German bishops reject pope suggestion to tweak Lord’s Prayer

Pope Francis AP PHOTO/Alessandra Tarantino

BERLIN — Roman Catholic bishops in Germany say they’ve debated Pope Francis’ suggestion to tweak the translation of the Lord’s Prayer, but will leave it unchanged.

France recently changed its translation of “lead us not into temptation” to “don’t let me fall into temptation,” which Francis has suggested was better.

He told Italy’s TV2000 last month that a father would never push a son into sin, and “what pushes you to temptation is Satan.”

But the German Bishops’ Conference said Thursday there were strong “philosophical, exegetical, liturgical and, not least, ecumenical” reasons to leave it unchanged.

They say the line speaks of “the trust to be carried and redeemed by almighty God.”

Francis recently allowed individual bishops’ conferences greater leeway in translating liturgical texts, after the Vatican previously centralized the process.