From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
I was wondering if you have any ammunition one might use to argue against the installation of projector screens in a church. My son, in seminary, just learned that a fellow seminarian’s home parish has ‘voted’ to install projector screens, with the support of the pastor. Naturally this is disappointing to a seminarian, but also to those of us in general who have truly hoped this kind of thing was in the past. I was just wondering if you had any information that might be useful for the prevention of this sort of things. The pastor has argued since they do it at St. Peters for a papal Mass that it is good enough for them.
GUEST PRIEST RESPONSE: Fr. T. Ferguson
Firstly, the seminarian’s response should be (to the pastor, or anyone on the parish staff or council), “Oh really? Well that’s interesting. I hope that works out well for everyone. I am so excited about one day working in ministry and getting involved in exciting projects like that, to ensure that more people come to know and love Jesus. In the meantime, I really, really, really love these cookies!” Accompanied by a big smile (as authentic as possible).
To anyone who appears disgruntled by this, the seminarian’s response should be, “Oh, I’m so sorry you’re going through that. You should know that I pray for (St. X parish) all the time. I just hope I can become holy enough to be pastor some day and help clean up some of these messes. Please keep me in your prayers. In the meantime, these cookies are really, really, really delicious!” (Accompanied by a concerned look with a slight tilt of the head, followed by a big smile).
Seminarians – avoid getting drawn into these conflicts. They seldom end well for you, and can end up eliciting comments that make it onto written evaluations that redound with negative repercussions years later.
Onto the meat of the issue. Screens in church are silly, and distracting. They play into the notion that the Holy Mass is primarily a didactic event and if we don’t read and understand absolutely everything on a verbal level, we’re not “getting out” of it what we should. They contribute to the myth that participation requires us uttering as many syllables as possible, preferably in unison. Further, the notion that everything has to be seen as clearly and closely as possible to be meaningful is drilled into our highly visual and digital society.
If the church is as large as St. Peter’s Square and gets as many congregants on a regular basis, perhaps there might be some slim justification (though I can’t say I’m a fan of screens even at St. Peter’s).
Fr. Z adds:
I endorse what Fr. Ferguson wrote about seminarians not getting involved in those matters. I add… don’t try to involve them!
Aim your phone’s camera
As far as the screen thing is concerned… I agree again. I will add the observation of the late Marshall McLuhan that “the medium is the message”. This is why sometimes a well-placed, well-chosen photo has more impact than a 1000 words, or why McLuhan could argue that it was the genesis of the microphone and electric amplification that killed Latin and liturgy in the Church.
In 1974 he wrote in The Medium and the Light: Reflection on Religion:
Latin wasn’t the victim of Vatican II; it was done in by introducing the microphone. A lot of people, the Church hierarchy included, have been lamenting the disappearance of Latin without understanding that it was the result of introducing a piece of technology that they accepted so enthusiastically. Latin is a very ‘cool’ language, in which whispers and murmurs play an important role. A microphone, however, makes an indistinct mumble intolerable; it accentuates and intensifies the sounds of Latin to the point where it loses all of its power. But Latin wasn’t the mike’s only victim. It also made vehement preaching unbearable. For a public that finds itself immersed in a completely acoustic situation thanks to electric amplification, hi-fi speakers bring the preacher’s voice from several directions at once. So the structure of our churches were obsolesced by multi-directional amplification. The multiple speakers simply bypassed the traditional distance between preacher and audience. The two were suddenly in immediate relation with each other, which compelled the priest to face the congregation.
The microphone killed Latin, enervated preaching and paved the way for Mass “facing the people”, innovations all. Microphones were in use long before the Council. But their cumulative effect, with the liturgical changes, were deadly. There are times when we should simply turn them off… and go ad orientem and use Latin.
When everything is made plain, apparent, immediate, visible, audible, etc., then there is no effort to find the Mystery in the hard elements of worship. Immediacy strips out the transcendent. That makes participation at Mass … something else.
Finally, back in the days of Benedict XVI did that pastor argue for Latin and a chanted Gradual instead of a responsorial psalm because that’s what they use at St. Peter’s? Who wants to bet?
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but large screens are a Protestant creation, so of course the Catholics had to incorporate it.
To quote Dorothy Parker: What fresh h*ll is this?
I’ve seen numerous liturgical abuses over my life, but never installed projector screens in a church???!
Fr. Cassian Folsom has a great lecture on didactism in the liturgy called:
“The Great Divorce: An Attempt to Diagnose the Root Cause of Our Liturgical Ills.”
