Fake News: Pope Francis Is Not Changing the Lord’s Prayer!

It appears that President Trump isn’t the only world leader who suffers from fake news reports. The Holy See Pope Francis has fallen victim to the same shoddy reporting.

In The National Catholic Register Jimmy Akin in an article titled “No, Pope Francis Is Not Changing the Lord’s Prayer” reports:

This is a classic case of the pope saying something and the media distorting it.

Newspapers and websites erupted over the weekend with headlines like:

• Lord’s Prayer: Pope Francis calls for change (BBC)
• Pope Francis proposes change to the Lord’s Prayer (AOL)
• Pope Francis wants to change the Lord’s Prayer – Here’s why (Catholic.Org)
• Pope Francis calls for Lord’s Prayer translation to be changed (Catholic Herald)

Shame on all of them.

The pope didn’t call for any changes.

This is a classic case of the pope saying something and the media going hog-wild and completely distorting it.

How did all this start?

Italian television aired an hourlong interview with Pope Francis in which he was asked about a new version of the Lord’s Prayer in France.

You can watch the interview (in Italian) here.

What did the French church do?

They adopted a new translation of the Lord’s Prayer for use in the liturgy. It went into effect on the first Sunday of Advent (which is why Pope Francis was being asked about it).

Basically, they changed the line that in English reads “and lead us not into temptation” to one that means “do not let us fall into temptation.”

What did Pope Francis say about this?

He reportedly said:

The French have changed the text and their translation says “don’t let me fall into temptation,” . . . It’s me who falls. It’s not Him who pushes me into temptation, as if I fell. A father doesn’t do that. A father helps you to get up right away. The one who leads into temptation is Satan.

Various accounts also report him saying that the “lead us not into temptation” rendering is not a good translation because it is misleading to modern ears.

So he isn’t about to impose a new translation on everybody?

Read more.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:

The Lord’s Prayer resembles other prayers that came out of the Jewish matrix of Jesus’ time and contains three common elements of Jewish prayers: praise, petition, and a yearning for the coming kingdom of God. It consists of an introductory address and seven petitions. The Matthean version used by the Roman Catholic Church is as follows:

Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

The words of the Son of God as written in the Gospel of St. Matthew 6:9-13 are not changing.

Blessings and Merry Christmas.

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