Los Angeles ? Roman Catholic bishops on Thursday voted to make the most significant changes to the Mass since Americans began worshipping in English instead of Latin more than three decades ago.

Wording in familiar prayers deep-rooted in Catholics’ memories will change.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to alter the Mass to bring it in line with changes the Vatican wanted to make it closer to the Latin version.

Bishop Donald Trautman, of Erie, Pa., head of the bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy, called the vote a “new liturgical moment for the church in the United States … that will affect the worship life of every American Catholic.” He cautioned that it could be a year or two before the changes are implemented in American churches.

Trautman said the Vatican now needs to approve the 62 amendments the American bishops want included in the new translations. And the U.S. bishops still have to approve other items that deal with liturgy apart from the Mass.

The word changes may seem minor but will be obvious to Catholics who recite the liturgy every week. For example, now when the priest says “Peace be with you” during a familiar Eucharistic prayer, the congregation replies “And also with you.”

In the new version, the response will be “And also with your spirit.”

Addressing the bishops Thursday, Bishop Arthur Roche, of Leeds, England, said the language was meant to convey that Catholics “are part of a spiritual community … that it is God’s spirit that has gathered us together.”