German Missal May Keep ‘for All’ at Consecration
Consultation runs to June 2027; a moderate update, not a full Latin retranslation, aims for 2033 after Rome’s recognitio.
On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, Marius Linnenborn, director of the German Liturgical Institute in Trier, said the revised missal for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland will introduce wording that includes women where only masculine forms now appear, and that masculine images of God will be handled with care. On the words over the chalice, he said he believes the bishops would vote to retain “for all” rather than “for many,” though he stressed the question is not yet decided.
Consultation and trial use
On Monday, November 2, the German Bishops’ Conference announced a public consultation phase running until June 30, 2027. Specialists and pastoral liturgists may submit concrete proposals through an online form; general criticisms will not be considered. New texts are also to be tested in selected parishes from Ash Wednesday through the end of June 2027.
Under the current timetable, the new missal would be introduced in 2033, after approval by the bishops of the German-speaking area and the recognitio of the Dicastery for Divine Worship. The project, led since 2024 by the Conference for the Liturgy of the Church in the German-speaking area, is described as a moderate revision rather than a complete new translation from the Latin. It will supply official German versions of texts from the third typical edition of the Roman Missal that still lack them—including another Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation not translated in 1975 and prayers over the people for each day of Lent—and will add alternative collects based on each Sunday’s readings.
Translation norms and the “pro multis” question
Linnenborn said the present translation is generally well made but contains expressions that would not be phrased the same way today. He argued that earlier efforts after the 1975 missal faltered under the strict fidelity required by Liturgiam authenticam (2001), while the 2017 motu proprio Magnum principium of Pope Francis restored primary responsibility for liturgical translations to the episcopal conferences.
The wording of the consecration remains a point of known sensitivity. On April 14, 2012, Benedict XVI wrote to then-president of the German bishops, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, that pro multis should be rendered literally as “for many,” and he asked for prior catechesis so that the change would not cause division. Whether the German-speaking conferences will follow that request or retain “for all” will be settled only after the consultation, episcopal votes, and Roman recognitio still ahead.