By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced April 30 that the Vatican has given its “recognitio,” or confirmation, of the new English translation of the Roman Missal, but said the exact date for its implementation in U.S. parishes remains to be determined.

Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, USCCB president, received the “recognition” decrees personally while he was in Rome for meetings of the Vox Clara Committee, an international group of bishops who advise the divine worship congregation about English liturgical translations.

Pope Benedict XVI received a complete version of the English translation April 28.
“Many will find it hard to adjust to unfamiliar texts after nearly 40 years of continuous use of the previous translations,” the pope said, which is why “the change will need to be introduced with due sensitivity.”

The new English-language Missal is a translation of the Latin edition officially promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 2000 and released in 2002.

While Catholics definitely will notice the new translation, Cardinal George said, the change will be “far less dramatic than going from Latin to English was.”

“When they see what a beautiful text it is, many people will welcome it,” the cardinal said. Some people, for a variety of reasons, will not like the translation, he said, “but in the end it will be the text the Church uses for prayer.”

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa, a member of Vox Clara, said that members expect bishops’ conferences in most English-speaking countries to begin using the new translation starting in Advent 2011.

The Latin missal text was translated into English by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, a body established by English-speaking bishops’ conferences. The conferences voted on each text and requested some specific wording for use in their own countries.

The texts approved by the bishops’ conferences were forwarded to the Vatican for approval. The congregation examined the texts with input from the members of the Vox Clara Committee.

Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., chairman of the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship, expressed gratitude for the approval.

“I am happy that after years of study and review, the congregation for divine worship has concluded its work and provided us with a text that will enable the ongoing renewal of the celebration of the sacred liturgy in our parishes,” he said.

A parish implementation guide has been in development at the USCCB and will be distributed to parishes throughout the country when the timeline has been set. In addition, priests and diocesan worship officials have been participating in a series of workshops to help prepare for the changes.

Msgr. Anthony Sherman, director of the USCCB Secretariat for Divine Worship, said “a great effort” to produce the new missal is underway now “among the publishers of liturgical books, along with the other necessary resources by publishers of liturgical music and catechetical resources.”

“Even as that work is underway, a full-scale implementation of catechesis for the new missal should be taking place in the parishes, so that when the time comes, everyone will be ready,” he added.

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