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Speaking for myself only, I'm not proposing as a hard and fast rule that "Organ == Good" and "(Piano|guitar|???) == Bad". And I've no idea how the invention of the Organ was received. However, I've found that as a first-order approximation "Organ == Good" is fairly reliable. The modernists who run Oregon Catholic Press and its subsidiaries, and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians seem to prefer a) insipid, heretical music b) the use of any instrument(s) other than the dreaded organ, and c) any action or physical arrangement which draws personal attention to the various musicians. IOW, they think the Mass is a musical performance; a piece of theatre. I've even heard "Ministers of Music" use theatrical languange (Stage, House, etc.) to describe the interior of the Church building.

Desdemona, I'd really value your comments on this; you're a bit closer to the problem than I am.

IMHO, you have highlighted the problem. I will refine what I think is THE problem.

The modernists who run Oregon Catholic Press and its subsidiaries, and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians seem to prefer a) insipid, heretical music b) the use of any instrument(s) other than the dreaded organ, and c) any action or physical arrangement which draws personal attention to the various musicians. IOW, they think the Mass is a musical performance; a piece of theatre. I've even heard "Ministers of Music" use theatrical languange (Stage, House, etc.) to describe the interior of the Church building.

other than the dreaded organ = rejection of anything traditional!

Also I would add a lack of reverence and a distortion of what is sacred!

Correct this bolded stuff and I don't care what instrument is used. (I am an organist and have a bias, however, I am not a rigorist)

First off, see post #124.

Let me deal with this one first.

I've even heard "Ministers of Music" use theatrical languange (Stage, House, etc.) to describe the interior of the Church building.

It's the music business lingo, and frankly, since I speak the lingo, with this I don't have a problem. And, yes, we all use room, live, dead, reverb, mike, etc., just like in the regular business. Undisturbed, old churches are great live rooms. Lots of reverbs, you don't have to work too hard as long as they're not carpeted.

The modernists who run Oregon Catholic Press and its subsidiaries, and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians seem to prefer a) insipid, heretical music

Well, yeah, since they write it and can make money on the royalties. Hardly any of it is public domain. Seriously, look though a song book on Sunday and check out the copyright dates.

b) the use of any instrument(s) other than the dreaded organ,

This is a real hang-up of the people who lived through Vatican II who are currently between 45 and 65. I don't understand it myself.

c) any action or physical arrangement which draws personal attention to the various musicians. IOW, they think the Mass is a musical performance; a piece of theatre.

Uh-huh. It's a little hypocritical, actually, considering that "music ministers" are specifically told that Mass is not a performance. Well, only the ones, like me, who insist on polishing the material and using music written by such objectionable people Mozart, Bach, Verdi and the like.