The New Roman Missal

The Roman Missal, the text for the celebration of the Mass, was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as the text of the reformed liturgy of the Second Vatican Council.  That Latin text was translated into various languages for use around the world.

Pope John Paul II promulgated the third edition of the Roman Missal during the year 2000. 

Since then the work of translation has been taking place. The manner/methodology of translating the Latin texts has changed from that used for the 1970 Roman Missal. Once the new texts are in use it may seem quite strange at first - after all, for almost forty years we have heard the same words prayed in the Liturgy each day. There is no doubt that Mass will sound quite different, nevertheless we will still be celebrating the same Mysteries of our Faith. All the elements of the Mass will be unchanged, even if words and phrases are changed.

Perhaps this will provide an opportunity to reflect anew on those great Mysteries through which the Lord becomes present to us in Word and Sacrament.

When will this happen?

The process of approval of the new texts by the Bishops' Conferences of the English speaking world is coming to its conclusion. The texts then need to be recognised by the Holy See as suitable for use in the Liturgy. Some texts already have this recognition. You can see them by looking at the website of the United States Bishops' Conference - click on the picture above. It will still take some time for this work to be completed and then for publishing houses to prepare the new liturgical books. The very earliest this could be would be Advent 2010 but it may take a little while longer. This will gives us time to ensure that everyone is well prepared for this important change in our celebration of the Liturgy.