"Spirits of Brothers & Sisters" painting depicting ancestral religion
Posted on 12/03/2020 8:22:57 AM PST by ebb tide
VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pope Francis is praising an inculturated African Mass rite as a model for a proposed Amazonian indigenous rite even though the African eucharistic liturgy incorporates the pagan custom of "invocation of ancestors."
"Spirits of Brothers & Sisters" painting depicting ancestral religion
"The Zairean rite suggests a promising way also for the possible elaboration of an Amazonian rite," writes Francis in his preface for a new book titled Pope Francis and the Roman Missal of the Dioceses of Zaire: A Promising Rite for Other Cultures.
The Zairean Mass, sometimes called the "Congolese Mass," is "until now the only inculturated rite of the Latin Church approved after the Second Vatican Council," claims Vatican News — although the Vatican also approved "Twelve Points of Adaptation" for a Hinduized "Indian rite Mass" in 1969.
Commending the Zairean rite for its cultural vibrancy and spirituality, Pope Francis says that the liturgical inculturation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is an invitation for enhancing the different gifts of the Holy Spirit, thus enriching humanity.
"Animated by religious songs with an African rhythm, the sound of drums and other musical instruments constitute real progress in the rooting of the Christian message in the Congolese soul. It is a joyful celebration. It is a true place of encounter with Jesus," observes Francis.
This is not the moment to include half-baked theological speculations in the liturgy.Tweet
The pontiff insists that liturgical inculturation in Africa and the Amazon is possible "without upsetting the nature of the Roman Missal, to guarantee continuity with the ancient and universal tradition of the Church."
Francis' commendation of the Zairean Mass comes a year after the pontiff celebrated a special Mass for Rome-based Congolese Catholics in St. Peter's Basilica using the Zairean rite.
Liturgists, however, are disturbed by pagan elements in the Zaire Mass, especially the rite of the "Invocation of the Ancestors of Upright Heart (invocation ancêtres au coeur droi)," together with the saints in the opening rites of the Holy Mass — particularly as the congregation may even invoke their pagan ancestors.
In comments to Church Militant, Dr. Joseph Shaw, editor of The Case for Liturgical Restoration explained the biblical, theological and liturgical "absurdity" of incorporating the invocation of ancestors into the liturgy.
Congolese women worship at St. Peter's in the Zairean rite
"The saints of the Old Testament do not provide a precedent for the invocation of pagan ancestors in the Church's liturgy," Shaw argued. "They were saved by their faith in Christ; since Christ's Passion, we can be saved by baptism."
"Those who fall into neither category we must leave to God's mercy. To invoke them in the liturgy is inappropriate in the extreme," observed Shaw, an Oxford academic and chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.
"The Church does not even allow us to have a public Mass celebrated for the repose of their souls, but here we are leap-frogging the possibility of their salvation to suppose that their merits justify their invocation in the liturgy. This is absurd," he asserted.
Shaw elaborated:
This isn't something specific to Zaire or the developing world. We all have non-Christian ancestors, friends and even family members. It is at once a matter of great sensitivity and importance. The worst thing we can do for them is to obscure the connection between explicit faith in Christ and salvation. The Church has long dealt with the issue with caution and tact. This is not the moment to include half-baked theological speculations in the liturgy.
But Congolese Cdl. Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya defended the "invocation of the ancestors" as calling upon "only those who have lived in an exemplary way, promoting unity and harmony of the group, inspiring respect for the elderly, loyalty to traditional customs."
"For this reason, they are regarded as the true protectors and intermediaries between God and the living, between the earthly world and the hereafter," argued Pasinya, insisting that "the saints are not only the canonized, they are all our dead. And so, in the Body of Christ is accomplished what the cult of the ancestors implied."
The saints of the Old Testament do not provide a precedent for the invocation of pagan ancestors in the Church's liturgy.Tweet
"The link with the ancestors does not constitute a closure in particularism. On the contrary, it inspires openness, hospitality and attention to the foreigner," Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, explained. "So reverence to ancestors cannot be considered as an obstacle to the reception of the gospel message, but on the contrary can be seen as a preparation and a base for its acceptance."
Commenting on his experience of preaching in African contexts, French-speaking theologian and cultural commentator Fr. Athanasius St. Michel told Church Militant that the inculturation of "ancestor invocation" was especially problematic in a context where some Africans were already inclined towards ancestral religions.
He explained:
The distinguishing factor between ancestor worship and the communion of saints is holiness and incorporation into Christ. Great care must be taken between these two relationships with the dead. One is benign and the other malign. Without this, one is faced with a pagan spirituality often involving elements of fear, magic and control.
Other inculturated features of the Zairean rite include the placement of the penitential rite just before the sign of peace and preparation of gifts, the use of dance, all male servers carrying spears, the priest vested in robes of a tribal priest, and a "herald" calling the assembly to worship corresponding to a servant announcing the arrival of a chief.
Revisionists demanding an Amazonian rite during the controversial 2019 Amazon Synod were disappointed when Pope Francis' post-synodal apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazon) agreed to incorporate into the "liturgy many elements proper to the experience of indigenous peoples" but fell short of approving an Amazonian rite for the Holy Eucharist — a proposal mooted during synodal discussions.
Francis' "Spirit" has different gifts for different folks, e.g. the divorced and remarried have more gifts than those in faithful sacramental marriages.
Ping
Pope Soros.
“Liturgists, however, are disturbed by pagan elements in the Zaire Mass, especially the rite of the “Invocation of the Ancestors of Upright Heart (invocation ancêtres au coeur droi),” together with the saints in the opening rites of the Holy Mass — particularly as the congregation may even invoke their pagan ancestors.”
Together with the saints being key.
Is the objection only that the ancestors are not of the right heart?
Next up, Francis will extol the ‘Aztec Rite’ where a congregant’s still beating heart is carved from his chest and offered up to Mictlāntēcutli.
What does it mean to “invoke” someone?
Is is intended to be equivalent to the place of actual Saints?
Not a Catholic, but pretty sure that to achieve Sainthood is a rigorous process.
As for small “s” saints, of which only our predecessors in the Body of Christ qualify, they are not “invoked” anyway, are they?
In any event, give me a church service where the congreation sings:
1 For all the saints who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
2 Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;
thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
3 O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,
fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
and win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
4 O blest communion, fellowship divine,
we feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
For centuries the Catholic Church had a pope and an anti-Pope.
Sounds like they need to get an anti-Pope once again....
To invoke someone is itself a pagan practice. It’s summoning spirits of the dead. Necromancy.
looks like somebody's been smoking the incense
Gee, I thought the Pope was the head of the Catholic church and was supposed to involve himself in Catholic religious matters. Seems this guy is into just about anything but the Church.
So does Boogieman believe Jesus Christ to be a pagan for summoning up Moses and Elijah at His Transfiguration?
This is the same racism that plagues so many in the church.
I was stunned decades ago to find that the Latin American Bishops allowed pagan statues on the altar in churches with indigenous parishioners.
The second thing stunning was that our missionary members didn’t think a thing about it because they were Indians.
Does ebb tide believe that the restrictions God placed upon humans apply to God?
Does Boogieman man believe Jesus Christ, True Man and True God, to be a pagan?
Yep. Invocation is no better than a spin around a ouija board. Calling it inappropriate or absurd = far too mild.
Better title would be, “Pope Lauds Profanation of Liturgy.”
Him buying into a local indigenous cult of the dead, though...
To even ask that question is ludicrous.
Dope Frank, the Pagan Satanist anti-pope.
Does he even know Latin? Or does he fake it?
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