How can priests and bishops deal with what many feel is a disastrous translation of the Roman missal implemented two years ago? That is the provocative question raised by Maryknoll Father William Grimm, the publisher of ucanews.com based in Tokyo.
In "The liturgy that got lost in translation," Father Grimm notes that the German bishops announced that they were not going to introduce a new translation of the Mass "because of wide opposition to the translation’s sins against the German language." What "English-speaking bishops were afraid to do in the previous papacy is now being done by Germans apparently emboldened by the pastoral approach of Pope Francis."
Grimm notes that "Surveys have shown that a huge majority of priests are still, after two years, united in their dissatisfaction with the maltranslation." As a result, many priests find the prayers so difficult to read that they rewrite them before celebrating Mass, something he predicted would happen.
"What’s next?" he asks. He continues:
