By Matters India Reporter
Bengaluru, Jan 13, 2020: The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) will release the new English lectionary for the Church in India on February 16 and it will come into effect from Palm Sunday, April 5.
The conference claims the new lectionary’s publication is a landmark in the Indian Church history and that it is a contribution of the Church in India to the Universal Church.
“It shows our biblical scholarship and liturgical competence,” says a CCBI press note from its deputy secretary general Father Stephen Alathara.
The CCBI, the national body of the Latin rite bishops in the country, had in 2015 directed its Bible and Liturgy Commissions to prepare the lectionary and they took “almost five years to complete this significant and important project.”
The lectionary presents has been prepared by experienced and prominent biblical scholars ensuring compatibility with Catholic teaching and textual accuracy from the original texts of the scriptures.
The English Standard Version Catholic Edition has been used throughout in the new lectionary. The Psalms have been adopted from the Abbey Psalms approved by the Episcopal Conference of the United States and subsequently recognised by the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments in 2018.
Father Alathara says for many years there has been a general unease and frequent dissatisfaction with the present scriptural texts used in the celebration of Mass.
“When biblical books are put into modern languages several problems arise regarding the integrity of the text. Biblical scholars worry that some versions in English do not respect its actual meaning. They are more paraphrase than translation, meaning the original texts are interpreted rather than rendered accurately,” he explains.
“In recent years the importance of accuracy in translation has been stressed. It was felt by the members of the CCBI that the English versions in use did not do this sufficiently and scripture scholars were engaged to help us with an accurate English translation.”
The CCBI’s 29th plenary assembly, held on February 7, 2017, in Bhopal, unanimously approved the English Standard Version Bible Catholic Edition, granted the Imprimatur for this translation and approved it for liturgical use.
The Lectionary is prepared in accordance with the Indian liturgical calendar. Special readings for solemnities, feasts and memorials of the Indian saints and votive Masses for our country is the unique specialty of the lectionary. The revised liturgical calendar for the Church in India was approved by the Vatican on March 2. 2015.
The new lectionary was presented to the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments on October 16, 2019, and it was scrutinized by a scholars’ team led by Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay. The confirmation came on December 9, 2019.
The three volumes of the lectionary have been prepared over two years by the CCBI Commission for Liturgy in collaboration with the Commission for Bible.
“Great care has been taken to present the readings in a way especially suitable for reading in the required manner. The long journey to provide accuracy and integrity to the sacred scriptures has now been realized,” Father Alathara says.