Pope Francis proposes changes to modern translation of Lord's Prayer

Pope Francis has proposed changes to the modern Italian translation of the Lord's Prayer, saying the current version is flawed because it implies God leads people into temptation.

"This is not a good translation," the pontiff told Italian broadcasters, referring to the text of the line "Lead us not into temptation."

Catholic Herald noted that the line in question is rendered in the same way in Italian and that a change in English may also be coming.

The pope's proposal came after the French Catholic Church adopted a new version of the Lord's Prayer, in which the passage "Ne nous soumets pas à la tentation (Do not submit us to temptation)," was replaced with "Ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation (Do not let us enter into temptation)."

"The French have changed the text with a translation that says 'do not let me fall into temptation.' I am the one who falls, but it isn't He who throws me into temptation and then looks on to see how I fell. A father does not do this; a father helps us get up immediately. The one who leads you into temptation is Satan," Francis said, adding, "that's Satan's role."

Breitbart News noted that translations of the prayer into modern languages is generally based on the Latin Vulgate, a late fourth-century text attributed to Saint Jerome, who translated much of the Old Testament from Hebrew and the New Testament from Greek.

The Rev. Ian Paul, an Anglican theologian, pointed out that the Greek word in question is "peirasmos," which means "both to tempt and to be tested."

Some have suggested that it could refer either to the Last Judgment or to trials described elsewhere in Scripture, such as the one experienced by Job.

Paul expressed concern that the pope's proposal could cause some problems as people learn the prayer by heart from their childhood and making changes to the translation could cause disruptions in the pattern of communal prayer.

The new version of the Lord's Prayer has been adopted by both the French Catholic church and the much smaller Protestant Church.

However, the national council of evangelicals of France has expressed concern that the new version "waters down God's sovereignty."

Prior to the adoption of the new translation, theologians debated the issue for 17 years, with some insisting that it is preposterous to suggest that God could do the devil's work, and others branding the idea downright blasphemous.

The new version was not supposed to be adopted in the Roman Missel until 2019, but French priests who were tired of waiting for its release had taken the liberty of introducing it a year early.