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![]() Rev. Benny George is a associate pastor at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Burbank, California.
November 26th, 2011
01:40 PM ET
On Sunday, Catholic Mass won't sound the sameBy Jim Roope, CNN Radio National Correspondent (CNN)–If you’re Catholic, mass this Sunday will sound different for the first time in nearly half a century. You’ll hear it in the prayers of both the people and the priests. “We have come back to a more accurate translation of the Latin from the Roman Missal,” said Fr. Rick Hilgartner, executive director of the Divine Office of Worship for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “The language of prayer should be evocative, speaking in terms of imagery and metaphor.” The changes are enormous, said Fr. Richard Albarano, of St. Francis Xavier Church in Burbank, California, and should help the 280 million English-speaking Catholics grow in their love for the mass. “The mass is the center of our lives,” said Albarano. Not since the Second Vatican Council in 1965 have such sweeping changes been made. The Vatican II changes were radical – the priest spoke in English instead of Latin and he faced the people instead of having his back to them. An Old Testament reading was also added to the mass, a surprise to many who thought of the Catholic Church as a New Testament only church. Other changes, large and small, were designed by Pope John XXIII to get the people (and not just the priest) involved in the mass. But the changes were not communicated in advance. People showed up one Sunday morning, and it was all changed. “They wondered if they were even in a Catholic church,” said Albarano. This time, the Catholic Church has been talking about the changes, and communicating them to parishes, since 2000. For the past three months, many parishes have been working to ready their followers for the changes in the wording of the prayers. That doesn’t mean some won’t be caught by surprise. “It’s going to be like Vatican II all over again,” Albarano said. “I haven’t heard much about catechizing across the Los Angeles Archdiocese at all. We said we were going to do it. I hope we did.” To hear the complete story, click the audio player. |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team. |
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The Catholic Church with all the imperections of it's people is still the Church that Jesus Christ founded. The changes are meant to give a greater sense of reverence toward God and the Mass and the source and summit of our faith, the Eucharist, which is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. The changes will do this for those who are Catholic. For those who just show up to a social club on Sunday they will just grumble and hopefully some of them will leave. Don't let the door hit you on the posterior end on the way out. We've been too long trying to be the Church for everybody. We are the Church for the "many" not those who reject the truths of the faith but still want to hang around and subvert it.
Interesting how they can make changes when they want. Still no women, however.
Gerald, Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi. He didn't found the Catholic Church. He wasn't even a Christian.
women are trouble
Ungodly,
Ya, and Peter never went to Rome and Paul was not martyred. I know. History proves you wrong. Have you ever read the Early Church Fathers. The Christian Church spread throughout the world with the SAME beliefs from Jerusalem after the resurection. Their beliefs were very Catholic. Their foundation was Christ. You are quite wrong.
People don't rise from the dead dum ass.
People don't rise from the dead dumb-as s. You are an idiot. (3)
You're denying that Jesus was Jewish?
Wow.
ungodly, actually yes they have. Men can rise them from the dead with shock paddles. Why couldn't God raise them. Of course if you don't believe in God, what's the point of discussing....
Oh, gerald, since Christ wasn't actually there, how can you say he approved?
gerald
"he Christian Church spread throughout the world with the SAME beliefs from Jerusalem after the resurection. Their beliefs were very Catholic." You obviously have never studied early church history. There were huge fights between the communities in Rome, and Jerusalem, and the Greek centers. There was no consensus, and what you have is mostly the invention of Saul of Tarsus, who disagreed totally with James, in Jerusalem.
Uh, that's not death. Your heart can stop, but technically, you are still alive until you reach brain death (and even then, parts of your body can be kept alive with machines for a short period of time). Oh, and those paddles do not restart your heart, they just try to get it back into a normal rythmn.
Now, is it possible that they thought Jesus was dead, threw him in the tomb, and then when he recovered enough to walk out they thought he was resurrected? Yep! But that is more or less the only possibility.
Nicole, where did I deny Jesus was Jewish?
