Milwaukee priests hate accurate translation, hoping to put it to a vote

Catholic clergy and lay leaders from around the region will gather in Milwaukee Thursday for a two-day conference that will be, for some, their first in-depth look at the controversial changes ahead in the Catholic liturgy.

The Vatican is issuing its most significant and extensive revision of the Roman Missal - the prayers and texts used in Catholic worship - since the 1960s in an effort said to better reflect the original Latin texts.

But some see the changes, due to be implemented late next year, as unwieldy and unnecessary. And they fear they could further alienate the faithful at a time when the church is already struggling financially and failing to retain members. [... the translation is done and it doesn't cost anything]

"For some people this will be very unsettling," said Father Ken Smits, a Capuchin priest and liturgical scholar[LOL]who is troubled by the move away from the vernacular to a more stilted, "sacralizing" language.

"The real concern is among the parish priests, who will have to explain something many of them are not in favor of," said Smits. "They'd much rather spend their time in ministry [because there's something more important than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass] than have to go through this linguistic exercise."

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee workshop is one of 22 around the country aimed at educating clergy and lay leaders on the revisions.

Dean Daniels, director of the archdiocese's Office for Worship, called critics' concerns valid, but said the revision will bring English-speaking Catholics in line with the global church.

"Anytime there are changes, people go through the process of being angry and sad," [Hmmmm, that's not what the 1960s crowd said...] he said. "But the church has been changing forever. It's a dynamic, living organism."

The Vatican approved the U.S. version of the Missal revision in March. An international petition drive asking English-speaking bishops to slow the implementation using a pilot program has drawn more than 21,000 signatures, including many from Wisconsin. [.. non servium?]

The new translation, nine years in the making, is the work of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments and a committee of English-speaking bishops and consultants known as Vox Clara, or "Clear Voice."

That alone is troubling to some who see the revisions as part of a systematic dismantling of provisions of the Second Vatican Council, which, among other things, endorsed the celebration of the Mass in the vernacular of the people and gave national bishops conferences authority over translations. [.... authority over the pope? ]

"The fathers of Vatican II said overwhelmingly that we know how to adapt the prayers to our own needs," said Father David Cooper of St. Matthias Parish in Milwaukee and chairman of the Milwaukee Archdiocese Priest Alliance. [Funny, I thought we might want to look at the documents themselves rather than taking someones word for it]

The new translation introduces more formal, rarefied language into the liturgy. But Cooper and others who have studied drafts say it ignores English grammar and syntax and introduces terms - "consubstantial," "oblation," "ignominy," to mention a few - unfamiliar to many American Catholics. And some [liberals] worry it will sow division in the pews. [from the original sowers of this division.  They just cant seem to stomp out the faithful like they had hoped.]

"You can call it whatever you like, but it's not English," said Cooper. [LOL!]

"The language of prayer is supposed to be evocative, graceful, uplifting,"[LOL, it feels good man, just do it!  It doesn't matter what we say, just how we FEEL] he said. "This reads like clunk-clunk-clunk-bang-boom." [The liturgical engine of old has been restarted to save the world]

Some pastors have already begun preparing their parishioners for the changes, which will ultimately require an investment in new missals and hymnals.

"Much of the music that has come up over the last 30 years will no longer be useable," said Father Alan Jurkus of St. Alphonsus Parish in Greendale, who sent out a letter this month notifying members of the coming changes. [THANKS BE TO GOD!!!!!]

Jurkus is encouraging parishioners to accept the revision as an opportunity to grow in their faith. But he harbors his own concerns.

"The bottom line for me is why. Why, with everything else that's going on in the church, do we have to rub salt in the wounds?" [Because liturgical accuracy causes pedophilia...]

 JSOnline

MJS is not stupid(as the article might indicate), they write these articles this way because controversy sells.   The translation is here and there's nothing the liturgical hippies can do about it.