New document on liturgy to appear soon

Catholic World News ^ | 1/7/04 | Catholic World News

[lrslattery]

Catholic World News (cwnews.com) has reported that the long-awaited document on the liturgy that the Holy Father called for in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, will soon be made public. It seems to have been delayed by high-level disagreements within the Vatican. It is also reported that the document will not contain any striking innovations.

In Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Pope John Paul had said that the new document would provide juridical norms regarding the celebration of the Eucharist. The purpose of the document, Vatican officials disclosed at the time, was to curtail liturgical abuse-- a problem that was viewed by the Holy See with grave concern.

CWN reports that the editors of the document-- which has been prepared primarly by the Congregation for Divine Worship-- were reportedly under heavy pressure to avoid causing controversy by taking positions that would be judged as extreme. The final document will avoid that danger by confining itself to a repetition of previous Vatican statements and standards. In effect, informed sources report, the new document will be a distilled version of the liturgical norms already published in the General Instructions for the Roman Missal.

[lrslattery]

So if CWN sources are correct, we are going to get yet under toothless document without the 'prescriptions of a juridical nature' which the Holy Father requested. No 'rigid' rules for us, please! We do so love our our warm, fuzzy liturgies with dancing, bongos & drums, clapping, with electified guitars and such....It's just so, Matthew Fox - you know what I'm talking about - his Cosmic Techo Mass!

If this report is true, and I certainly don't want to prejudge the document itself, many will be greatly disappointed. There are enough documents already that clarify the rules and far too many priests ignore them and some bishops are too weak to correct them.

I guess we will have to wait and see. (slatts.blogspot.com)

[lrslattery]

So if CWN sources are correct, we are going to get yet another toothless document without the 'prescriptions of a juridical nature' which the Holy Father requested.

[RobbyS]

Consider the history of the Ten Articles of Henry VIII: Where a document is ambiguous, the result can go in either direction, depending on who is running the show. The Articles were a mix of conservative and reforming propositions, but the reformers usually carried the day because Cromwell and Cranmer dominated the implication of the Articles. They made every resistance to their instructions to be a resistance to the royal supremacy. So even though Henry himself preferred traditional practices, he almost always allowed a move in a reformed direction. Only the Real Presence was a doctrine that the Reformers dared not touch.

[Salvation]

**The purpose of the document, Vatican officials disclosed at the time, was to curtail liturgical abuse-- a problem that was viewed by the Holy See with grave concern.**

This will be good. Looking forward to it.

[RobbyS]

Usually when authorities speak of "abuse" they mean practices that depart from fundamental principles. We will see if they move against priests who are informal heretics.