Priests told to cut out the hugging

Telegraph, UK ^ | 30/04/04 | Jonathan Petre

[McClave]

Priests told to cut out the hugging
Stay at Altar During Mass
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
(Filed: 30/04/2004)

Roman Catholic priests who wander up and down hugging or shaking hands with worshippers during services are to be told to stay at their altars under a new Vatican crackdown.

Members of the congregation will also be urged to curb their enthusiasm by offering the "sign of peace" only to their immediate neighbours in a "sober manner" rather than hopping from pew to pew.

The new rules, published at the weekend, are part of a Vatican effort to counter "abuses" during Mass, which could have a significant impact on the way many services are conducted.

The Instruction on Eucharistic Norms will restrict the laity's role in services, to the dismay of liberals who believe churches have to be more collaborative and "inclusive" to prove attractive.

But the new document, which has the backing of the Pope, will delight traditionalists who are uncomfortable with many of the liturgical reforms ushered in since the 1960s.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales issued a cautious welcome yesterday.

[Jeff Chandler]

Conservative Catholic bump.

[PetroniusMaximus]

Rules, rules, rules.

And if that's not enough, here are some more rules!


"If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations-- "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (referring to things that all perish as they are used)--according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh."

-St. Paul in Colossians 2:20-23

[Jeff Chandler]

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven... a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-5

[Talking_Mouse]

I was reflecting during Mass on Friday how much I like the fact that Father shakes the hands of the people in the first row during weekday mass. I saw a symbol of Christ, in the person of the Priest, bringing His peace directly to the congregation.

On Fridays I don't have to work so I hear Mass at 9:00 instead of 7:00. The Chapel is much smaller, 12 to 15 people, than the larger church, 40 to 45 people, near work. As I was Adoring the Blessed Sacraments after Mass I reflected on the sense of intimacy in the Chapel vs. the sense of grandeur in the church. I hope that the tightening of the norms of the Mass will not cause the Chapel services to loss that sense of intimacy. Because I treasure both the intimacy and the grandeur.

[Talking_Mouse]

Blessed Sacrament not Blessed Sacraments. This is what happens when I post at 04:15.

[Dajjal]

No priests stopped wandering around hugging and gladhanding outside the sanctuary because of any of the previous times the Vatican said to -- why should this time be any different?

[Desdemona]

This one was actually in the Mass norms letter from last year. Yes, it's in the new one, too, but this directive is over a year old. The UK is just now getting to it?

[OpusatFR]

The church I left a few years ago for a Latin chapel had all the appearance of a cocktail conviviality right before dinner is announced during the sign of peace.

The priest, and all the congregation for that matter, milled around hugging, exchanging chit-chat, drums and guitars thumping for at least ten minutes before things settled down. Then the priest went to the altar and held up the host.

Bizarre, unnerving, and weird to my mind.

[Arguss]

It's been a long standing rule, but one that had to be re-clarified in the last GIRM, and still it was ignored - by many Priests anyway.

Some people seem to think it smacks of clericalism to put this restriction on Priests. But there are rules, and reasons for those rules. The Mass is a solemn ritual, and we are called together to offer the Sacrifice of Jesus perpetually to the Father, not to make us feel good about ourselves.

If one were to set about trivialising what is about to take place, and to shift the focus of the Mass from Jesus Christ to ourselves, they couldn't accomplish it better than to introduce a period of glad handing immediatey before the Consecration.

And as if that wouldn't be bad enough, to call the Priest out of the Sanctuary to profane the hands that are about to handle Our Lord seems - well - profane.

[franky]

The Mass is an adoration of Christ not an adoration of each other. And this hugging comes at a very special time of the offering of Christ's body and blood.

The laity's concentration is difficult enough and going from a solemn moment to one of smiles, handshakes and hugs just does not fit the occasion.

I wonder if the Apostles walked around the table to hug and shake hands when Jesus instituted the Eucharist?

[sinkspur]

And as if that wouldn't be bad enough, to call the Priest out of the Sanctuary to profane the hands that are about to handle Our Lord seems - well - profane.

Some of those same hands "handle" the Lord as Eucharistic Ministers.

With all due respect, if the hands of the Lord Himself touched human hands, there is no profanation in a priest touching the hands of mere laymen.

[sinkspur]

I wonder if the Apostles walked around the table to hug and shake hands when Jesus instituted the Eucharist?

Jesus may have hugged them. He was going to His death, after all.

[Aliska]

Jesus may have hugged them. He was going to His death, after all.

There seems to have been warmth in interpersonal relationships in those times, but hugging wasn't necessarily something they did much of. They seem to have been somewhat constrained. That might just be my view based on reading the old and new testaments.

"See how they love one another" didn't necessarily include hugging.

[armydoc]

"I wonder if the Apostles walked around the table to hug and shake hands when Jesus instituted the Eucharist?"

Are you suggesting there was no physical contact or intimacy at the last supper? I recall that John laid his head on Jesus' bosom, and Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. It seems that Jesus relished and, indeed, commanded loving, physical human contact.

[Aliska]

It seems that Jesus relished and, indeed, commanded loving, physical human contact

You didn't address me, but since I commented before, I've been reconsidering. Yes, that is true. It is also true that the Mary who saw Him in the garden had been accustomed to some kind of "clinging" or human contact with Jesus, because Jesus told her not to because he had not yet ascended. I never understood that.

Then there was the scene where the woman wiped his feet with her hair which would be bizarre even in our decadent times. There is recorded an objection to that display, but it was more about the price of the ointment and the reputation of the woman rather than the act itself.

The Jewish custom of the day was not to even talk to women in public, as I was led to understand, so I doubt there was much hugging of women. What was customary for men, I don't know, but it is still hard to imagine they did much hugging.

I doubt very much that there was much personal intimacy associated with any kind of Jewish worship though. Hugging in the synagogue and temple during services? Hard to imagine.

[Conservative til I die]

The worst for me was last Mother's Day, when the priest, just before ending the Mass, asked all the mothers in the "audience" to stand up, said a few words, and asked us to all give a big round of applause. Last time I went to Mass there, and this is my parish no less. I was pretty disgusted.

[viola]

I totally agree with you and have thought this way for years! We are preparing for the most intimate moment with our Lord and suddenly we have this huge distraction in the middle of it all. My church has us greet each other right before mass starts and for me that's a great time for it.

[Conservative til I die]

Some of those same hands "handle" the Lord as Eucharistic Ministers.

Of course, we should also be eliminating Eucharistic Ministers whenever possible, if not at all times.

Unless of course, you're of the mind we need to have four EMs plus a priest distributing Communion at a Mass attended by about 100 people, like the one I attended two weeks ago.

Which of course, wouldn't be a problem, if people actually refrained from receiving Communion when they are not in a state of grace. I found it suspicious myself when 98% of the attendees at every Mass receive Communion.

But I digress.

[gemoftheocean]

The priest, and all the congregation for that matter, milled around hugging, exchanging chit-chat, drums and guitars thumping for at least ten minutes before things settled down.

Ten minutes?! Jeez, that's WAY out of hand. I can't imagine this whole business needing more than 45 seconds...and that's being generous. I understand someone else's point re: intimacy, can't say I feel like the church will be hit by lightening if at a small mass gathering father shakes the hands of a few people in the front row or so. But 10 minutes of glad-handing? That's at least 9 minutes too much!

Silly liturgists started this thing anyway. If they were going to restore this custom...they should have done so at a point earlier in the mass, preferrably before the offeratory.

10 minutes of hoopla is just too much and destroys the rhythm and focus of the prayers that were just said in the 10 minutes beforehand.