New "Our Father"?

By a vote of 203-1 the Italian bishops approved a new translation of the Bible for use in the liturgy, including the rewording of the last line - Matthew 6:13 - of the "Our Father". The bishops agree that God does not lead people into temptation. Instead of ending, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," the new version is the Italian equivalent of "Do not abandon us to temptation, but deliver us from evil".

The bishops' May 24 vote must be approved by the Vatican before the new Bible translation can be used as the basis for a new Lectionary, the book of Scriptures read at Mass, and for use in the Liturgy of the Hours.

Fr Giuseppe Busani, director of the bishops' National Liturgical Office, said a separate vote will have to be taken to change the text of the "Our Father" recited by all the faithful at Mass.

The bishops began the revision project 12 years ago in order "to translate the biblical text as faithfully as possible in today's language, which has changed over the past 30 years," Cardinal Ruini said.

Will this decision have any effect in Malta? The second edition of the Bible in Maltese produced by the Ghaqda Biblika Maltija translates the relevant text in the traditional way. We do not know and cannot say whether the decision of the Italian bishops will have any effect over here.

We would like to make one point about Bible translations and their use during the liturgy. The second edition of the Ghaqda Biblika translation was published in 1996 but the readings in the lectionary have not been changed to reflect this translation. We are still using a previous translation.

One hopes that the process that is under way to update the translation of prayers used in the liturgy in Maltese will be hurried and will also include a revision of the lectionary according to the most recent translation available.