For Many or for All?

Cod. Bruchsal 1, Bl. 28r - Manuscript in the Badische
Landesbibliothek, Karlsruhe, Germany

“For many” or “for all”? Well, the right answer is the first, says Benedict XVI, who wants the whole Catholic Church to respect the words of Jesus at the last supper. Obviously, we are talking about the words of the consecration of the chalice in the Mass—words which were taken verbatim from the Gospels and had been in use for centuries, though in recent years have been replaced almost everywhere with a different translation. As a matter of fact, while the traditional Latin text says, “Hic est enim calix sanguinis mei […] qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur,” the new postconciliar formulas have read into “pro multis” an imaginary “pro omnibus.” And instead of “for many,” they have translated “for all.”

In some parts of the world, such as in the United States, in Spain and in the Latin American countries, even though with disagreement and disobedience, they are returning to the use of “for many,” but in many other countries, such as, for instance, Italy and Austria, this is not the case. And that’s why the Pope has written a letter to the German bishops. Read here, at Sandro Magister’s website, the complete English translation of the letter along with a few guidelines in order to understand the context thoroughly.