Posted on 04/29/2008 8:18:52 AM PDT by NYer
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Liturgical renewal launched by the Second Vatican Council is an "irreversible path" and has not been affected by Pope Benedict XVI's concession on wider use of the Tridentine rite, a Vatican official said.
"The pope's decision has so far not produced any change in the celebrative practice of our ecclesial communities. His gesture was only one of service to unity," Archbishop Piero Marini, who arranged papal liturgies for more than 20 years, said in an interview April 25 in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.
"Therefore let's look ahead and let's continue with enthusiasm the path undertaken by the council," he said.
Late last year Archbishop Marini was named to head the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.
The archbishop remains involved in international liturgical issues, and he said a revision of the committee's statutes is giving it wider authority over eucharistic congresses at the national and regional level, too.
Asked if Pope Benedict's relaxation of restrictions on the use of the pre-Vatican II liturgy signaled a halt to the liturgical reform movement, Archbishop Marini said that was clearly not the pope's aim.
The pope's decree "does not intend to introduce modifications on the current Roman Missal or express a negative judgment on the liturgical reform desired by the council," he said.
He said the decree, which reached out to disaffected Catholics, should be seen as an effort to maintain unity in the church.
Archbishop Marini said his own experience in organizing papal liturgies in more than 100 countries has convinced him that the liturgical reform movement has brought overwhelmingly positive results.
"Everywhere, the liturgy desired by the council was celebrated with lively participation and enthusiasm. Everyone understood the liturgy as proper to the local church and at the same time as an expression of the universal church," he said.
Those liturgies also demonstrated that liturgical reform has solid theological foundations, he said.
"Therefore this is an irreversible path," he said.
Liturgical celebration cannot be separated from the life of the church, the archbishop said, and this means "the church of today, not the church of yesterday or of tomorrow."
At the same time, Archbishop Marini said celebrating the liturgy according to Vatican II is not an easy thing. It takes patience, perseverance and pastoral charity, he said.
One particular issue that has emerged during papal trips, he said, is the fact that some Masses are now attended by hundreds of thousands of the faithful. That raises practical considerations like the number of concelebrants, the distribution of Communion and the level of personal participation, he said.
Pope Benedict has already asked for reconsideration of the role of concelebrants, and Archbishop Marini said it makes sense to look at the question through a serious study and with eventual pastoral-liturgical guidelines.
Archbishop Marini looked ahead to the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec June 15-22, and he praised the local planning for the event. In particular, he said, Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet deserves credit for the enthusiasm, competence and commitment he has brought to the congress.
"I hope this congress will be a source of life and a sign of a renewed springtime in the church in Quebec, in Canada and in the whole world," the archbishop said.
Ugh ... there's that word again.
Oh I don’t know. I’ve been to a whole bunch of liberal churches recently, including one that played drums and cymbols all through the mass, but guess what?
Agnus Dei in Latin!!!!
It’s beginning no matter what the libs want.
In English we call this the "church of what's happening now"
Because the plum jobs aren't there for him anymore, he's bitter and he's clinging to burlap and felt because he feels he's been passed over by both the John Paul II and Benedict XVI administrations.
Does he really see the trend being positive? Is the Church realizing all of the things that were promised?
Actually, he had a lot of power under JPII and designed all of the Pope’s big events, such as the Youth Days and various horrible public spectacles involving toples native dancers, etc.
But I agree, he’s bitter and powerless now, although apparently he still has a flock of groupies in Rome. Methinks BXVI may have to send him off to some far distant and totally undesirable see...remember, Marini’s mentor Bugnini got sent to Tehran by Paul VI (a little too late, unfortunately).
Liturgy is a means to an end and should not be mistaken for the end itself.
In the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is indeed the end in itself - i.e. communion in body and soul with the risen Lord.
"Bitter", eh? He'd do better clinging to his Bible and guns ...
;'}
Who cares what this left behind old goober says?
Incorrect handling of the Consecrated Host in modern liturgies — some worse than others — is among the most grievous errors the Church could make.
Charity begins at home...Charity is next to Godliness...Oh, whatever!
“In the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is indeed the end in itself - i.e. communion in body and soul with the risen Lord.”
Eucharist and Liturgy are two different things. Sacramental Eucharist may be accomplished through a variety of liturgies including Gregorian, Tridentine, Sarum, Cranmerian, Chrysostom, etc. It also may be accomplished in a variety of languages. A congregation can spend so much time making sure it follows a liturgical format absolutely correctly that it jeopardizes its own spiritual growth and becomes a club of pharisees.
Archbishop Marini deserves a Solemn High Requiem Mass.
I've never seen a "liturgy desired by the council". Has anyone? I wonder what he's talking about?
I'm still searching for the Vatican II documents which say "Latin should be entirely eliminated from the Mass". Maybe Marini is hiding them somewhere.
“Goober” is charitable!
Yes, what was released in the Summorum Pontificum will not be reversed and it will be the leaven within the Church.
May it so happen that even I, long having lived in a liturgical wasteland, may one day soon attend the extraordinary form of the Holy Mass.
And as some say, Save the Liturgy, Save the World. It is our hope that with the Mass of our heritage being restored that we will also have a return to true catechesis and a greater practice of the fullness of the faith.
Oh, really, Mrs. Tax!
Decrepit, baggage and poor excuse for a human...&tc, &tc...
Frank Sheed
Okay. Elderly and out-of-date person who isn’t making an edifying contribution to the contemporary liturgical dialogue.
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