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Beginning in Advent of 2011, the U.S. church will be using a new English translation of the Roman Missal. The current translation was promulgated in 1973, and for the past past several years the International Commission on English has been working on a new text. The controversy surrounding this translation, including the decision not to use a text proposed by an earlier iteration of ICEL, has been well documented in America. Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli, the chair of the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship, offers the bishops’ case for the new translation in March.

Though the full translation will not be available until late 2011, the Order of Mass is online and can be downloaded here as a pdf. The U.S. bishops’ conference has also posted a special Web page on the new Roman Missal, including this helpful FAQ page.

Examples of the coming changes are also available from the USCCB.

This article appears in January 3 2011.

Tim Reidy joined America’s staff in October 2006 and served as online editor for several years before moving into his current role as the deputy editor in chief. Tim oversees America’s newsroom, directing its daily news coverage as well as working with the editorial leadership team to plan each print issue. Tim also edits the magazine’s Ideas section, where he contributes book reviews and essays. Before joining America, he worked at the Hartford Courant, a newspaper in Connecticut, and Commonweal magazine. In addition to writing for America, he has contributed to The New York Times, the Columbia Journalism Review and the Princeton Alumni Weekly. He has been interviewed about the Catholic Church on WNYC in New York, ABC, Bloomberg TV and other media outlets. Tim also serves on the board of directors of Jesuit Refugee Service USA. He lives in Bronxville, N.Y., with his wife and two children.