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CONGREGATION FOR DIVINE WORSHIP AND
THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SACRAMENTS
VOX CLARA COMMITTEE
PRESS RELEASE
March 10, 2005
The Vox Clara Committee met for the seventh time from March 8-10, 2005 in the
offices of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments in Rome. This Committee of senior Bishops from Episcopal Conferences
throughout the English-speaking world was established on July 19, 2001, to give
advice to the Congregation regarding matters of liturgical translations of Latin
liturgical texts into the English-language, and to strengthen effective
cooperation with the Conferences of Bishops in this regard.
The Vox Clara Committee is chaired by Cardinal George Pell, Sydney
(Australia). Present at this meeting were Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb, Mobile
(USA), who serves as First Vice-Chairman; Archbishop Oswald Gracias, Agra
(India), who serves as Second Vice-Chairman; Cardinal Justin Rigali,
Philadelphia (USA), who serves as Treasurer; Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor,
Westminster (England), who serves as Secretary; Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I.,
Chicago (USA); Archbishop Alfred Hughes, New Orleans (USA); Archbishop Peter
Kwasi Sarpong, Kumasi (Ghana); Archbishop Kelvin Felix, Castries (Saint Lucia),
Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., Halifax (Canada); and Bishop Philip
Boyce, O.C.D., Raphoe (Ireland). Another member of the Committee, though not
present at the meeting, is Bishop Rolando Tria Tirona, O.C.D., Prelate of
Infanta (Philippines). In attendance were the following Advisors to the
Committee: Monsignor Gerard McKay (Rome), Abbot Cuthbert Johnson, O.S.B.
(England), Reverend Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B. (USA), Professor Dennis McManus
(USA), and Monsignor James P. Moroney (USA).
At the request of the Congregation, the Committee was provided a copy of the
latest revision of ICEL’s translation of a selection of prayers from the Proper
of Seasons in the Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia. The members of
the Vox Clara Committee noted the impressive improvements in the most recent
ICEL texts. The members also anticipate the significant assistance which the
forthcoming Ratio Translationis will bring to ICEL’s collaborators.
The timely completion of an English-language edition of the Missale Romanum
remains the highest priority and the members urged that all possible
resources should be devoted to the expeditious completion of a vernacular
edition which is at once precise in its rendering of the Latin texts and
appropriate for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist in English. In this
regard, the Committee welcomed a recommendation from ICEL, suggesting means by
which the Congregation might facilitate a closer coordination between the work
of Vox Clara and the mixed commission.
The members of the Vox Clara Committee were gratified to learn of the progress
made in initiatives by which the revised ICEL translation of those liturgical
texts presently held in common could be discussed with other Churches and
ecclesial communities. The renewal and restructuring of the processes by which
Conferences of Bishops and ecumenical bodies might collaborate in such endeavors
was seen as highly desirable in the light of the instruction Liturgiam
authenticam.
The Committee continued to examine style guides and other supplementary material
for the Ratio Translationis. An extended consideration of such materials
is scheduled for the next meeting of the Committee.
The members of the Vox Clara Committee expressed their gratitude to Cardinal
Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation, who met with the members and
advisors of the Committee on the second day of the meeting. In particular, the
Committee was grateful for the work of the recent plenary meeting of the
Congregation and the reaffirmation by its members of the indispensable role of
the recognitio in the effective implementation of the instruction
Liturgiam authenticam.
The next meeting of the Vox Clara Committee is scheduled for July, 2005.
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