Pope makes major change to Lord's Prayer

Pope Francis (Image courtesy Pixabay)

Lead us not into temptation of changing the words in the Bible.

Pope Francis has officially approved changes to some of the most famous verses in Holy Scripture, including the Lord's Prayer, in a revised third edition of the Italian Missal.

The well-known "Our Father" prayer has a line stating, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." (Matthew 6:13 King James Version)

The pontiff has swapped the "lead us not into temptation" portion to "do not let us fall into temptation."

Officials say the change was made because the original rendering implies God induces temptation among His people.

"I am the one who falls; it’s not Him pushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen," Francis told broadcasters about the change.

"A father doesn't do that, a father helps you to get up immediately. It's Satan who leads us into temptation, that's his department."

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Jonathan Morris, the religion correspondent for Fox News, told Martha MacCallum on "The Story" that Catholic leaders are merely trying to convey the original intent of the verse, since Jesus was not speaking in English during His human ministry.

"He's saying the translation isn't good because God never makes us fall or never leads us into temptation. He actually allows us to be tempted, but we have to make a choice," Morris explained.

Francis also gave the go-ahead to a change in The Gloria from "Peace on earth to people of good will" to "Peace on Earth to people beloved by God," based on Luke 2:14 which conveys the story of shepherds witnessing Jesus' birth.

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