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This is one rendering of The Glory Be:

Glory be to the Father, and to the son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

And this is another:

Glory be to the Father, and to the son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Does the Catholic Church say which of these is the correct rendering in english of The Glory Be (The Doxology)? If none is, what is the correct rendering in english of The Glory Be (The Doxology) according to the Catholic Church?

This is what got me thinking, that the Mass in English has a New Translation.

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    I don't think there is a "correct" rendering. Wouldn't any official communication about this from the Holy See be in Latin anyway?
    – Matt Gutting
    Jan 19, 2016 at 15:17
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    If you're looking for an answer from Catholic dogma, can you explain why you expect there to be one? Has the church ruled definitively on English translation issues in the past? If you're just looking for an answer from linguistic scholarship, this isn't the right place.
    – Mr. Bultitude
    Jan 19, 2016 at 17:15
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    @Mr.Bultitude I believe they have. I don't recall where, but I remember reading that, for example, in the good Friday prayer perfidia must be translated to "faithless," and not "treacherous," despite the modern English connotation of the latter.
    – Andrew
    Jan 20, 2016 at 3:09
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    What's with the downvotes? I believe the question is on topic. If the answer is in the negative (No, the CC does not say which is the...), it's not a bad question.
    – Andrew
    Jan 20, 2016 at 3:12
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    @and yeah, I cant abide these downvotes, makes me want to go upvote everything fms has ever done on this site. I think I've asked this question though...
    – Peter Turner ♦
    Jan 20, 2016 at 3:15

2 Answers 2

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An Official version is available On Line from the Vatican

This link takes you to the compendium of the catechism of the Catholic Church which is hosted at the Vatican's web page. In Appendix A, Common Prayers, the Gloria Patri is rendered with Latin next to English.

English:

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

Latin

Glória Patri et Fílio et Spirítui Sancto. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc et semper et in sæ´cula sæculórum. Amen.

Given the source, it's about as official as one can ask for.

Note:

  1. In this prayer's case, unlike the Hail Holy Queen, Te Deum, Magnificat, and Benedictus prayers, the Vatican did not break it into "UK English" and "US English" versions. This indicates that they went to some trouble to render it to the best of their ability.

  2. Given the 2011 changes to the Liturgy, in English, to get closer to literal translations from the Latin into the English, there may be a change in time (the RCC moves slowly, when it moves at all) to render that prayer more literally. Since the date for the Compendium seems to be the year 2005, there may be an update coming. Or not.

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As is recounted here, both are considered legitimate translations, although they are typically found in different contexts:

  • The "will be forever" form is found in most translations when playing the Liturgy of the Hours.

  • The "world without end" form, is more common (being the older translation) in other contexts. That's the one that was taught when I was in CCD, and in most groups I've been in that pray the Rosary together, that one is almost always used.

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