Uh, well, the first place I learned it was mass...
@ Ungodly... EVERY Christian, Jew, and Muslim knows Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi. You are correct, there was no Christian church prior to Jesus Christ. That's because the Christianity, as in CHRISTianity, is based on Jesus Christ's teachings.
These simple points bring out your ignorance, lack of historical knowledge, and only amplifies your hatred for hatred's sake.
Manual,
The word "Christ" is derived from the Hebrew word Messiah, Arabic Maseeh. Root word masaha, meaning "to rub", "to massage", "to anoint". Priests and kings were anointed when being consecrated to their offices. Very handy when starting a new religion 40+ years after the death of YHWH. He is also known by that name as being the messenger of Allah in the Quran.
Now you tell me, how do you know what Christ's teachings were since he did not bother to write them down, I assume because he was illiterate or ran out of parchment?
Ungodly,
Exactly. He was illiterate, and he "founded" nothing. That's what they have been told so often, they actually believe it. Some of the followers formed communities, and much later formed a "church". Learning about the process is very enlightening. He was executed because he was a political and economic threat to a city built on the "temple" economy, (which happened about a week after he over-turned the tables of the money changers). 😈
Finally, Pope Benedict XI has broken the ice on changing the Church's long standing No-Condoms Policy. The church has far reach unto the far corners of the world and into developing and struggling countries where their missions become a hub and enmesh into communities through providing food, medical assistance, education from afar, but also a No Condoms policy which affects the balances in those countries, causing the lands to be stripped of their resources and starvation a generation or so ahead through a common drought or similar.. Pope Benedict XI should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for initiating the reversal of this long standing policy, for all of mankind...
No, if you read his words with an understanding of Church theology he changed nothing. The Church still condemns the use of condoms.
The empty cod nets should be triggering very serious alarms of concern. Employing concern today may avert a big famine/disaster 30-50 years from now, where those filling our shoes then will recognize and look back upon today's efforts in appreciation.
The No Birth Control Policies of the church cause cataclysmic imbalances by enmeshing with developing nations. then prohibiting Birth Control, which would've normally been used in today's balance. The Church is not the cause of all imbalances, but Rome needs to seriously revisit its Birth Control Policies.
#Ungodly Discipline
Man where do i start....hmmm.....well scientists have certified Our Lady of Guadalupe Tilma. There are articles on it from so many different sources. Then in Cochabama bolivia there is the crying statue of Jesus, which i personally have been to and have visited. Scientist also have certified that.
Just a few events for you if you care to look them up. In the end its what you believe. I am Catholic yet my belief and faith in God lie mostly outside of church. Its through my actions and helping people do i feel closer to him than sitting in a church listening to someone reading from the bible although i do attend mass weekly.
what denomination are you? or are you just atheist?
God Bless
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
You ARE joking right? LOL OMG
(I am a Temporal Agnostic)
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Do you have copies of the "certificates" ? hahahahahahahahahahahaha
It's about time that the world's second richest organization, to the Mafia, has finally come into the 21st Century.
Welcome... now you can all demand more money in English.
I wonder where the money goes? How about some enlightenment smart guy?
You didn't get the article. Vatican II ended services in Latin, they are now going to be doing some hybrid Latin/English mass.
Gbird, no you are incorrect. The Mass will still all be in English. However the wording of some prayers, though not many has been changed to more closely reflect the latin in the Vulgate Bible. We are not going back to a form of the latin. CNN makes a much bigger deal out of this than it really is. Very little is really changing.
@Colin
Colin, I believe you are simply a jerk, and a bigot rapped up in his gloom. Go somewhere else to spew your hatred and ignorance.
Yes Volcan2, I have been getting similar suggestions from other Catholics as well. The one thing that seems to be missing is a legitimate answer to the criticisms I posted. Just a lot of "how dare you say that" with varying degrees of animosity.
For those who believe no answer is needed to this mystery. For those who do not, none will suffice. Ya, Colin we're crazy. Enjoy eternity
Gerald, how do you define "eternity" and where will you be at that time?
