On the first day of its meeting, the Committee welcomed the opportunity to meet with Bishop Arthur Roche, Bishop of Leeds
and Chairman of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy and Monsignor Bruce Harbert, Executive Director
of the ICEL Secretariat. The members were particularly gratified by the preparation of a projected schedule for the
completion of the ICEL translations of the various parts of the Roman Missal over the next twenty-three months.
Consequently, the Committee looked closely at its own processes and schedules in order to facilitate an effective
coordination between the production of ICEL “Green Books,” (preliminary drafts for the consideration of Bishops’
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Conferences) of the various parts of the Roman Missal and the review of each of these segments by the Vox Clara
Committee.
The major work of the Committee consisted of a review of the draft ICEL translation of the Proper of Seasons. The
indispensable role of the Ratio Translationis of the English Language in the continuing work of translating the Roman Missal
was also discussed, as were plans for the completion of various supplementary materials to the Ratio Translationis.
Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments met with the
members and advisors on the last day of the meeting. The Cardinal Prefect read to the Committee a letter he had received
from Pope Benedict XVI concerning the work of the Vox Clara Committee. In that letter, dated November 9, 2005, the Holy
Father expressed his gratitude to the members and advisors of the Committee, noting his confidence that, as a result of this
work, “the translation of the Missale Romanum into English will succeed in transmitting the treasures of the faith and the
liturgical tradition in the specific context of a devout and reverent Eucharistic celebration.”
The Holy Father also wrote: “To this gratitude I add the hope that the translation into English of the latest edition of the
Missale Romanum may soon be completed, so that the faithful throughout the English-speaking world may benefit from the
use of liturgical texts accurately rendered in accordance with the norms of the Instruction Liturgiam Authenticam.”
The members of the Committee expressed their gratitude for the encouraging words of the Holy Father and thanked the
Cardinal Prefect for his consistent and generous support of the work of the Vox Clara Committee.
The next meeting of the Vox Clara Committee is scheduled for May, 2006.
