Last year, the Catholic bishops in New Zealand, after a couple of decades of resistance (barring the diocese of Christchurch), had to relent on their long-standing experiment of using the “new” Our Father. You New Zealanders know the one: sins, not trespasses; you, not thy; save us from the time of trial etc.

Around the middle of last year, in conjunction with the introduction of the new translation of the Roman Missal, the Our Father that most English-speaking Catholics have been saying since the late 1960s/early 1970s was reinstated. The “new” Our Father had been introduced in what was supposed to be an ecumenically more acceptable version, but that never quite eventuated. And the prayer was never approved for use by the Vatican.

Well, it appears that at least one region in Australia decided to do the same. If you know the Church in Aussie, you could probably hazard a guess.

This is from The Catholic Leader, the newspaper of Brisbane Archdiocese:

Question: For many years my parish has used the contemporary “Lord’s Prayer” during Mass:
Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in Heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.

I thought that we would revert to the traditional form with the implementation of the revised Roman Missal, but we continue to use the contemporary “Lord’s Prayer” during Mass. After doing some research I have found several references that say this should not be used during the Mass but can be used in devotions outside the Mass, for example, in the Rosary.

Can you please clarify this for me?

Answer: The version of the Lord’s Prayer that your parish has been using is the contemporary, ecumenical translation produced by the International Consultation on English Texts (ICET).

It is used by many Christian Churches and the Catholic Church in the Philippines, India and New Zealand adopted it in the 1970s/80s.

Unfortunately it has never been approved for use at Mass in the Catholic Church in Australia.

ICEL included it in the revised Missal that was approved by the bishops conferences in 1998 but rejected by Rome a few years later.

The announcement of the Vatican’s recognitio for the new translation included this: “The ICET text of the Our Father was not among the texts given recognitio. This means that all English-speaking countries will now use the same text of the Our Father.”

The argument for retaining the “traditional” translation is that it is widely known and used by people who have little contact with the Church and would cause confusion if changed.

The ICET version of the Lord’s Prayer should always be used at interchurch services, but only the traditional translation is permitted at Mass.

I find that last sentence somewhat confusing. Unless the prayer is more widely used in Christian churches here in Australia, I find it hard to understand why it should be used in interchurch services. I’m not a regular attendee at Protestant services by ANY stretch of the imagination, but I’ve encountered the “old” Our Father much more often than the “new” one.

Can anyone else shed any light on this?