The New Missal - The Creed

Some of the most significant changes to the people’s parts in the Order of Mass are found in the Profession of Faith (the Nicene Creed).  Changes to this text fall into two categories: preservation of the syntax of the original text and preservation of expressions of faith that contain Catholic doctrine.  The first change is the translation of credo as “I” instead of “We” in the opening phrase in order to maintain the person and number indicated in the Latin text.  While the Profession of Faith is a communal liturgical act, each individual in the liturgical assembly professes his or her own faith, which is joined to the profession of the whole assembly.  The second change concerns the translation of particular expressions of faith such as unigenitus, consubstantialis, and incarnatus.  The theological terminology has been preserved, in accord with Liturgiam Authenticam, in the translation to English: “Only Begotten,” “consubstantial,” and “incarnate.”

Why has “one in being with the Father” been changed to “consubstantial with the Father”?
 

The new translation is more in keeping with the ancient Latin text of the Creed and is a more accurate translation.  The bishops at the Council of Nicea (AD 325), in order to ensure that Jesus was professed as the eternal Son of God, equal to the Father, stated that he is “the Son of God, begotten from the Father, the only-begotten, that is from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, the same substance (homoousion) with the Father.”  The Creed of the Council of Constantinople (AD 381), which is professed at all Sunday Masses and Solemnities within the Catholic Church, similarly stated: “We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same substance (homoousion) with the Father.”

When these two ancient creeds were translated into Latin, the term homoousion was rendered as consubstantialem, that is, “the same substance of the Father.”  Prior to the Second Vatican Council, the Latin consubstantialem was rendered as “consubstantial” within the English translation of the Creed.  Many theologians and the Holy See thought that the term “consubstantial” was more in keeping with the Latin tradition and a more literal and accurate translation than the more recent “one in being.”  

This is in keeping with the mind of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as expressed in the 2001 instruction Liturgiam Authenticam.  It stated: “Certain expressions that belong to the heritage of the whole or of a great part of the ancient Church, as well as others that have become part of the general human patrimony, are to be respected by a translation that is as literal as possible” (56).

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit
was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake
he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated
at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,
the giver of life, who proceeds
from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
And one, holy, catholic
and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. 

Amen.