Spain's Lord's Prayer: 'Debts' Changed to 'Trespasses' in 1986

From Debts to Trespasses: The Church Changed the Lord's Prayer

"Changes that are very pleasing to the ear." With this argument, the Cardinal of Toledo dismissed the reform of the Lord's Prayer approved in 1986 by the Spanish Episcopal Conference along with episcopal conferences from 26 other Spanish-speaking countries. Christianity's most repeated prayer stopped asking for forgiveness for debts and started asking for it for offenses. Four decades later, the question remains without an official answer: why was just that word touched?

This is not a sacristy discussion. Every time someone compares the prayer with the original Greek, the same suspicion arises: that the substitution was not merely aesthetic. And there is an economic reason, not mystical, for why the detail stings so much.

What does the original Greek of Matthew 6:12 say?

The preserved Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew says ofeilémata, which means debts, not offenses. The transcription of the passage —Kai afes emín ta ofeilémata 'emón, complicated by accents— and morphological analysis point in the same direction: the noun ofeilema in nominative, ofeilématos in genitive, with its accusative plural ofeilémata, designates duty or obligation. The verb ofeilo accumulates four meanings: to owe, to be a debtor, to owe, to be obligated.

Translating that as offenses requires a leap. It is not impossible, but it is a leap. Those who defend the change rely on the idea that offense is a more general and intelligible concept, better understood by the common people, those who —added with sarcasm— will never be creditors of debts. The complete detail of the textual chain, Greek and Latin side by side, warrants a philology session that does not fit here.

The Vulgate and the generation that prays debts and debtors

Latin left no room for doubt: et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimisimus debitoribus nostris. Hence, many older Catholics still pray the Lord's Prayer with debts and debtors, unaware of the reform. The current Spanish version was consolidated in 1988, although the changes were approved two years earlier, with John Paul II on the throne of Peter.

The coexistence of the two formulas has a curious effect that has been pointed out more than once: people mix both versions, and the saying "knowing something like the Lord's Prayer" lost its meaning. There is no longer a single version in the collective memory. There are two, and each person prays the one they were taught.

Why was it changed? Three readings and no proof

Some argue that the change sought to make the prayer understandable for a congregation without training. Against this weighs a simple argument: debt is not a difficult word. It is an uncomfortable word.

A second reading points to a reaction against Liberation Theology, which had that verse as one of its evangelizing foundations. Those who propose it admit that the question hangs in the air. Without documentation to support it, it stays there.

And a third line, the loudest, attributes the shift to alleged organized pressure from hidden interests and specific groups. Not a single document is provided, and the chronology does not help: the change is from the mid-eighties, not a recent operation.

Against all that, the strongest argument is the most boring. In French, the current Lord's Prayer says Pardonne-nous nos offenses. In German, the same word —Schulden— serves for debt and for guilt. When the language does not force a choice, the choice ceases to be suspicious.

The debt forgiveness that IS in the Bible

If the Lord's Prayer were read literally, a believer with assets would be obliged to forgive unpayable debts, especially if they carry abusive interest. The Old Testament had already legislated this: Deuteronomy 15:1 establishes the forgiveness of debts every seven years, and Leviticus 25 adds the liberation of slaves every seven years and the redemption of property every fifty. No one complies. Neither then nor now.

The harshest reply comes from the other side: that people went into debt out of greed, just as now, to have what they could not afford, and that loans are granted to those with income to repay them, as happens with mortgages. That there were abusive lenders does not automatically turn the debtor into a victim. At that point, the exchange of arguments breaks down.

That issue returned strongly in 2008. There was talk of write-offs, condonations, bailouts. There were write-offs for banks. For households, none.

From "for all men" to "for many"

The Lord's Prayer was not the only text tweaked. The formula for the consecration of wine changed from "will be shed for you and for all men" to "will be shed for you, and for many." Same pattern: a lexical precision that narrows the scope of what is said. Those who pray in Latin, some say, save themselves the whole problem.

In German, the same word names debt and guilt. In Greek, ofeilémata means only one thing. Forty years later, no one has explained why the third option was chosen.