Rome speaks
HUCK, GABE
that the inclusive language in the NRSV met the criteria they themselves had established in 1990. The NRSV came to them with the recommendation of their own committees. If the assembled bishops of...
...If all authority for all decisions about all languages rests not with bishops who speak a given language but with the CDF, what kind of authority do the bishops really have...
...They did not ask Rome for confirmation, nor did they operate in secret...
...What does it mean to say that the NRSV—widely used in seminaries and universities as well as many Protestant churches—is not acceptable to Catholics in liturgy and cate-chesis...
...Will they accept Rome's version of episcopal authority by setting aside the new liturgical texts they are considering for the sacramentary, texts in preparation for a dozen years...
...Two years ago, the Canadian bishops began to publish their four-volume lectionary using the NRSV...
...Bishop Donald Trautman, chair of the Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy, responded with conviction to the news from Rome: "Inclusive language is a necessity in our American idiom and culture today...
...Finally, this matter raises questions about episcopal trust...
...They sit and wait for the phone to ring...
...If Rome delays, so be it...
...3. Solidarity with the English-speaking world...
...2. Scholarly respect and ecumenical relations...
...If Rome is unhappy, they do as they are told...
...And, of course, when the U.S...
...bishops received confirmation in 1992, the matter was moot...
...The Canadians, with such a large investment of time and resources at stake, are likely to find a way to continue using their lectionary...
...Will the bishops speak out or keep silent at their November 14 meeting...
...Or will they affirm their proper authority...
...The bishops of the United States have grappled with language and with liturgy...
...They know that all of us are shaped by our rites, including the words of those rites...
...they kept the Congregation for Worship informed...
...The NRSV was an ecumenical project, in which Catholic scholars participated, affirmed for its fidelity and its excellence...
...Will the U.S...
...A similar change has been discussed in Australia, England, Scotland, and elsewhere...
...What the bishops have not grappled with so well is their own authority...
...bishops stand with Canada and others in affirming the competence of English-speakers to make their own decisions about how their language can best be put at the service of the church at worship...
...Does this betray the trust that the people of God place in them...
...Since Vatican II, Catholics have been encouraged to use good Scripture translations and, when possible, to use those accepted by other Christian bodies...
...It is necessary in Scripture, in the liturgy, and in catechetics...
...Most other countries with large numbers of English-speaking Catholics have used, until now, the Jerusalem Bible in the liturgy...
...If the assembled bishops of an area cannot determine what use of their own native language is fitting in the liturgy, then what can they do...
...GABE HUCK Gabe Huck is director of Liturgy Training Publications of the Archdiocese of Chicago...
Vol. 121 • November 1994 • No. 20
