Liturgical Cogitations

Details: 29 January 2010

All and Many

Following the loose translation technique allowed by the Holy See’s postconciliar instruction “Comme le Prevoit”, a number of approved vernacular translations of the liturgical texts of the Mass in the Roman Rite (including English) carried the “interpretative translation” of the Latin words “pro multis”, used in the consecration formula in the Mass, as “for all”, although the Latin words plainly do not say “pro omnibus” but rather say “for many”. As a matter of fact, the ICEL translation from more than thirty years ago actually said at first “for all men”, outraging a small but noisy group of feminists, who were impervious to the fact the first meaning of “man” in English dictionaries is “a human being, a member of the human race” and only the second or third meaning is “a male of the human race”. Under pressure from the ICEL group of those days who themselves were pushed by feminist extremists, the Bishops’ Conferences of the English speaking world agreed to drop the word “men” and simply say “for all”, and this was approved by the Holy See. About a third of the vernacular translations into various languages from the Latin in the Roman Rite used the words “for all”, while about two thirds of the countries used the words “for many.”

The Catholic Church has always held and taught that the term “for many”, used by our Lord in instituting the Holy Eucharist (Matthew 26:28 and Mark 14:24) was an inclusive term and truly means all human beings. The formula “for all” would undoubtedly correspond to a correct interpretation of our Lord’s intention expressed in the text. When various Sewardschismatics, heretics, and other malcontents had attacked that usage when the vernacular began to be used more frequently in the liturgy after the Second Vatican Council , the Holy See’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (January 25, 1974) authoritatively asserted the sacramental validity of the use of the words “for all”. It is a dogma of the Catholic Faith that Christ died on the cross for all men and women, although there are those who, because of their own serious misuse of their free will, do not profit from this divine salvation and mercy from God (John 11:52; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Titus 2:11; 1 John 2:2; 1 Timothy 2:4). One of the propositions of the Jansenist heresy, condemned by Pope Innocent X in 1653, was the heretics’ assertion that Christ did not die for all but only for the elect.

Back to Many

However, there are many good arguments in favor of a more precise and exact rendering of the Latin words “pro multis”. “For all” is not so much a translation as an explanation which should be left to catechetics and homiletics. At the instructions of the Pope in 2005 the Roman Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith and for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments wrote to all the Bishops’ Conferences of the world to ask their considered opinion about the “all or many” question for the consecration formula in the Masses of the Roman Rite celebrated in the vernacular. The results of the survey were conveyed to Pope Benedict XVI, who in 2006, then decided that in all the new translations of the New Roman Missal (that of 2000) the words “for all” would be dropped and all would use the exact words “for many” in their place. Thus, when the new Missal comes into force for the English speaking countries (probably some time next year), the consecration formula will read “for many”. This is in line with the new authoritative document “Liturgiam Authenticam” which now has replaced “Comme le Prevoit”.

Reasons

The Holy See notes that the Roman Rite has never, until about 40 years ago, ever used the words “for all”. The Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church (Greek, Syriac, Slavic, Armenian, etc. all and always use “for many” and none use “for all”. The Greek word in the New Testament (“pollon”) clearly says “for many” and is plainly linked with an important Messianic passage (53:11-12) in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. This is the clear meaning too in the Gospel according to Saint Luke (12:41) and in Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 11:25).

Also, the Holy See points out that the expression “for many” remains “open to the inclusion of each human person. Yet, it reflects the true fact that this salvation is not brought about in some mechanistic way without one’s will or participation. The believer is invited to accept in faith the gift that is being offered and to receive the supernatural life that is being given to those who participate in this mystery, living it out in their lives as well so as to be numbered among “the many” to whom the text refers.”

The Holy Father, the Supreme Pontiff, has determined that “in the next one or two years” all the translations of the Mass texts of the Roman Rite into the various languages of the world will translate the Latin words “pro multis” as “for many”. This will be one of the many changes that we will note when the new Roman Missal will begin to be used in our country, and it will be helpful to have some knowledge of why this is going to happen.

The GIRM

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) says, “Because, however, the celebration of the Eucharist, like the entire liturgy, is carried out through perceptible signs that nourish, strengthen, and express faith, the utmost care must be taken to choose and to arrange those forms and elements as set forth by the Church that, in view of the circumstances of the people and place, they will more effectively foster active and full participation and more properly respond to the spiritual needs of the faithful.”

“The new Missal, therefore, while bearing witness to the Roman Church’s rule of prayer (“lex orandi”) also safeguards the deposit of faith handed down by the more recent Ecumenical Councils and marks in its own right a step of great importance in liturgical tradition. The Holy Spirit endows the People of God with a marvelous fidelity in preserving the unalterable deposit of faith, even amid a very great variety of prayers and rites.”

It is mainly in the sacred liturgy that Christ comes to us in a real and substantial way. It is in the liturgy, especially in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, that we are enabled, as Pope Benedict XVI remarks, to recognize Him and to say: ‘It is the Lord!’ (John 21:7).