The Tribune

LET me start by saying that I am a Catholic. Although I am ashamed of many events in the history of the Catholic Church, I had hoped that now, in a time of enlightenment, the leadership in the Vatican would spend their time on affairs that are important to the mission of the Church as envisioned and ordained by Jesus. This does not appear to be the case. I have come to this conclusion because an order has recently been sent down from Rome to alter the wording of the prayers and order of the Mass by the production of a new English translation of the Catholic Missal. Some in the Vatican say that it is a more faithful of the "original" Latin. My quarrel with this very foolish and wasteful move is that no consideration was given to the severe economic hardship that this would cause in the poorer parts of the world. They have by mandate made every Missal and Mass card obsolete. These now must to be replaced. Additionally, the changes have not changed the substantial meaning of the contents of the previous English language Missal. With all the problems in the world, what in God's name would bring anyone to the conclusion that this project could justify the time and cost which such a project would absorb? And finally Catholics who know the history of the Catholic Church know that the Latin Mass was a modern imposition when it was adopted during the time when Rome was the world's superpower. If we really want to return to a more accurate translation of the original mass, then you must translate from the mass celebrated in the Middle East before Latin was adopted.