Preparations are underway for the creation of a new edition of the Lectionary which could lead to more inclusive and gender sensitive language in the scriptures read at Mass.
The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference received over 200 relevant submissions from individuals and 20 from organisations on the possibility of adopting the 2019 Revised New Jerusalem Bible.
The current Lectionary, which is the collection of holy scriptures proclaimed during Mass, is based on the 1966 Jerusalem Bible.
“After more than 50 years of continual and fruitful use, the Jerusalem Bible has been updated, correcting some imprecisions in its translation, as well as giving consideration to developments in the English language over this half-century,” a spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference said.
With no readily available copies left from the 1984 print-run of this version, the Bishops believed the time has come for an updated edition. A simple reprint “would not be sufficient” given changes and corrections have been introduced to the Lectionary in the decades since.
One such change is the phrase “This is the Word of the Lord”, which has been abbreviated to “The Word of the Lord”.
Virtually all of the organisations, and more than 150 of the individuals, expressed the belief that the 2019 revised version “struck the right balance” with regard to inclusive language and gender sensitivity, according to the spokesman.
There were, however, a few who suggested the proposed version did not go far enough to be inclusive and gender-sensitive, while others believed it went too far.
The process of preparing a new edition is expected to take several years.
