2010. Now that date seems to have slipped to November 2010. Hmmmm. And no one knows if speedy approval by Rome is a possibility. On present form, the chances are not high. Some rites have been sitting on curial desks for years in some cases, with no sign of them reappearing.

The translation of the Order of Mass on the US Bishops' website is supposed to be the final text. However, those wiser in the ways that these things go are not placing any bets on that just yet...... There are a lot of proposed modifications which have not yet been responded to by the Roman pen-pushers.

Also, the text is for study but not for use. The official reason why it should not be used just yet, apart from the fact that it is not officially approved for use in any country, is to give time for "formation" to take place - i.e. to explain just why it's going to be more difficult to use than what we have now. And that doesn't include the rest of the Missal, which will pose even more problems.

Why do we allow this to be done to us?, one wonders.

[musicus]

Fascinating - and depressing, too. Thanks, SC.

[festivaltrumpet]

Better they take the time and get it right than rush and make a bad job of it. Naturally there's every possibility of taking time and making a bad job of it.

[Psalm Project]

And they say (whoever 'They' are) there is a question about the existence of Limbo?... One would have to observe that this move seems a bus stop short of pointless! Waiting for the new missal... ah... Limbo situation!

Here is a a scenario... Assuming that there will be an insistence on the use of various new texts when they become available... this will require new musical settings (eucharistic acclamations etc). Does it mean that what we are now using will be rendered redundant?
Why this question? Well, if I am requested to stop using musical settings currently valid (when the time arrives!) - on the premise that they will be no longer valid - I would then be more hopeful that, what are now totally invalid musical renderings i.e. pop music and secular music in general, will be banned!
I would hope that the enthusiasm exercised in the promotion of the new texts (and allied music) will be equally applied to removing those elements undesirable - i.e. pop music and secular songs are frequently justified for 'Pastoral' reasons (I'm thinking weddings and funerals here)... Imagine insisting on using the old Sanctus texts when the new ones are promulgated... I wonder will use of the then old texts be justifiable on 'Pastoral' grounds!!!
You'll probably sense an argument coming on here!