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Pope Francis says ‘Lord’s Prayer’ words should be changed

Pope Francis at Saint Peter's square at the Vatican.
Pope Francis at Saint Peter's square at the Vatican. Tony Gentile/Reuters

Pope Francis says the words in the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ — one of the most well-known prayers in Christianity — need to be tweaked.

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In an interview on an Italian TV show Wednesday, he explained that he thinks the current English translation isn’t completely accurate. The pontiff explained that the translation, which asks God “lead us not into temptation,” doesn’t work because Satan — not God — leads to sin.

“A father does not do that, a father helps you to get up immediately. It’s Satan who leads us into temptation, that’s his department,” he said during the interview.

That’s why he wants the Roman Catholic Church to consider changing the words to “do not let us fall into temptation.”

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The French Catholic Church has already made the switch in its language translation.

The prayer’s translations are from the Latin vulgate, which was translated from ancient Greek, which was, in turn, translated from Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus.

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Liturgical translations are usually done by local Churches in co-ordination with the Vatican.

The suggested changes could create some controversy among traditionalists, Anglican theologian Rev. Ian Paul told The Guardian.

“The word in question is peirasmos [from New Testament Greek] which means both to tempt and to be tested. So on one level the pope has a point. But he’s also stepping into a theological debate about the nature of evil,” Paul explained.
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He added that many Christians learn the prayer by heart as children, and changing it could cause emotions to run high.

“You risk disrupting the pattern of communal prayer. You fiddle with it at your peril.”

— With files from Reuters

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