English-speaking Roman Catholics who have regularly attended Mass for years found themselves in an unfamiliar position Sunday, needing printed cards or sheets of paper to follow along with a ritual many have known since childhood.
The Mass itself — the central ritual of the Catholic faith — hasn’t changed, but the English translation has, in the largest shakeup to the everyday faith of believers since the upheavals that followed the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. A years-long process of revision and negotiation led to an updated version of the Roman Missal, the text of prayers and instructions for celebrating Mass, which originally was written in Latin.
The new translation was rolled out across the English-speaking Catholic world on Sunday after months of preparation.
Reaction to the new translation of the Roman Catholic Mass is mixed across the country, but at one Tucson parish, St. John the Evangelist, 602 W. Ajo Way, the responses were positive following the Sunday evening service.
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“I think it’s a good translation from Latin,” said Lucia Cordero. “I think it’s nice that we’re using the translation the way Mass was meant to be said.”
Rebecca Valenzuela agreed. While studying in Spain, she attended traditional Mass. With the new interpretation for English-speaking Roman Catholics, “no matter where you are in the world, it’s all the same.”
Mario Quintana didn’t notice many changes in the Sunday Mass, but “maybe it would have helped to have some little cue cards to follow.”
Read more of this story Monday in the Arizona Daily Star.
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