Permissions

The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) owns the copyright on the New American Bible, revised edition translation. The copyright allows the owner to protect the integrity of the text so that individuals may not introduce changes without permission. Royalty fees earned by licensing the text to companies who publish and sell Bibles help to provide funds for Scripture scholarship and other educational needs.

The CCD's permission policies cover the following areas:

• One time print use
• Use of readings in a worship aid on a regular basis
• Publication of materials using excerpts from the Lectionary
• New American Bible and New American Bible Revised Edition
• Web or other digital media usage

Use of the readings in English and Mass prayers and readings in Spanish in light of the Covid-19 pandemic

These policies apply only to the United States of America.

• No permission is required for livestreaming of Masses and the Divine Office via social media. Relevant liturgical law should be observed regarding the choice and use of texts
• Families and individuals are encouraged to bring their own participation aids (hand missals, seasonal or monthly booklets, etc.) to Mass. Parishes or other groups may wish to coordinate bulk purchase and distribution of such resources if local health restrictions allow.

As of November 29, 2020, licensing is again required to reprint the readings for Sundays and major feasts in a digital or paper worship aid. To obtain a license, please send an email to nabperm@usccb.org with “Sunday Readings License” as the subject. Provide the parish name and address along with the number of copies you will produce (or the average number of downloads if digital). Staff will reply as soon as possible with a license which will serve as your invoice. Please mail a check to the address given on the invoice (along with a copy of the invoice itself) to complete the order.

The current policy of the Committee on Divine Worship is that permission is not granted to project readings and liturgical texts on screens during the liturgy. The bishops have the perspective that since so many people spend much of their time looking at screens, the Sacred Liturgy ought to be a prayerful break from that experience. The bishops also think that screens are a distraction from what is actually taking place in the liturgy.

One-time print use (such as in a worship program for a special liturgy)

• No written permission is required for one-time use.
• The official liturgical text must be followed. All excerpts must be verbatim from the text, including capitalization and punctuation. The poetic structure of those readings written in verse (for example, Psalms, Wisdom, Isaiah, etc.) must be preserved in verse as printed.
• The appropriate acknowledgment must be printed either beneath the reading(s) or with the other acknowledgments:

Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Use of Readings in Worship Aids on a Regular Basis:

• A written agreement is required to reproduce the readings in worship leaflets, bulletins, parish hymnals, etc. on a regular basis.
• The annual license fee varies based on the number of copies made each week.
• A license may be requested by emailing the following information: Contact person, parish name, parish address, phone number, number of copies printed each week, proposed start date.
• The official liturgical text must be followed. All excerpts must be verbatim from the text, including capitalization and punctuation. The poetic structure of those readings written in verse (for example, Psalms, Wisdom, Isaiah, etc.) must be preserved in verse as printed.
• The appropriate acknowledgment must be printed either beneath the reading(s) or with the other acknowledgments:

Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Publication of materials using excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass:

• Permission must be requested for any use exceeding 5,000 words from the Lectionary for Mass or any use which reprints more than 40% of the readings for a rite or season.
• The official liturgical text must be followed. All excerpts must be verbatim from the text, including capitalization and punctuation. The poetic structure of those readings written in verse (for example, Psalms, Wisdom, Isaiah, etc.) must be preserved in verse as printed.
• The appropriate acknowledgment must be printed either beneath the reading(s) or with the other acknowledgments:

Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

• The use of the text in liturgical books and leaflets may require approval by the Secretariat for the Liturgy, a license agreement, and payment of a permission fee, regardless of the amount of text used.
• If you have any questions regarding use of the Lectionary for Mass, please contact the Associate Director or 202-541-3098, or by postal mail at

New American Bible (NAB)

• No permission is required for use of less than 5,000 words of the NAB in print, sound, or electronic formats (for web usage, see below) provided that such use comprises less than 40% of a single book of the Bible and less than 40% of the proposed work.
• Permission must be requested for use of more than 5,000 words from the NAB (or when the use comprises more than 40% of a single book of the Bible or more than 40% of the proposed work).
• A copy of the manuscript pages that contain Scripture selections should be sent to:

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

If you have any questions regarding use of the New American Bible, revised edition, please contact the Associate Director or 202-541-3098, or by postal mail at

Web and other digital Media Usage

• No permission or fee is needed to display the daily readings on an RSS feed only on a website which does not condition access by users on the users giving anything of value to the website operator.
• E-books and digital applications for sale or for free distribution require a license and a royalty payment or permissions fee. To obtain a license, please contact the Associate Director or 202-541-3098, or by postal mail at