The new law says that bishops now have the power to complete translations of the Mass from Latin into local languages. Pope Francis has issued a new law returning authority to bishops’ conferen-ces over liturgical translations, paving the way for the current English missal to be revised.

The new law, which is part of the Argentinian Pontiff’s attempts to shore up the reforms to Catholic worship started by the Second Vatican Council, says that bishops now have the power to complete translations of the Mass from Latin into local languages.

The Pope’s order “Magnum Principium” amends Canon Law (Canon 838.3) to say bishops are required to “faithfully” prepare and “approve” translations which are then confirmed by Rome. The words “faithfully” and “approve” are both new. This throws open the possibility that the 2011 English Roman Missal – which became mired in disagreement with claims that the Vatican had overly controlled the process – could be changed. The onus will now be on local bishops to take the initiative. Francis’ law also reverses moves by his predecess-ors to centralise the translation process, which saw Vatican officials editing, and re-writing the work of bishops’ confe-rences. The foundation stone to his new law, Francis explai-ned, is the “great principle” of Vatican II which stressed that “liturgical prayer be accommodated to the compre-hension of the people so that it might be understood.” This task, he pointed out, had originally been entrusted to the bishops in countries across the world.