The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has granted the imprimátur to the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Catholic Edition (NRSVue-CE), which means that this updated Protestant translation, criticized for years for “softening” passages on homosexuality, is now approved for private use and study by Catholic faithful. According to Friendship Press, the publishing arm of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, the Catholic text will have no differences with the Protestant base and is already listed among the translations approved by the USCCB itself.
The origin of the controversy: biblical “gay-washing”
The criticisms date back to 2022 —as reported by the Catholic Culture portal— when the Protestant biblical scholar Robert A.J. Gagnon, a specialist in Scripture and homosexuality, warned that the NRSVue replaced the Greek term arsenokoitai —traditionally translated as “sodomites”— with the vague formula “men who practice illicit sex” (1 Cor 6:9). For Gagnon, this change breaks the evident connection between the Greek word and homosexual practice.
The translation even included a footnote: first “Greek meaning uncertain” and then “possibly men who have sexual relations with men.” Despite this, the main text eliminated any explicit reference to homosexuality. Gagnon denounced it as the first modern widely circulated translation to erase all mention of homosexual sin.
The translators’ maneuver and the episcopal lukewarmness
The scandal even led the Washington Times to cover the debate in 2022. There it became clear that the translators did not take responsibility: none could explain who changed the phrases, as if —in the ironic words of a Catholic analyst— it were the golden calf that “appeared by itself.” More recently, in an interview, the NRSVue’s responsible parties rejected accusations of ideological motivations, assuring that they had defended their choices before “a body,” possibly the same USCCB.
However, instead of demanding corrections, the American bishops have chosen to give the green light, ignoring warnings that this text offers a Bible diluted in an ideological key.
The risk of accepting ambiguous translations
The USCCB’s decision implies that millions of English-speaking Catholics will have access to a biblical text that softens or erases morally clear passages. For critics like Gagnon and numerous faithful, this represents a pastoral capitulation: in the name of inclusivity, the inspired message of Sacred Scripture is altered.
The Church teaches that authentic interpretation belongs to the Magisterium. With the approval of the NRSVue-CE without amendments, the American bishops call into question their duty to safeguard the revealed Word against cultural pressures and ideological currents.