C&SI - Preparing a new Lectionary for the Irish Church - 30 Nov 2025 (S06E01b) (podcast excerpt)

On this weeks podcast/radio programme excerpt the C&SI team is joined by Fr Neil Xavier O’Donoghue, Executive Secretary for Liturgy of the Irish Catholic's Bishop Conference to discuss the up coming changes in the lectionary for the Irish Church and how Catholics in Ireland will hear the proclamation of the Word of God. 

In 2011 the global English speaking community got a new translation of the Roman Missal including all the parts and prayers of the Mass. On this weeks podcast Fr Neil O'Donoghue joins us to explain the next change that Irish Catholics will experience in how we celebrate our liturgies with the work in progress on preparing a new lectionary - aka the book of the readings of Scripture used in our public liturgies.

For over fifty years, parishes and communities across the island of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand have listened to the scripture readings proclaimed in church from the same translations which are given in the Lectionary for Mass which are taken from the Jerusalem Bible.  Many of these books are now in a poor state and in need of replacing.  In 2021 the bishops recognised that this was 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. For Ireland, the Revised New Jerusalem Bible was chosen as the text for the Lectionary.  This translation recognises the need for the text to be proclaimed in the liturgy, to be faithful to the original biblical texts and it is sensitive to inclusivity.  For the psalms in the Lectionary, the Abbey Psalms and Canticles will be used.  This is a sympathetic revision of the familiar Grail Psalter and the revised text has already been adopted in several English-speaking countries. It is a joint project with the church in Australia and New Zealand but it will mean that our readings in Ireland are going to sound slightly different to our nearest neighbours in the UK. 

• Bishops’ Conferences of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand collaborate on ‘Joint Lectionary Project’
• Lectionary group from Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand meet in Maynooth