This is a short review at New Liturgical Movement:
” The lecture drew upon the work of Fr. Jonathan Robinson of the Toronto Oratory — amongst others — and argued that the root cause of defects in the liturgical reform, both shortly before and after the Council, was a false anthropology rooted in the Enlightenment which exaggerated rationality, particularly through verbal instruction, while neglecting the immense role played by the senses, the symbolic imagination, and memory, as well as the appetitive side of human nature.”
Tvs framing the sanctuary here in michigan. My brother-in-law helped push for these at his parish. The reason? “well, the noncatholics that show up will be able to follow along so they dont feel excluded” I went once, at the end of mass at the announcements a video of the pastor visiting his place in florida was projected. Everyone waved -everyone clapped, with joy. I never returned.
We have a temporary screen in our church, blocking our view of dear St. Joseph’s side altar, in his “year,” no less. It is clumsy and ugly. It was put up because we had to take away the shared missalettes due to the “pandemic.” So we project, not video as at St. Peters’s, but the texts of the prayers and readings of the Mass. One week, when the projector did not work, the congregation could not say the Creed. They just stood there. ?
You notice that, not only is this parish doing something Protestant, it’s doing it behind the time when it might have been useful, when most people in the parish probably have smartphones or tablets and could bring their own screens.
Also, I’m pretty sure that Heaven doesn’t have projection screens, so that doesn’t fit churches being an icon/image of Heaven in architectural form.
Kathleen10: You are right. Screens have been used in Protestant churches for at least 20 years now; that’s the first time I saw one when I attended a friend’s Baptism. I found it incredibly annoying.
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Screens have no place in a Church. They detract from the sanctity of the place. We don’t go to Church to be entertained or for “fellowship” (I’ve started to really dislike that word); we go to worship God. It could probably be argued that anything that detracts from that is sinful, perhaps even sacrilegious.
Let me guess: projector screens but no confessional screens? Is there even one confessional in operation at that parish?
In my experience, very few Churches require microphones and amplified sound systems. All that’s required is for readers & preachers to speak loudly, slowly and clearly enough. In any case, the Gospel should be proclaimed, not read with a normal speaking voice.
A look at the Church Documents provides a clear answer.
Promulgated by Pope Piu XII
De Musica Sacra et Sacra Liturgia by the Sacred Congregation of Rites (1958):
https://archive.ccwatershed.org/media/pdfs/13/04/11/01-33-58_0.pdf
Top of page 367, Paragraph 73:
“The use of film projectors, especially machines, whether
silent or with sound, is strictly prohibited in church, even though
it is for a pious, religious, or charitable cause.”
Our former “sister parish” here in my town installed screens. This is the same parish that banned us using swords in KofC 4th Degree ceremonies and they promote “social justice” like it is the end all and be all of being “catholic” (for them it is). The screens were installed about two years ago at an expense of well over, get this, $200,000. Two screens projecting the hymns, creed, and when the Consecration is taking place, candles being projected on it.
This same “parish” has an Easter Exultet written by a nun, going against the GIRM of course, and won’t let the Deacon proclaim the real Exultet in song.
Imagine the Archbishop’s surprise when he saw those installed in the church and asked what those are for. He approved it but didn’t know what he was approving since some Pastoral Center toady just said “sign this Your Excellency”. He should have had them taken down and ordered immediate catechesis on the whole parish. As the Color Corps commander at the Confirmation where our swords were not allowed to be used (after being previously approved), the Archbishop asked me flat out “Mike, why is my Color Corps not armed?” When I told him that the parish forbade it (and the pastor gave in to the mob there), he was livid, especially when he was told we’d be fully attired in proper uniform for the Confirmation HE was presiding at.
This same parish complained when my deacon friend preached on sin. Their complaint? He made them feel bad. Thankfully, we are no longer connected with that parish so when I am ordained, Lord willing, I will be in my more traditional parish and not that one (as long as I’m not assigned there by the Archbishop – in that case, I will bear my cross and state daily Thy will be done Lord!)
As is usual with most vanilla NO parishes, the music liturgy mafia runs that parish and it was apparent. All are welcome you know!
Nope, you have got this one wrong! Should every church have screens? Of course not! But … But! If the church has a long center aisle, where people are seated miles from the Altar, where no one in the back can see or hear the liturgy, then yes, by all means. Why go to a Mass where/when you can’t hear or see the liturgy. I know your answer to that, but still.
Do we not go to Sunday Mass to worship God as a community of believers? Then, why don’t we take steps to make us more of a community? If I want to worship God alone, I can do that at home. Why is it wrong for me, in the back row, to see the Mass, to hear the liturgy, to hear the sermon? Sometimes I think that too many try too hard to make me not want to go to church. Bring me in, make me feel welcome, let me worship with you.
[Don’t sit in the back?]
