Vatican approves new statutes for English-language liturgy commission

Published: 2003-10-22

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Vatican has approved new statutes for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, giving the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments at the Vatican veto power over ICEL staff and translators. Marking the end of several years of conflict over how the commission should be structured and operate, the new statutes marked a Vatican rejection of the views of some English-speaking bishops who wanted less centralized control of the commission and a broader role for it. The new document gives the bishops who form the commission more direct, ongoing oversight of ICEL staff, translators and projects. Copies of the new statutes and the Vatican decree approving them were sent to the U.S. bishops Oct. 17. They were made available to Catholic News Service at its request Oct. 22. ICEL is the commission formed by English-speaking bishops' conferences in 1963, when the Second Vatican Council authorized use of local languages in the liturgy, to prepare common English liturgy texts for use in their countries.

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