Jul 15, 2016

Cardinal Sarah Meets with ICEL Staf

On May 18, Bishop Arthur Serratelli, Chairman of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, welcomed Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, to the ICEL Secretariat in Washington, D.C.

Appointed Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship by Pope Francis in November 2014, Cardinal Sarah heads the Vatican office that gives approval (recognitio) to liturgical texts of the Roman Rite prepared by ICEL and submitted by conferences of bishops.

Since 2010, when the recognitio of the third English-language edition of the Roman Missal was approved, two important texts—Marriage and Confirmation—have also received the approval of the Holy See and are to be implemented in several ICEL conferences this year.

In addition, ICEL has submitted draft texts to the conferences of bishops for dedication of a Church, exorcism, and a supplement containing new saints for the Liturgy of the Hours.

During the visit to the ICEL Secretariat, Monsignor Andrew Wadsworth, Executive Director of ICEL, was able to show Cardinal Sarah three additional texts— Baptism for Children, Christian Initiation of Adults, and a fourth fascicle of texts for the Liturgy of the Hours. These books were submitted to the conferences of bishops and the Congregation for study and comment just prior to the Cardinal’s visit.

In speaking about the work of ICEL and the acceptance of the Roman Missal in the member and associate-member conferences of bishops, Cardinal Sarah said that he holds up ICEL and the process used for the English-language Roman Missal as a model for other vernacular languages to follow.

The Editors