Thursday, December 22, 2005
Peace on Earth; Go Elsewhere for Liturgy Wars
Well, maybe just a spot of them here.
Amy and Rock have both reported that you can read the transcript of what you missed on EWTN at USCCB over on Adoremus.
The St Blog's Commentariat always amuses me when the liturgical bee gets in its bonnet (or biretta). But for the sake of my own visitors, let me offer three gifts:
1. The current liturgy translation we use was approved up and down the line by everyone: a dozen-odd English-speaking bishop's conferences, ICEL, and the Vatican. If the Vatican noticed that some literal liberties were taken with the Latin original, it wasn't of apparent concern to them. For good or ill, this is what's stuck in 99.8% of the English language churchgoers in the Catholic world, including almost all of the clergy. Whiuch leads me to ...
2. In the shortest term, the clergy will be stuck with the dirty work of implementation, not the bishops. Parishes will fork over some bucks to get the new red books. Then every priest will have his nose in the new book for a few weeks to a few months until he gets used to the new language. People in the pews will take a bit longer, if they even bother to care. I can see a mongrel response of "and also with your you spirit." What happens if the people in some parishes continue to use the old responses out of habit or stubbornness? Who's going to stop them? Will the priest throw a hissy fit and refuse to continue the Mass if the response is "wrong?" And if he doesn't, and the 1970 responses remain, what has been accomplished?
3. Musical publishers are probably thinking this is a bonus for their ledger lines. Old Mass settings redone (church musicians won't have the option to protest) will be a financial boon lasting for months, if not years. And it looks as if the bishops are choosing to ignore the Liturgiam Inauthenticam provision for submitting hymn texts for approval. That May 2006 deadline is approaching fast, and it's crystal clear where the hierarchs stand on things: they might be split down the middle on the new English Ordo Missae, but they're 100% behind ignoring provisions that make work for their own.
So in a spirit of holiday cheer, have at it, folks.
