Q: In view of your forthcoming visit to England I have acquired your latest book, Words Without Alloy, for which many thanks, it was very interesting.
I was intrigued by your almost throw-away comment that the ICEL additional collects were rejected by the Vatican. Was it the Vatican, or the bishops, who feared too much choice who declined to approve them? They could have been inserted easily in the latest revision of the Missal.==
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A: The years of the revision of the English translation of the missal were fraught with stress. ICEL felt it needed to adhere its translation as close to the Latin as possible. There was no way that new compositions, not based on a Latin original “could have been inserted easily in the latest revision of the Missal.” In those days, at that time, in that environment, that was not going to happen.