Pope Francis approves major change to The Lord’s Prayer

Pope Francis has officially approved a major change to the most famous Christian prayer: The Lord’s Prayer.

The UCatholic reports that more than 1 billion Catholics will have to adjust to some new wording in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples.

On May 22, during the General Assembly of the Episcopal Conference of Italy, the Holy See decreed the phrase “lead us not into temptation” will become “do not let us fall into temptation.”

The change was made, the UCatholic reports, because officials say the original translation from Matthew 6:13 implies that God leads the move to temptation. The change would be more in line with the prayer’s original intentions.

Fox News quotes Pope Francis as having told Italian reporters, “I am the one who falls; it’s not Him pushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen. A father doesn’t do that, a father helps you to get up immediately. It’s Satan who leads us into temptation, that’s his department.”

According to UCatholic: “The changes to the Italian Missal was a 16 year undertaking with aims to ‘contribute to the renewal of the ecclesial community in the wake of the liturgical reform. Bishops and experts worked on improving the text from a theological, pastoral and stylistic point of view, as well as on fine-tuning the presentation of the Missal.’”

The Holy See also announced a change to the Gloria, with the phrase “Peace on earth to people of good will” to “Peace on Earth to people beloved by God.”

In 2011, Catholics had to get used to another major change in the liturgy. At that time, the response to the celebrant’s phrase “Peace be with you” changed from “And also with you” to “And also with your spirit.”