Holy See approves Bible for ordinariate liturgy

The Holy See has approved an edition of the Bible in close keeping with the Anglican tradition for use in the ordinariate’s liturgy.

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has published a decree permitting the Revised Standard Version (Second Catholic Edition) of the Holy Bible in ordinariate liturgy, enabling members to use a biblical translation which is more familiar to them.

This Revised Standard Edition of the Holy Bible is closer to the King James Bible rather than the Jerusalem Bible which is a traditionally Catholic translation.

The Holy See has also approved and confirmed the Proper Liturgical Calendar of the Personal Ordinariate, which retains certain celebrations in the Church year that are significant to those from the Anglican tradition. The calendar, while closely reflecting the General Roman Calendar used across the Catholic Church in England and Wales, also makes use of older titles such as “Sundays after Trinity”.

These developments represent the first of the liturgical resources to be approved by the Holy See for former Anglicans who have entered the full communion of the Catholic Church.

Mgr Keith Newton, the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham, said: “This is very welcome. For the ordinariate to make a distinctive contribution to Catholic life and witness in England and Wales, these liturgical resources are essential. They show – as Pope Benedict has recently said – how traditions (small t) can thrive within the wider Tradition (capital T) of the Catholic Church.”