Good and devout Catholics already know about the changes. Why does CNN think that the rest of us care about this?
I was a senior in high school when the changes took place in 1965. I loved The Latin Mass. The English translation (and the horrible hymns that accompanied it) destroyed the etheral nature of The Mass. The changes opened my eyes to other 'not good' things about The Catholic Church. I left shortly thereafter. Never had a regret. The RCC is into sin, sin, sin (not the sins of its pedophile priests, of course) and control, control, control. People stick with The RCC because it's their family tradition and/or because they are afraid they'll go to Hell if they leave. Who wants to belong to a church like that.
As a longtime Catholic, I do not like the changes, and I have read through the whole mass thoroughly. It is even more conservative, more obfuscatory, and less inclusive. Plus, English is not a Romance language (Latin-derived), and it tries to do things with English grammar and vocabulary which do not make good use of the language–English isn't Latin, and you shouldn't force it to be so. Just more conservative mind-control efforts from a corrupt Vatican which has its collective head in the sand about the state of the world and the rot within the hierarchy. And again, I AM a practicing Catholic who mourns that the church has been taken over by reactionaries.
Poor thing. I feel very bad for you.
Don't sound so surprised. Religion depends on obfuscation, to fool the stupid masses and take their money.
I mourn the fact that the progressives and liberals in the church want to mold (read: deform) the Liturgy to what they think it should be. In many cases, they've succeeded. And the Trinity has been arrogantly shunted to the side in favor of such things as entertainer priests, contemporary music, and the annoying armies of Eucharistic ministers.
It's not about you or I. Don't you understand that? The Mass is celebrated for you, NOT to you.
don't let the door hit you in the a s s on the way out. You're clearly not Catholic at heart anyway. You want a religion that tickles your ears. The ELCA and Anglican religions will do that for you. Enjoy.
Yep, Gerald, I was waiting to hear from one of the reactionaries. Howdy! Glad you enjoy being right all the time, must be fun.
Ah, and GC, a big Howdy to you as well.
Someone above wrote: "...God? There is proof and its been studied by many scientists around the world." Proof is not needed with faith, nor study by scientists. Trying to rationally justify one's faith-based beliefs is both unnecessary and actually arrogant and wanting to have it both ways. God/god(dess)/enlightenment/the Divine/etc. isn't "proven" and doesn't need to be. It's experienced.
Bullcr@p. You're dodging the fact that you have no proof. Put up evidence for your claims, or go away.
If God exists it should be able to be proven. Where is God? Why doesn't "he" talk any more. 2000 years you couldn't shut him up. Where is Jesus, why doesn't Jesus play with us any more. Prove it or shut it.
@Bob ... prove God doesn't exist
@stand up
Prove a leprechaun doesn't exist. You can't, therefore leprechaun's do exist. Is that your logic?
New spin too get more suckers to attend? Good luck. Your faith is in decline because you r@pe children, not because of the ridiculous dogma you spew.
BFD
in the end it will come down to man's greed and lack of faith that will destroy us all as a whole. im not perfect...i know this, but i do believe in God and i believe that men can redeem themselves through their actions. Even the smallest of acts can have the biggest impact in this world.
Why is it so difficult to believe in God? There is proof and its been studied by many scientists around the world. I respect all people and have many friends from many different denominations even a few who are atheist. I mean no one disrespect, this has all been my personal opinion.
God Bless.
There is proof? What proof do you have. Standing by.
"Faith", present any valid proof for your god. You'll be the first, if you succeed.
The Catholic mass is one of my favorite Catholic superst.itions. They Actually believe that grocery store bread and wine becomes the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ when a priest does some hocus-pocus over it. Now, there is no change in the bread and wine and it is still bread and wine after the priest does his "magic" but Catholics are told they have to pretend it is now the flesh and blood of Jesus.
Grown adults believe this, by the way. It's not just a story they tell their little children!!
