LETTERS


Cost of being a whistleblower


I was disappointed to read of the sidelining of Fr Alan Griffiths (News from Britain and Ireland, 18/25 December 2010) for his pub- lic criticism of the last-minute changes made by Rome to the new Missal (Letters, 30 October 2010). Have his services been dropped because of what he did, or the manner in which he did it? As far as I can see, he has done the Church at large a genuine service by whistle- blowing on the sleight of hand by Rome. I have yet to read the response of our hier- archy to his revelations. Would that they had the forthrightness of their German counter- parts to make it clear to Rome that, while submitting to Rome’s scrutiny of their theo- logical orthodoxy, nevertheless, the English- speaking hierarchy is best placed to determine what constitutes a meaningful and faithful translation for their people. It reminds me that I once heard that Ronald Knox was chosen to translate the Bible not because of his flair for Latin but rather for his grasp of the beauty and richness of English. Terry Byrne Bridgwater, Somerset


I attended Mass at the vibrant parish of Meadowbank, Auckland, New Zealand, on the first and second Sundays of Advent, so I wit- nessed the first use of the new English translation in this community. I was intrigued and wondered what I would miss or, even, appreciate. In the “I Confess”, I found it hard to take the repetition of “Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”. It sounded overly dramatic, guilt-ridden, rather than truly humble. Although the descriptive text boxes in the margins of each page in the missalette provided the reasons for the use of the word “consubstantial” in the Creed (in place of “one in being”), it felt clumsy. The use of a longer, complex word where a straightforward phrase used to suffice felt alienating, a case of hiding behind long words instead of stat- ing clearly what is meant. Finally, a replacement of the humble “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you” with the more biblical “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof”, just made me chuckle quietly; what would a literal-minded child make of that; the roof of their mouth or the roof of their home? I liked the new translation of the “Our


Father” and in particular the words that the priest uses between the two parts of this prayer, “that we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress”. However, on thinking about the next line again, why are we “awaiting the blessed hope” rather than “waiting in joyful hope”, which sounds far more human? I liked saying “and with your spirit” in response to the priest at different points in the Mass, as


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with the neighbours. Jesus said, “There are many rooms in my Father’s house.” As a Catholic, I am naturally diffident about quot- ing Scripture, but I do not recall any mention of annexes. (Dr) Phil McCarthy Bristol


The new translation of the Missal. ‘The English-speaking hierarchy is best placed to determine what constitutes a meaningful translation for their people’. Photo: CNS


it recognises the breath of the divine within the human. However, I worry that the litur- gical changes may not enhance our ability to access the deeper meanings, and that they will make people feel more distant from God instead of drawn into a closer relationship with him. Mary Chabrel Bridgewater, South Australia


Divisions in the ordinariate Am I the only ordinary Catholic to be depressed by the Revd Justin Inskeep’s letter (11 December 2010)? It seems that Anglican factions are already arguing over who should be excluded from the new ordinariate and about clerical positions within it. Anglicanorum Coetibuscame as a shock to


many Catholics in England and Wales. It was rather as if the Pope had made a planning appli- cation for an annex to our home without letting us know. It was also clear from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s reaction that affected neigh- bours had not been consulted. The proposed annex seems unnecessary since many of our own family have sadly left home and many more only visit at Christmas. Being asked to provide £250,000 towards the building costs was another surprise (News from Britain and Ireland, 27 November 2010). Despite this, most Catholics seem to be resigned to this exten- sion, perhaps thinking it would not undermine the foundations of our house and might be a temporary structure.


It is disappointing to learn from Justin


Inskeep that the prospective occupants of this annex are carrying on bitter divisions from their current home and already quarrelling about who should be admitted and who should get the best rooms. My solution is simple. I hope that Anglicans who wish to become Catholics will do so and will become full members of the family. I am sure that Catholic parishes will make them feel at home. But I wonder if those who wish to carry on factional infighting, arguments over abstruse liturgical variations and clerical preferments might be better off staying put


RE to be marginalised? Your report on government proposals for an “English Baccalaureate” (News from Britain and Ireland, 18/25 December 2010) rightly draws attention to the major difficulties that this will give rise to for Catholic schools unless religious education (RE) is classified as a quali - fying humanities subject. RE is a compulsory subject at GCSE in our schools and so, in addi- tion to the obvious concern for the status of the subject, this proposal could mean Catholic school students will have to take a second humanities subject in order to satisfy baccalau- reate requirements and thus restrict their options at that stage of their education. As a teacher of RE for almost 40 years, I know that in Catholic schools RE is generally taken very seriously and is taught by quali- fied specialists, well resourced and rigorously inspected. Its methodology is on a par with that of other humanities subjects such as his- tory or geography. As a former English Catholic school head teacher, my fear is that the White Paper proposals in their present form would relegate RE to the status of a second- class humanities option. They might even lead to some Catholic schools going against national and diocesan guidelines and curtail- ing RE curriculum time to the likely detriment of the ethos of our schools. Thank goodness the Catholic Education Service is leading the fight on behalf of RE. We must hope that Catholic head teachers and governing bodies will also make their opposition felt. Alan Whelan Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland


Gay Catholics –the Church’s response I was pleased to read that Daphne McLeod of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (Letters, 18/25 December 2010) was in conversation with some of the gay Catholics who attend the Soho Masses. The wisdom of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and his successor, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, in permitting these Masses is that it makes clear that the Eucharist is not a prize for being good and keeping all the rules but food for a complex and challenging journey. Our lives, and in par- ticular our loving, are rarely black-and-white and are quite often messy. What matters most is the cantus firmus, the “enduring melody” of our lives that we always keep coming back to – the love and redemption celebrated in the Eucharist. Daniel O’Leary, in his Christmas meditation (18/25 December 2010), writes, “Christmas … urges us to value and embrace


1 January 2011 | THE TABLET | 21


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