The publication date for the British edition of the Revised New Jerusalem Bible has been delayed for about a month. The publication date listed on Book Depository has changed from June 27, 2019 to July 29, 2019. Since this delay is coming so late in the process, I’m guessing (and hoping!) that it represents a delay in the final stages of printing. The US edition of the RNJB, which will be published by Image Books, is still scheduled for release in Feburary 2020.
DO we know if it carries an imprimatur?
I don’t see anything on the publisher’s website (Darton, Longman, and Todd) that mentions an imprimatur. I checked the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, but their list of approved liturgical translations doesn’t include the RNJB. A Google search didn’t turn up any information except a year-old blog post by Fr. Neil Xavier O’Donoghue (who also wrote a series of guest posts for Timothy’s blog). Fr. O’Donoghue’s post refers to “the Old Testament which will be published before the end of this year (and is in the process of receiving an imprimatur).”
I can think of a few possibilities: maybe the publishing delays have been caused by delays in the review process for the imprimatur. On the other hand, maybe DLT has decided to publish the bible before the imprimatur is finalized. If the bishops have not yet decided how to proceed with a new translation for the lectionary, maybe they will not move forward with the extensive review process until they are certain that they want to use the RNJB.
This kind of last minute delay can happen many times before a book is published, examples I have encountered include the most recent version of the Harper Collins Study Bible which was delayed 5 times when it was only a week from its scheduled release date before I canceled my pre-order) and the 4th edition of Eamon Duffy’s ‘Saints and Sinners’ which was delayed with 4 or 5 times with only a week left before publication, leading me to cancel the preorder.