Friday, April 30, 2004
Winners and losers in the new ICEL Ordo Missae draft:
Winners:
Publishers, who will be busy beavers on revisions. I think if you asked these folks if they'd prefer sung Eucharistic Prayer settings or spanking new royalties on their catalogue of Mass settings, their reply would be, "Can you spell ka-ching?"
Composers, for obvious reasons.
Losers:
Impatient pastors. I can hear the refrain now, "No, no, no. You're supposed to say 'and with your spirit.'" "And with my spirit."
Parish finance committees. "Now let us get this straight, Father. We just shelled out $20,000 for hymnals last year, and now you tell us they're out of date and Rome wants us to upgrade?"
Bishops, who will be on the hot seat to implement, but also explain why liturgical change is suddenly such a high priority in light of other lay concerns.
It wouldn't surprise me if the CDWS and Vox Clara come off badly in the long run. I've heard at least one bishop considers the new document bureaucratic busywork. Bishops will implement, but won't be happy about it. Do bishops have memories for bad political situations? The deal may well have been sealed for a moderate pope next time around. Look out guys, the pendulum is heading back your way.
