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Catholic World News, 10/27, subscription only...

There is also a story on CWNews indicating that the SSPX indicate that any motu proprio will likely mean nothing in their relations with the Vatican.

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=47337

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In France, Cardinal Arinze decries liturgical abuses

Oct. 27 (CWNews.com) - The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship spoke out sharply against liturgical abuses during an October 26 presentation in Paris.

Speaking at the Catholic Institute of Paris, Cardinal Francis Arinze (bio - news) decried the "banalization, desacralization, and secularization of the liturgy." He rebuked priests who take an "overtly egocentric" approach to the liturgy, violating the norms of the Church. And he also criticized priests whose "false humility" leads them to "share their role with the laity."

"The sacred liturgy is not a domain in which free exploration reigns," the Nigerian-born cardinal said. He suggested that many liturgical abuses can be traced to "the undue place given to spontaneity, or creativity, or perhaps a false idea of liberty, or even that error that goes by the name of 'horizontalism,' which consists in placing man at the center of the liturgical celebration instead of directing attention upward, that is toward Christ."

Cardinal Arinze went on to say that priests should deliver homilies that are "rooted in Sacred Scripture," rather than offering thoughts based on sociology, psychology, and politics. He reminded his French audience that priests are ordained to proclaim the Word of God rather than to offer their insights on matters that lay people can study equally well. By interfering in the province of the laity, he added, priests confuse their own role, and "that always causes damage."

In an address that repeated themes frequently set forth in Vatican documents, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship concluded with the observation that "the liturgy is not the property of anyone-- neither the celebrant nor the community in which the mysteries are celebrated." He exhorted priests to approach the Mass with reverence and an appreciation for their own role in the Eucharistic mystery.

In a separate address to the conference, Archbishop André Vingt-Trois of Paris-- who is the chancellor of the Catholic Institute-- observed that in France, debates about liturgical practice have been "exploited in a debate of a different order." He explained that some radical Catholics had moved toward "a new model of the Church," through "a celebration of the assembly itself, substituting for a celebration of the work of God." On the other hand, he charged that conservative Catholics have used their defense of liturgical norms as a cover of "a radical critique of the Second Vatican Council."

The archbishop's remarks were obviously a reference to the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). During the past month, French bishops have been outspoken in their criticism of the SSPX, and have expressed severe misgivings that Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) might appeal to traditionalists by allowing broader use of the old Latin Mass.

Although he did not explicitly mention the SSPX, Archbishop Vingt-Trois did note that successive popes have sought to repair damage to Church unity "since the sad year 1988"-- the year when Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre was excommunicated for ordaining bishops for the SSPX without Vatican approval. The archbishop went on to promise that the French hierarchy would "work calmly and serenely toward the needed reconciliation."

Cardinal Arinze, in his own presentation, did not mention the dispute over the Latin Mass or the reports of a papal document allowing broader use of the traditional liturgy.