A pair of conservative groups have launched a petition asking Pope Francis to keep the current English wording of the Lord’s Prayer, as the Italian version of the prayer was recently altered.
The Ruth Institute and LifeSiteNews created the online petition on Monday, which got thousands of signatories within 20 hours of being posted.
At issue is the possibility that the prayer’s statement “lead us not into temptation” might be changed to “do not abandon us to temptation.”
“We’ve learned the words of our prayers from our mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, our priests, nuns, and brothers,” reads the petition, addressed to the pontiff.
“Please don’t break this precious connection with these cherished people, with our tradition and our past. Please don’t replace these beloved words.”
LifeSiteNews quoted biblical scholar Fr. Reto Nay in defense of their argument that the Lord’s Prayer does not need to be changed.
“The text of the ‘Our Father’ is passed down to us in the New Testament, which was written in ancient Greek. The phrase ‘and lead us not into temptation’ is contained both in Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4 with identical wording,” said Nay. “This means that the wording of the prayer cannot be blamed on a transmission error or misunderstanding.”
Ruth Institute President Jennifer Roback Morse said in a statement released on Monday that this petition was a deviation from her organization’s usual focus on political and social issues.
“This petition is important because faith is the foundation of our lives. It permeates everything, including the Ruth Institute’s work for the family,” said Morse.
“We wish to convey to him that the faithful of the English-speaking world are attached to the words of the Lord’s Prayer. The proposed change will create unnecessary confusion and division in an already confused and divided church.”
On May 22, the Vatican officially enacted a change to the Italian version of the Lord’s Prayer, also commonly known as the “Our Father.”