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During their Fall Plenary Assembly, the US Bishops voted and according to OSV News, “approved the revised New American Bible for liturgical use in a 216-4 vote, with three abstentions.”
This is not the final step, as the text that was approved needs to receive a confirmatio by the
Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in the Vatican.
Once that happens, the Revised New American Bible can be used at Mass on Sundays (and during daily Mass).
Why is there a new Lectionary?
Alexis Kurtana at Source & Summit provides a summary as to why the US Bishops are approving a new translation of the Bible readings at Mass:
[T]he Vatican issued new principles for liturgical translation with the instruction Liturgiam Authenticam in 2001.
In June of 2012, the USCCB Committees on Doctrine and Divine Worship reported that the lectionary would undergo a further revision of the RNAB New Testament, to accord with the revised Old Testament translation, following the norms of Liturgiam Authenticam.
The US Bishops provide a summary of some of the principles at work in the translation:
- “The translation must always be in accord with sound doctrine” (LA, 26).
- The translations of liturgical texts should be “marked by sound doctrine, [exactness] in wording, free from all ideological influence…,” and they should be an efficacious medium for the transmission of the mysteries of salvation and the indefectible faith of the Church (LA, 3).
The new translation of the Bible is only slightly different than the one currently in use in the United States, as it is simply an updating of the same translation.
There will likely be some notable differences, but in general, most parishioners will not recognize any change.
It is expected that the new Lectionary will be in force by 2025 or 2026, following approval by the Vatican.
And today we celebrate...