LOST IN TRANSLATION
POPE WANTS TO CHANGE AGE-OLD ‘TEMPTATION’ IN LORD’S PRAYER
POPE FRANCIS wants to deliver us from a line in “The Lord’s Prayer” that he says confuses God’s grace with the work of the devil.
The pontiff told an Italian TV station that he’s opposed to the phrase “lead us not into temptation” in the current translation of the prayer, also known as “Our Father.”
“That is not a good translation,” Francis said during the interview.
God, the Pope pointed out, does not lead humans to sin. Francis said that is the realm of Satan.
“It is not He that pushes me into temptation and then sees how I fall,” the Pope said late Wednesday. “A father does not do this. A father quickly helps those who are provoked into Satan’s temptation.”
The Pope suggested a slightly different rewording: “Do not let us fall into temptation.”
The prayer, the best known in Christianity, is memorized by hundreds of millions from childhood.
The interpretation of the ancient text has been a subject of debate for centuries.
Some theologians have argued that the original phrasing was lost in translation as it morphed from different languages.
The Our Father is a translation from the Latin Vulgate — a 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible — which itself was translated from ancient Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic.
Catholic New Yorkers had mixed views over the Pope’s suggestion. “I think the Pope should mind his own business because it’s the Lord's Prayer — not the Pope’s,” said a Queens construction worker who identified himself only as Nanew. Jim Stravinskas, 56, sided with the Pope when asked to weigh in as he walked into the Friday night Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “I think it makes sense that it may need a different translation,” said the retired banker from Long Island.
“Why would you ask someone to not lead you into temptation when that's not something he would do anyway? You would ask the devil to not lead you. That's the way I look at it.”
But Joanne Steffans, 57, was adamant that the Pope should leave the prayer alone.
“It’s what it was and what it will be,” Steffans, of Roselyn, L.I., said outside St. Patrick’s. “There’s so much meaning to it. I don’t think it should be changed.”
Francis, in the interview, noted that Catholic churches in France had already started using new language to reflect that God does not lead believers to temptation. They began on Sunday using a translation that’s closer to “do not let us give in to temptation.”
Since the beginning of his papacy, Francis has developed a reputation for being unafraid of bucking tradition. He made waves last year when he said that the Roman Catholic Church should seek forgiveness from several segments of the population that it has marginalized — including gays, women and the poor.
Matthew 6:13 Lead us not into temptation.
Pope’s desired translation Do not let into’ us fall temptation.