Although not recently, I have on several occasions mentioned that with the ousting of former papal master of ceremonies Piero Marini, and the beginning of a new approach to papal liturgies with the arrival of Msgr. Guido Marini, it was only a matter of time before the director of the Sistine Chapel Choir, Msgr. Giuseppe Liberto, would also get the hook.
For reasons I cannot fathom, it took a long time, but it this too has come to pass.
I read in L’espresso of Sandro Magister that the new director of the Sistina will be Fr. Massimo Palombella, SDB… yes… yet another Salesian, the same order to which Sec. State Cardinal Bertone belongs.
With the hoisting up of all these Salesians, people in are starting to quip that SDB actually means "Socio di Bertone … or Bertone’s Club Member" rather than "Salesiani di Don Bosco".
Magister observes in his Italian article that it was clear something was on the horizon when in L’Osservatore Romano there appeared a piece in (undeserved) praise of Liberto.
Fr. Palombella has directed the Inter-university Choir of Rome for 15 years. Not all have been favorable about the choir’s expertise or direction.
If that is the case, he should fit right in with the Sistine Choir… or "the Sistine Screamers" as some in Rome have dubbed them.
However, I am thinking that the new director’s choices of what to sing will be more along the lines of what Papa Ratzinger and Msgr. Guido Marini think appropriate for the papal liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica.
We will have to keep an eye on this fellow as we as an ear tuned to any improvements in the Sistina.
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