This week, on 24-25 July, representatives from the Bishops’ Conferences of Australia, Ireland, New Zealand met at the Columba Centre of Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, to discuss the progress of the Joint Lectionary Project.
The project commission includes, Bishop Stephen Lowe, Bishop of Auckland and President of the New Zealand Bishops Conference; Archbishop Patrick O’Regan, Archbishop of Adelaide, Australia and Archbishop Francis Duffy, Archbishop of Tuam and Episcopal Secretary, Irish Bishops’ Conference. They were joined by the three national Liturgy Secretaries: Monsignor Trevor Murray (NZ), Father Anthony Doran (Aus) and Father Neil Xavier O’Donoghue (Ire) together with Mr Martin Foster, Director for the Joint Lectionary Project.
Representatives from the three conferences met in Adelaide in 2023, where the decision was made to work together to develop a new Lectionary based on the Revised New Jerusalem Bible. In October 2024, Mr Foster began his role as Director for the Joint Lectionary Project.
A key part of the process is the preparation of the text of the Lectionary, which are regularly sent out to the bishops of the three conferences for review and comment. A working group, of women and men, from the three conferences with expertise in both Scripture and Liturgy, meet online each month to consider the submitted comments and revise the text as necessary.
At its meeting in Maynooth, the commission reviewed the complete text of the first of four volumes, which contains the readings for Sundays and Solemnities. The commission also considered the publication of the Lectionary and the appointment of a publisher.
The next stage will be preparation of texts for the two volumes for weekday Masses and the celebration of Saints, which will be completed by May 2026, and the final volume, which includes Masses for the celebration of the Sacraments and funerals, should be concluded by the end of 2026.
At the meeting, the group also launched a book by Father Xavier titled Preparing for the New Lectionary. The publication features the complete text of the General Introduction to the Lectionary, selected papal documents, and newly written essays aimed at assisting parishes and other interested people in preparing for the publication of the new edition.
The bishops expressed their gratitude to all those who have contributed to the process so far.
For over fifty years, parishes and communities across the island of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand have listened to Scripture readings that are drawn from the same translations given in the current Lectionary for Mass. Many of these Lectionary books are now in a poor state and in need of replacing. The bishops of these three countries have recognised that now is an opportunity for a new edition of the Lectionary, taking advantage of a revised translation of the readings, which is both accessible and faithful to the evolving nuances of the English language and contemporary biblical scholarship.
ENDS
- Preparing for the New Lectionary can be purchased by contacting Saint Paul’s on https://www.stpauls.ie/ , +353 01 628 5933 (whatsapp) +353 89 482 37 or [email protected]. The book costs €13.99
- The Lectionary is the book from which Holy Scripture is proclaimed during the celebration of Mass and the current Lectionary is based on the 1966 Jerusalem Bible. The Lectionary contains readings and psalms from the Old and New Testaments.