Campus Notes

The student newspaper at The Catholic University of America ran an informal poll asking students about their thoughts and feelings about the new missal. The response was overwhelmingly positive.

In fact, according to The Tower, those students who attended Mass regularly seemed to support the new translation more than those students who didn’t attend Mass regularly.

Through interviews conducted throughout January, The Tower found that regular Mass attendees were more likely to support the new translation than those who attended Mass less than once a week.

“It’s a really beautiful way to celebrate Mass,” said Catholic University sophomore Shannon Ballou, who said her Mass attendance as “pretty regular.” She described the new translation as “more authentic.”

Such responses seem typical of the University’s students. Of the recorded responses (of which about 65 percent were from past or present Catholic University students) more than half were positive, while 26 percent were negative and the remaining 15 percent were indifferent.

“I think we’re all settling into hearing things for the first time,” says David Pennington, Associate Campus Minister for Liturgy and Worship at the University’s Office of Campus Ministry. “[The responses] haven’t become part of our DNA yet. We’ll get there.”

In the months leading up to the change, CUA’s Campus Ministry attempted to  educate University students on the changes and the reasoning behind them.

Most of the students quoted in the piece were positive including these:

“It’s going to the heart of what the Mass is as the pinnacle of the Catholic faith,” says University student Christina Heifferon.“I love it,” adds James Clement, a sophomore. “It gives us a fuller understanding of what is going on in the biggest celebration.”

In addition, proponents argue that a translation that brings the English text closer to the original Latin brings it more in line with all of the other translations, furthering the Church’s intention of unity.

“If we no longer know the mother tongue of our Church, then a translation is very valuable for putting us in touch with the mind of our Church and of the whole Church,” says Reverend Bernard Mulcahy, O.P., a theologian and contributor to the widespread Catholic publication Magnificat.

University graduate Nedjée Saint-Fleur seems to agree. “My first language is French, so the new translation actually is closer to what we say [in France],” she says.