TORONTO - The new Roman Missal is coming to an iPhone near you.

The new iPhone application is called the “The New Mass: The New Translation” and was released on July 7. The application allows cellphone users who have an iPhone or iPod device to download the missal for 99-cents and then read it on their screen.

Cale Clarke, a pastoral assistant at St. Justin Martyr Catholic Church in Unionville, Ont., developed the application with his friend Batsirai Chada.

“When I heard about the new English translation of the Mass, I realized that a massive catechetical effort would be needed to help people learn the new texts and responses,” he said.

The app will be a helpful tool for tech-savvy parishioners who are plugged into the digital world, he added. It provides a breakdown of each major section of the Mass with the new translation and a brief commentary on the reasons for the change.

Clarke said the new translation makes the English text “more faithful” to the Latin text and will help Catholics discover what the Mass is really about.

“It’s the heart of our faith, ‘the source and summit’ as the Church puts it, because the Mass is Jesus Christ Himself. He is there in His physical, real presence — body, blood, soul and divinity,” he said in an e-mail interview on the Toronto archdiocese’s blog.

In Canada, a new Roman Missal is expected to be implemented by Advent 2011.

A committee of English-speaking bishops and experts recently completed their nine-year work on the new translation. The revised Missal was presented to Pope Benedict XVI on April 28, a translation of the Latin text which was officially promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 2000.

For more information on the app, see www.thefaithexplained.com/the-new-mass/iphone/.

Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register Sheila Dabu Nonato is a reporter for The Catholic Register. A graduate of the University of Toronto's international relations program (M.A.) and Carleton University's School of Journalism (M.J.),  she has worked at The Canadian Press, CBC Ottawa, The Toronto Star, The Jordan Times and IRIN Middle East. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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