Vatican moves to take control of translation agency

Rome directs bishops to act quickly on new roles for International Commission on English in the Liturgy

In a move likely to fuel debate over both liturgical reform and Roman centralization, the Vatican has asserted sweeping new powers over the commission charged with translating liturgical texts into English.

Potentially the most controversial demand is that staff and advisers for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy receive a Vatican "nihil obstat," or official permission, in order to obtain and to keep their jobs.

The directives came in a confidential Oct. 26 letter from Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, to Scottish Bishop Maurice Taylor, the current chair of the commission. NCR obtained a copy of the letter.

The International Commission on English in the Liturgy was created after Vatican II as a cooperative venture among the world's English-speaking episcopal conferences. It is governed and funded by those conferences.

The move could set the stage for another contentious debate within the U.S. bishops' conference on Vatican demands for control over previously autonomous institutions, following the recent vote on norms for Catholic higher education (NCR, Dec. 3). Because the commission's statutes must be revised, the Vatican's new powers will not take effect until six of the 11 full member bishops' conferences approve them by a two-thirds vote.

The Vatican wants fast-track action on the statutes. Medina directed the bishops who govern the commission to have a draft ready to submit to their conferences by Easter, and said the bishops themselves should carry out the revision "in active consultation with this dicastery."

Rome has sent a letter to conference presidents relaying its instructions.

In addition to the right to veto staff and advisers, Medina is seeking roles that would bar the commission from publishing anything without Rome's approval, from creating original texts and from forming relationships with non-Catholic organizations.

The full text of Medina's letter may be found on the NCR Web site at www.natcath.org under documents.

The commission's reaction to the Vatican demands will be discussed in a special meeting of the 11 bishops who sit on its governing board, slated for late January in London. Each member conference designates one bishop on the board; Cardinal Francis George of Chicago represents the United States.

Medina wrote the Oct. 26 letter in response to Taylor's request for dialogue between the commission and the Vatican. Medina said that such conversation would be pointless until the structural changes outlined in the letter were accomplished.

An American liturgist familiar with the controversy over translation said that plans exist for similar instructions to the French and German translation bodies.

The move caps several years of criticism of the commission from the Vatican and conservative liturgical groups in the United States, both of which have charged the commission with taking too many liberties with the Latin originals of liturgical texts. Especially controversial is the commission's preference for inclusive language -- the use of gender-neutral vocabulary' where consistent with the meaning of the text, such as people rather than mankind.

In 1997, Rome vetoed a translation of the new ordination rite for bishops, priests and deacons prepared by the commission. In 1998, the Vatican demanded more than 400 changes to the commission's translation of the introduction to the lectionary, or collection of scripture readings for Mass. At the same time, Rome insisted that the U.S. bishops lift their imprimatur, or approval for publication, of a collection of Psalms produced by the commission (NCR, June 19, 1998).

Medina voiced dissatisfaction with the ordination rite in his letter to Taylor. The commission's translation of the Sacramentary, or collection of prayers for the Mass, is currently awaiting Vatican action; most observers doubt it will be approved without significant revision.

Though American liturgists have long complained about lengthy review processes in Rome, Medina placed the blame for delays in approving, texts largely on the commission, saying its translations have caused "a disproportionate commitment of resources" in his office.

Observers said the controversy reflects two realities that have shaped the church after Vatican II: an ongoing tension between universality and local flexibility in the liturgy, and the Vatican desire to keep the influential American church closely aligned with its own priorities.

"Medina is dismantling the commission as it's existed up to now," said an American bishop who spoke to NCR off the record. "It's a very political move designed to curb the influence of liturgists, primarily Americans, perceived by the Vatican as too liberal."

"The issue boils down to, who knows best how a liturgical text should sound in English -- the English-speaking bishops and their most talented scholarly advisers, or the Vatican?" the bishop said.