The Translation Wars of the Vernacular Mass

Well, 'for all' is back, but in the Italian this time. Fr Fox has a good comment to Fr McDonald's post, which I've included.

From Southern Orders

By Fr Allan J. McDonald

Praytell is gloating over the fact that Pope Francis has approved the new Roman Missal in Italian. The biggest thing for them is that His Holiness, in contradiction to the Emeritus Pope, approved the used of the term "for all, per tutti" at the consecration of the Precious Blood.

Our new and glorious English translation, at the behest of Pope Benedict, has "for many."

Technically, "pro multis" could be translated into English, loosely as "for all" but more accurately it would be "for the multitudes" if you want an English word derived from the Latin. Or simply add "the" to "many", "for the many."

Evidently, too, the Italian Our Father has the novelty that Pope Francis desired and the Gloria has this little ditty: "Glory to God and to people beloved by God..."

And also there are additional Collects for the Sunday Mass according to the lectionary cycle, A, B, C. These are options in place of the one collect our current Roman Missal has. These are concocted collects.

It's all very sad to say the least unless you are the group that likes it. It boils down to taste and preferences. What a novel idea as it concerns the liturgy.

And, in a comment on the above, Fr Martin Fox said...

The complaints over "for many" versus "for all" are silly.

First, there is simply the matter of being faithful to the verbiage being translated; it's not "translation" when you simply substitute ideas you like better.

Second, there is a lot of Scripture and history behind the words our Savior uttered at the Last Supper, which we translate, "for many," or really better, "for THE many," or as you say, "for the multitudes." The Lord went to great trouble to ensure that "all Scripture be fulfilled," and this is part of that; the language of "for the many" runs throughout Scripture, particularly in Isaiah, where we hear about the suffering servant.

Third, this whole business of complaining that "many" makes you feel bad, because it's not "all," is narcissistic. "All" and "many" do not form a natural contrast, at least in English. To illustrate, let's play a game where I suggested a word, and you were to reply with a natural partner-word:

I say "up," you say... (down, right?)
I say "left," you say...
I say "day," you say...
I say "all," you say...

Now, honestly, who -- playing that game, comes back with "many"?

But let's continue:

I say "many," you say...? I'm betting "few," right?

So that's the idea: Jesus dies for the MANY, as opposed to the...FEW.

Now, I'm only explaining what these words connote in English; and I'm only doing this to rebut the lachrymose complaints about translating the Latin text of Mass with "many." "Many" isn't about being less inclusive, it's not about that; it's about what the Latin prayers actually say, representing, as far as we know, what Jesus himself actually said.