Just two words – but they say everything about the direction of the reforms of the Francis era.
The words are contained in the new Italian translation of the Mass texts, approved by Pope Francis, and will be used from Easter Sunday 2021.
In the prayers said over the bread and wine, the priest says – as he always has – that Jesus’ blood was poured out per tutti (“for all”) and not per molti (“for many”).
The Italian bishops have, in reality, changed nothing, simply keeping the translation of the Latin phrase pro multis that has been widely used since the liturgical reforms mandated by the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council.
But that is what is so significant. The translation of pro multis has been the subject of intense debate over recent decades.
Following the Council, many countries used the equivalent of “for all” in their translations, although this began to change in 2001, after the Liturgiam Authenticam instruction called for a more literal translation of Latin texts.
In 2006, Rome ruled that pro multis should be translated as “for many” with Benedict XVI insistent on this point.