Wausau group sends request to Bp. Callahan to continue using defunct bad translation

Catholics in the Wausau area this week began adapting to the most significant changes to the Mass ritual since the 1960s -- a new translation that English-speaking churches across the world are using.

The new translation, adopted in whole for the first time Sunday, is intended to stick close to the original Latin prayers and instructions for celebrating the Mass.

But some members of the faith, including a Wausau organization asking Bishop William Callahan of La Crosse to permit churches to hold a Mass each weekend using the old language, believe the new version is too unwieldy.

Local Catholic church leaders spent weeks preparing members of their parishes for the switch, using videos, inserts in weekly bulletins and discussions before or after Mass.

Kathy Kocik, 67, attended a morning Mass on Wednesday at St. Michael Catholic Church in Wausau and said she's slowly adjusting to the changes.

"They've given us so much information about the actual language changes and why they were made," Kocik said. "I felt prepared, but it's going to take time to replace that automatic response."

The most difficult change for Kocik has been remembering to respond "And with your spirit," rather than "And also with you," when the priest says, "The Lord be with you" as Mass begins, she said.

The latter is one example that troubles some Catholics who believe the new translation strays from goals set by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. The council permitted Catholics to celebrate Mass in vernacular languages, hoping to encourage more participation from church members.

Annette Staubs and other members of Catholics in Dialogue, a Wausau organization focused on ensuring the Catholic Church is meeting the goals of the Second Vatican Council, are among those skeptical of the new translation. Staubs, a 61-year-old Merrill resident, said the new translation moves away from words and concepts that are easy to understand for every member of a church. 

"It's supposed to be in the vernacular, your everyday language," she said. "Words like consubstantial and incarnate, to me, are not at all helpful."  [OOohh, thank you for citing any of the documents of Vatican II in your response here.  I can see particularly your understanding of Sacrosanctum Concilium has you well formed on these matters.  Of course since you already know the Latin responses (the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them. - SC 54) I really respect your opinion on the matter and I will now consider your opinion.   .......  It's one thing to express your opinion cause everbody's got one, but then to justify your position as the correct interpretation of Vatican II, well then you better back it up with some actual documentation, doncha think?]

Catholics in Dialogue proposed that Callahan, who leads the diocese stretching across 19 Wisconsin counties, permit individual churches to hold one Mass each weekend using the old translation. Staubs said the group hasn't received a response yet, but she plans to continue attending Mass whatever the result."I want to be at Mass," she said. "I want to participate, but this makes it very difficult for me."

Wausau Daily Herald

You know, maybe I should send a request that would permit individual churches to hold one Mass each weekend using Latin. 

I know you will find this hard to believe, but Annette Staubs also opposed Gov. Walker's balanced budget reforms.  It must be a convenient way of life to have the Church always agree with you on matters of faith an morals.  Going to Haiti doesn't make a person a liturgical expert any more than it makes a person a priest.  How can you explain that the French liturgy translates these phrases faithfully but the English is woefully inept?  If there is a Creole translation, don't the people in Haiti deserve the fullness of the faith?