Colin – you can poke all you want at what we can agree on some of the dumber little things of the Church, but if you can't grasp the greater spiritual truths going on – and by the way even the material value of the day to day 'dumb little things' – then I'm afraid you are at a greater loss for it. Grow up Colin, behold the truth past your shallow little selfish ego. When you do – you won't have a problem with the 'dumb little things' about the Church. I see them for what they are and am not offended by them anymore than the 'dumb little things' that we endure every day in the material world.
James, my regarding Catholic rituals as silly makes me neither dumb nor shallow. It makes me observant. If I told you that my bowl of sooup became the entails of John the Baptist because I do some hand signals over it, you would think I was an idiot, and rightly so. Believing in Communion in the 21st Century is a fair indication that a person is a pretty gulllible soul who will fall for anything.
What is the definition of "spiritual truth".
It "represents", not "becomes". You need to keep up here...
EJ – nonsense. Catholics believe in Transubstantiation – the actual conversion due to the magic powers of the priest (or "sacred " powers – if you see any difference).
No Colin has it right. We believe that the bread and wine become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. Amen! But Colin does not believe in God and so he does not believe this can happen. If you do believe in God there is no reason it cannot and it does. Jesus said it and that is good enough for me. For those who believe no answer is needed to this mystery. For those who do not, none will suffice. Ya, Colin we're crazy. Enjoy eternity.
Gerald, how do you know what Jesus said? He did not write it down. (One would think if he were God he would have had a little more foresight).
Also, they say they are re-enacting the "sacrifice". Maybe one of these days it will "take" then, and the angry gods will accept it.
As do Lutherans, Epicopalians etc. they are all absurdly puzzling , yes
Why are non-Catholics always critizing the Catholic Church?
Because you go there? Because it is a bloated criminal enterprise? Because you believe in ancient mythologies that drag the human race back to the dark ages? Gosh, I just don't know. Child ra pers? Nah, that wouldn't be it....
Because the Catholic Church is ridiculous, like all other churches. Since you ask.
Colin, once again you are a lying, cynical idiot.
The Catholic Church does not require that you believe that the earth was created 6 000 years ago you f-ing idiot.
THE BIG BANG THEORY WAS CREATED BY A CATHOLIC PRIEST – FATHER LEMAITRE IN BELGIUM.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ACCEPTS ALL SCIENCE, INCLUDING EVOLUTION.
So SHUT YOUR LYING, FASCIST HATE-HOLE. Why don't you go live in Russia where they burned all of their Churches.
James, I di not sat it did require a belief in Adam and Eve. It did, by the way, until Darwin proved it wrong, then, of course, the Church changed its story. Now about 50% of Catholics still believe in the "talking snake" theory of planetary formation. The other 50% accept the big bang but hold to the nauseating view that some magic sky-fairy caused it.
Colin, the Catholic Church did not 'change it's story' any more than Einstein changed the story of gravity.
Newton was 100% correct until Einstein came along. Einstein did not disprove anything about Newton, he only refined it.
The story of Adam and Even is actually a very powerful metaphor for the unfoldment of divinity into the conciousness of mankind. The 'Church' knew this since the start – but weren't ready to teach it to illiterate people until the advancement of Science had something to say about it.
A literal translation of the creation story is perfectly acceptable for those who have not had enough personal evolution so as to go beyond it.
It seems you have at least enough material grasp to not believe a literal translation of Genesis, which is great, but there is a whole lot more there for you to worry your own soul about before you worry about the lesser minds that don't have as concrete a grasp of the material world as you.
James.
Oh it did so change its position!! The Catholic Catechism was only rewritten to water down the Adam and Eve myth after evolution had become so widely accepted that the RCC looked infantile to continue denying it. It still has an ambiguous stance on the issue.
To claim that the RCC knew all about evolution and kept it a secret until “science caught up” is what my mother would call a “whopper”. Ironic that you accused me of lying.
You would think that 2000 years after the death of Jesus, that the Catholic church would have the accurate translations in their mass. Many of us traditional Catholics don't like change.
