New English Lectionary Released for Church in India

Cardinal Oswald Gracias released the new three-volume English Lectionary for India, a landmark publication aimed at deepening faith and liturgical participation across the country’s Catholic Churches.

BENGALURU, Karnataka (Indian Catholic News) — The Church in India has released a new three-volume English Lectionary, marking what Church leaders describe as a major step in deepening the faithful’s participation in the liturgy and understanding of the Word of God.

The Lectionary was released by Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay and member of the G9 Consultors of Pope Francis, during the 32nd Plenary Assembly of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) at St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bengaluru, on 16 February 2020. Cardinal Gracias handed over the first copy to Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro, Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal, according to a report by Fr Stephen Alathara, CCBI Deputy Secretary General.

“This new Lectionary is an invitation for each of us to deepen our understanding of the Word of God and thereby participate in the liturgy actively, fully and consciously, lifting ourselves up to the Lord,” Cardinal Gracias said.

He urged bishops across the country “to give adequate instruction to our faithful regarding the new Lectionary, so that its use will result in a more profound understanding and appreciation of the Word of God in the Holy Mass as well as in other liturgical celebrations and thus lead to a fruitful nurturing of the faith in all our Churches.”

Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão of Goa and Daman and President of the CCBI, described the publication as a milestone. “The publication of the New Lectionary by the CCBI is a landmark in the history of the Church in our country; it is a valuable contribution of the Church in India to the Universal Church testifying to our biblical scholarship and liturgical competence,” he said.

The Church in India will officially begin using the new Lectionary in all liturgical celebrations on 5 April 2020, Palm Sunday. The CCBI said, “The English Lectionaries that are currently in use in India should be set aside and replaced with the New Lectionary from the coming Palm Sunday.”

Prepared according to the Indian Liturgical Calendar, the new Lectionary incorporates “special readings for the Solemnities, Feasts and Memorials of Indian Saints and votive Masses for our country.”

The initiative follows the revision of Canon 838 §3 of the Code of Canon Law through Magnum Principium, Pope Francis’s 2017 Motu Proprio granting bishops’ conferences greater responsibility in preparing liturgical texts. The CCBI authorised work on a new translation “consistent with the teaching of the Church and according to the norms laid down in the 2001 Instruction Liturgiam Authenticam.”

A team of “experienced and prominent Scripture scholars, led by Father Lucien Legrand of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, worked on the ESV Bible, ensuring compatibility with the Catholic teaching and textual accuracy.” The English Standard Version Catholic Edition (ESVCE) of the Holy Bible was approved for liturgical use by the CCBI in 2017.

“The English Standard Version Catholic Edition (ESVCE) of the Bible has been used throughout this Lectionary, with the exception of the translation of the Psalms, which has been taken from the ‘Grail Psalms’, approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,” the statement said.

The Lectionary was formally approved by the CCBI and received confirmation from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on 9 December 2019, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

During the release ceremony, the Lectionary was introduced by Father Ayres Fernandes, Executive Secretary of the CCBI Commission for Liturgy, and Nigel Fernandes, CEO of Asian Trading Corporation.

The event was attended by Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras-Mylapore and CCBI Vice President; Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi and Secretary General of the CCBI; Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha of Mangalore and Chairman of the CCBI Commission for Liturgy; and Fr Stephen Alathara, Deputy Secretary General of the CCBI.