Religion: English Mass: Needs Work

The first Roman Catholic Mass in the English version approved by the bishops of the U.S. was celebrated last week in St. Louis' Kiel Auditorium during the 25th Annual Liturgical Week Conference—and the verdict of most liturgists was: needs work. "We used perhaps 20 translations that were already in existence," says the Rev. Frederick McManus, the new president of the Liturgical Conference. "It's purely experimental and provisional. The whole thing has to be done over." The text should be made "simpler and more meaningful," added Joseph Cardinal Ritter after celebrating one of the four Masses during...