by Fred Moleck
Vosotros/Ustedes
One of the topics on which the bishops of the United States will be voting on at their June meeting are the words vosotros and ustedes—“you” or “you.”The discussion has stretched out over several years, and I know of at least two bishops who are so sick of it, they’ve agreed to vote against whichever word won.
As I understand it, the formal vosotros is used only in Spain. Ustedes is common in Latin America. In fact, ninety percent of Catholics who speak Spanish say ustedes.
I am wondering if the same type of “word wars” will occur if and when the English translation of the Missale Romanum appears and it will be the only translation for all English-speaking countries.
In fact, I smell it coming.
Who is “you” is a problem not only confined to Spanish liturgy. When the Episcopal Prayer Book 1979 reached its final form, it was basically bilingual—Rite I is in Elizabethan English and Rite II is in contemporary English.
I had a hard time trying to understand why all the fuss over thee, thou, thine, wouldst, shant, etc. King James and Queen Elizabeth have been dead for a very long time, so they wouldn’t know.
So, why such a big deal?
Simple—language, like environment, is formative. What we speak and what we sing wields enormous power on what we believe.
Catholics who had been formed in 400-year-old Latin had to make “a leap of faith” and believe that the vernacular was good for them.
For some of us, it was easy. For others, it was devastating. For the majority, they simply obeyed.
Some Catholics saw the vernacular as a mighty turnabout on Catholic tradition and Catholic dogma. It even bred a group of dissidents—Bishop Lefebvre and his followers who were eventually excommunicated.
(I thought it was amazing that the only group excommunicated during the thirty years after the Second Vatican Council were not the presiders of pizza-and-beer “Eucharists” but the most staunch perpetrators of the Tridentine liturgy.)
What I see as a lingering element in Catholic dissidence is the placement of the tabernacle and the singing during Holy Communion.
Perhaps dissidence is too strong, but more fuss has been raised in the renovation of churches and in the building of new churches than the placement of the tabernacle.
In fact, what is happening more and more when a new pastor is assigned to his new parish, the first thing he does is to remove the Blessed Sacrament from its own space or chapel and has it installed in the center of the sanctuary “where it belongs,” as he tells his new parish.
At most of parishes within my geographic area, the communion hymn is the weakest sung item in the liturgy for many reasons, one of which is that there was no formation of the assembly in learning why it is an important element in the liturgy.
For some, it is an annoyance. For many, it is ignored.
Placement of the tabernacle and singing during Communion are grounded in the spiritual formation of Catholics for hundreds of years. Devotion to the Eucharist has wielded incredible power, and so does its language.
We are still trying to develop texts that emphasize the communal nature of the Eucharist while we still sing with heart, soul, and body, “Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all.”
I wonder how vosotros and ustedes will fare in the next wave of worship word-wars.
You can reach Fred Moleck via email at fmoleck@comcast.net