Really John? An "accurate" translation?? That is not even a possibility and not the church's goal, never has been. Are an idiot?
Ungodly Discipline said " Really John? An "accurate" translation?? That is not even a possibility and not the church's goal, never has been. Are an idiot?" ,,,, But it appears you are the idiot. You just don't know what you talking about and it shows. An accurate translation is exactly what the reasoning is behind these changes. With study, a clearer understanding of words meanings is found which can be incorporated in the translations. When the English translation was proposed after Vatican 2, it was known then that the translation left much to be desired and they have been working on it since then. These changes are the result of these many years of study in trying to find the best meaning of the translated words.
Ok John, answer this if you please: How many Bibles did God write?
How come your omnipotent sky fairy can't provide a decent translation himself? For that matter, why doesn't your god even have his own website, and why does he need such a questionable book to get his hideous message out?
Pretty pathetic excuse for a "god" that you've made for yourself there, Christians.
How come your omnipotent sky fairy can't provide a decent translation himself? For that matter, why doesn't your god even have his own website, and why does he need such a questionable book to get his hideous message out?
Pretty pathetic excuse for a "god" that you've made for yourselves there, Christians.
Every hear of outsourcing?
An "accurate translation" ? Of what ? The mass has developed and changed countless times. Which "one" was the real one ?
The only words important in the whole mass are the consecration of the sacrifice. the common ritual for the Eucharist given to shut-ins etc is very brief. the rest is all just prayer and community relations with some instruction perhaps.
It seems people whine about everything. I'm wondering where it ends (this is even whining ... about whining).. haha.
I look forward to the day when this outdated, simpleton organization goes away. It is shrinking dramatically in the West and now has to look to the poorly educated Third World to keep its number up. It is remarkable to me that such an obvious Bronze Age superst.ition survived as long as it has.
Are you suggesting that I become a Baptist or what?
I'm sorry Colin that your brain is too small to grasp the concept of metaphysics and spiritual tradition. I'm not Catholic, but I know the Catholic Church will last thousands of years beyond your shallow opinion. You also might want to wonder how 100% of our Presidents were Christian, and that right now, more than half of the Supreme Court is specifically Catholic.
If you had said this about any other religion, you would be publicly labeled as a bigot. Keep unpleasant comments about other people's religions to yourself, please.
Joy, no I believe Colin is suggesting you become a Mormon. Or maybe a Hindu. Definately not a Babtist.
Joy, I am not suggesting you do anything. James,some of my objections to Catholicism are posted above.
Annie, no I will not do that. People need to have theyir euyes opened to alternative views. There are many young Catholics who can be saved from a life of believing in Dark Ages superst.itions by being exposed to criticisms of this ridiculous inst.ition.
Maybe you would like something more barbaric like Islam with its stoning or maybe something more advanced like Wall Street with its religion for money. Colin, before you type something, please use your brain and stop trashing something that founded western civilization.
Mike, I regard Islam as every bit as silly as Christianity. Second, I don't see what money and Wall Street has to do with a belief in sky-fairies, and thirdly, The CR did not found Western civilization. It retarded it.
Mike, I don't understand your logic. Perhpas you can expand on this concept? Exchange one evil for another?
Colin's new penile enhancement pump has apparently given him the necessary manly confidence to berate and demean other human beings. Good job, MasterBlaster! Individuality be damned! Fools are those that disagree with you.
So just keep waving that new big dick of yours around. I'm sure that it's as impressive as you make it sound.
Colon, you do realize that without the Roman Catholic church you'd be a Muslim? You might want to study a bit of history...the part between 500 and 1200 AD. No Church, no modern Europe.
I'm looking forward to the changes. I wish, however, that there was a TLM parish closer to me.
Yes, a TLM Parish would make church much better. You should find one and go there. No doubt.
