“Although a date to use this new translation in the dioceses of the United States of America has not yet been given, it is expected to be the First Sunday of Advent 2011,” said Eliot Kapitan, director of the diocesan Office for Worship and the Catechumenate. “This will give time for all to do the needed preparation.”
Kapitan said that liturgy personnel from dioceses in Illinois and Indiana have been making plans since 2003 to help priests and people understand and use the new missal with new words but familiar forms and unchanged structure.
“Our previous ordinary, Bishop George Lucas, and Msgr. Carl Kemme, our current diocesan administrator, established a diocesan group to oversee local implementation,” Kapitan said. “This Roman Missal Curia Core Team began meeting in January 2010. It is reviewing training material for priests and parish life coordinators, deacons, seminarians, liturgy and music directors, parish staff, and parishioners. A priests training time-line is already set for the next 10 months.”
Although the recognition for the new missal has generated a certain degree of excitement, Kapitan said there are some important points to keep in mind:
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Although the pope approved the new English translation, no one may use it yet. Missals, hymnals, and missalettes have to be printed. Diocesan and national training and preparation needs to take place.
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Special events will be set for nearly everyone. Look for a diocesan training calendar in coming months.
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The diocese’s new Bishop Thomas John Paprocki will guide the preparation with the help of the Curia Core Team.
To help Catholics prepare for the use of the new missal or to compare the older text with the new translation, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has prepared a Web site at www.usccb.org/romanmissal/. The diocesan Office for Worship and the Catechumenate also began publishing a monthly two-page handout on this project called We Give You Thanks and Praise: Preparing for the Roman Missal, third edition. To access this material on the diocesan Web site, go to www.dio.org/worship. Click “Mass and Roman Missal” then “Diocesan Resources.”