The German bishops’ conference has decided to stick with the traditional wording of the Lord’s Prayer despite the Pope’s criticism of it. The Italian bishops, meanwhile, have opted to change the words of the prayer in their missal. The decisions came after the French bishops chose to change the line, “Lead us not into temptation”, to the equivalent of “Do not let us enter into temptation”. The issue emerged after Pope Francis discussed the line “And lead us not into temptation” with Fr Marco Pozza, a Catholic prison chaplain, as part of a television series on the Lord’s Prayer. Pope Francis said the English translation could give believers the wrong impression that God can and does lead people into temptation. He told Fr Pozza: “I’m the one who falls. But it’s not [God] who pushes me into temptation to see how I fall. No, a father does not do this. A father helps us up immediately.” The Pope added: “The one who leads us into temptation is Satan. That’s Satan’s job.” The German bishops said they would keep the line unchanged, particularly to use the same wording as most Catholics and most other Christian denominations. But they said they would like to see more done in offering the faithful a clearer and fuller explanation and discussion of the prayer’s meaning. The line in the prayer, they said, is not about persuading God not to tempt the faithful, but rather it is a recognition of one’s own weakness and one’s trust in God’s guidance.
12:00 PM
German bishops reject change to Lord’s Prayer
Staff writers

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