You wrote:
“IMHO, changing the word “virgin” to “young woman” is changing doctrine.”
Nope. There is no Church on earth which believes in Mary’s virginity more than the Catholic Church. The problem is that the Hebrew clearly means “young woman”. In the Septuagint it says “virgin”. The translators and editors decided to use the ACTUAL MEANING OF THE WORD. My complaint is not that, but that they also used a more poorly written footnote on the issue. I read both the old footnote and the new one and I though the old one was stronger in its explanation:
The sign proposed by Isaiah was concerned with the preservation of Judah in the midst of distress (cf Isaiah 7:15, 17), but more especially with the fulfillment of God’s earlier promise to David (2 Sam 7:12-16) in the coming of Immanuel (meaning, “With us is God”) as the ideal king (cf Isaiah 9:5-6; 11:1-5). The Church has always followed St. Matthew in seeing the transcendent fulfillment of this verse in Christ and his Virgin Mother. The prophet need not have known the full force latent in his own words; and some Catholic writers have sought a preliminary and partial fulfillment in the conception and birth of the future King Hezekiah, whose mother, at the time Isaiah spoke, would have been a young, unmarried woman (Hebrew, almah). The Holy Spirit was preparing, however, for another Nativity which alone could fulfill the divinely given terms of Immanuel’s mission, and in which the perpetual virginity of the Mother of God was to fulfill also the words of this prophecy in the integral sense intended by the divine Wisdom.
Here’s the new footnote:
[7:14] Isaiah’s sign seeks to reassure Ahaz that he need not fear the invading armies of Syria and Israel in the light of God’s promise to David (2 Sm 7:12–16). The oracle follows a traditional announcement formula by which the birth and sometimes naming of a child is promised to particular individuals (Gn 16:11; Jgs 13:3). The young woman: Hebrew ‘almah designates a young woman of marriageable age without specific reference to virginity. The Septuagint translated the Hebrew term as parthenos, which normally does mean virgin, and this translation underlies Mt 1:23. Emmanuel: the name means “with us is God.” Since for the Christian the incarnation is the ultimate expression of God’s willingness to “be with us,” it is understandable that this text was interpreted to refer to the birth of Christ.
No apostasy, just an accurate translation. I just wish they had a better footnote.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my post. I learned something. And yes, apostasy is too strong a word. I just couldn’t believe that the Catholic Church would change it, even if it were a questionable translation.