Yup. that's the ticket. God likes Latin better. You get 2/3 more grace, and 1.0005 more prayers answered when you do it in the Tridentine way. Yeah you.
oh lookie here, anti-religion trolls on the internet. Never would have guessed.
And it appears they gravitate to this religion blog. This gives them an opportunity to spew their venom and hate for all to see. And they feed off of each others hatred each trying to outdo the other with their vile comments. Little do they realize just how blind they really are.
It's simple really. We just think that the same amount of credence should be given to belief in a god as belief in pixies, unicorns or other imaginary things. It's nothing personal.
Are you suggesting Athiests and Agnostics don't have a right to express their views on the Belief Blog? No one spews more hate and filth than the Christians on this blog. I just try to interject some reason. And occasionaly drop an "idiot" bomb when appropriate.
Ungodly Discipline said "And occasionally (I) drop an "idiot" bomb when appropriate.",,, Well, you're certainly eminently qualified to do so, since you appear to be an idiot yourself.
Like a god that is claimed to torture us painfully forever if we stray from his will in our short mortal life isn't a vile, unfair ass-hole. It's the Christians who are the hateful ones; your god stories are all about vengeance and hate.
@Guest
I can accept criticism, but only if it is qualified. Why do you believe I am an idiot? And why haven't you answered my question? How many Bibles did God write?
Can we all please have some respect and get along- perhaps if we all stopped calling each other names we could see that each one of us are people, and worth respect. Believe what you want- do not legislate your beliefs on others- then we can all get along!
Certainly Ungodly, but hardly Disciplined. How about lobbing a few more "sky fairies" and "idiots" out there and make sure that folks like PsychGirl don't waste their time thinking that this is a serious discussion.
I have not lobbed any "sky fairies" and only one "idiot" bomb. That is pretty good for me. And naturally this is not a serious conversation, if it were there would not be any Christians participating and the educated people could talk about reality amongst themselves. Idiot (Doh! That's two!)
Good article, EXCEPT for the fact that you missed about half of the story: the half that goes "The original new English translation was worked on by a large committee of theological experts from around the world. BUT it was vetoed by the Vatican, who appointed a small committee of good-old-boys who churned out this version – a version that will be practically unintelligible to most English speakers because the length and format of Latin sentences are very different than English - it will be like going to Mass and hearing someone read a very "poetical and evocative" dissertation from the altar." So, the other half of the story includes: "Vatican short-circuits democratic process," and "New translation designed to leave faithful befuddled and dependent on the magical, though unintelligible words of their priest." PLUS, the only "dissenting" voice you included was a nice (but rather inarticulate) immigrant who feels "uncomfortable" with new fangled changes. All of which makes this article somewhat resemble an example of priests leading a seasoned reporter around by the nose.
That is just so interesting John.
You say " "Vatican short-circuits democratic process," ,,,, Who ever said it was a democratic process? That is how the protestants do it. And you see what they has gotten them. They approve of abortion, the gay lifestyle, gay marriage, divorce, and on, and on, and on. You consider the "democratic process" better with those kind of results?
Guest, well, those results seem better than what you seem to have to offer.
Hom-opho-bic much, among your other apparent bigotry?
guest
The RCs used to be a democracy, a long time ago.
That's the way they do things. Just like the committees of theologians who said birth control was OK, and at the last minute Rome changed it's mind. And when JP1 was about to change it for real, he got murdered by Cardinal Villot.
how about the changes happen outside the church – lets start with dismantling the church and using its material to build schools for the homeless children and soup kitchens at night – that sounds like a more helpful change!
The Roman Catholic Church actually does run schools and soup kitchens. Take a look at your local parish if you don't believe me.
That is the dumbest comment I have ever heard. Why don't you dismantle your home for the homeless? Also, you'll find that almost all Churches are deeply involved with charities including helping the homeless. Education, Law, charitable giving – these are all things the Church started anyhow. Why don't you think before you speak.
But hippypoet the bricks are heavy and they would be changing things and I don't like change whahhhh.
Gods Kitchen, Grand Rapids Michigan yummmm