“Why go to a Mass where/when you can’t hear or see the liturgy.”
See the floor plans of the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages.
“Do we not go to Sunday Mass to worship God as a community of believers?” … “me” … “me feel” … “me”…
God bless you.
Projection screens in church are not a good idea. They would lend the atmosphere of a theater or concert, not conducive to the Holy Mass.
But reading the comments about microphones, I’m surprised and muystified by comments like these:
“Latin is a very ‘cool’ language, in which whispers and murmurs play an important role. [“cool” is a technical term here, not a pop adjective] A microphone, however, makes an indistinct mumble intolerable; it accentuates and intensifies the sounds of Latin to the point where it loses all of its power.” — Marshall McLuhan
“When everything is made plain, apparent, immediate, visible, audible, etc., then there is no effort to find the Mystery in the hard elements of worship. — Father Z”
So in the Traditional Latin Mass, we are’t supposed to hear what’s going on, that it’s not necessary for our worship? [Are you being purposefully obtuse?] Then what does that worship consist of? I don’t blame chuckharold for being perplexed. This sounds like the stories of the laity praying the Rosary during Mass, ignoring the liturgy. At the same time, I’m also aware of, not just large medieval cathedrals, but also the Eastern rites, where much of the liturgy takes place behind the iconostatis, out of sight and hearing of the laity. [Not hearing.]
Something is missing in this explanation. This sounds like a good topic for a whole separate post, if Father Z is so inclined.
[I’ve written about this repeatedly.]
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It’s slightly depressing to see how some folks (who are, by all accounts, serious and devout Catholics) are so confused as to what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is, the purpose it serves, and our actual role in participating in that great mystery. To turn the absurd questions around, are some commentators saying the Catholics, including 99.9% of all saints, were unable to fully participate in the liturgy and didn’t understand how to form communities because microphones hadn’t yet been invented? God have mercy on the architects of the Novus Ordo – they’ve done more damage to the Holy Catholic Church then Muhammed, Luther, and Voltaire could have ever imagined possible.
Maybe screens can be good?
Right now at the tlm half the congregation are looking at mobiles with divinum officium, others at prayer books, others at a missal…. why not have a latin english translation on the screen, or maybe just short ‘tips’, like a slide saying “The Confiteor- consider your sins and ask God forgiveness”, “The canon- the sacrifice of Christ is renewed in an unbloody manner”. Maybe during the canon scenes or still images from the passion of the Christ film could be displayed silently. Maybe names of the sick in the parish and prayer petitions could be put up there at certain points….. maybe the chants for the common could be displayed with notation?
The screens aren’t intrisicly evil and I think they could assist in the TLM just as much, we have to let go of some hangups about things that didn’t exist in 1950. We have come to accept pews, we have accepted newsletters, we have accepted handout paper missals, we have accepted hymn boards and hymn books, we have accepted little electric light telling you when the confessional is empty, we have accepted livestreaming! Lets just give the screens a chance….. and use them well.
Maybe screens can be good?
Right now at the tlm half the congregation are looking at mobiles with divinum officium, others at prayer books, others at a missal…. why not have a latin english translation on the screen, or maybe just short ‘tips’, like a slide saying “The Confiteor- consider your sins and ask God forgiveness”, “The canon- the sacrifice of Christ is renewed in an unbloody manner”. Maybe during the canon scenes or still images from the passion of the Christ film could be displayed silently. Maybe names of the sick in the parish and prayer petitions could be put up there at certain points….. maybe the chants for the common could be displayed with notation?
The screens aren’t intrisicly evil and I think they could assist in the TLM just as much, we have to let go of some hangups about things that didn’t exist in 1950. We have come to accept pews, we have accepted newsletters, we have accepted handout paper missals, we have accepted hymn boards and hymn books, we have accepted little electric light telling you when the confessional is empty, we have accepted livestreaming!
Lets just give the screens a chance….. and use them well.
@fr. ignatius – I genuinely can’t tell if you’re being sincere or pulling a Babylon Bee on me. Some things comport with reverence, and others do not. A screen hovering over the altar does not. To compare it with pews and confessional indicator lights is inadequate – it’s a difference of kind not degree.
In every part of our life in this modern hell we’ve crafted, we have labored hard to use technology to make things super-easy, barely an inconvenience to everyone. Now, instead of learning to grapple with mystery and challenge, we have entire generations of morons spoon-fed their entertainment, memorizing infantile and over-simplified propaganda which passes itself off as history, growing obese while riding about on electric scooters, and losing their faith in the midst of the cozy, friendly, uber-accessible, active participation encouraging, “you can eat meat if you really want to on Friday” Novus Ordo.
If someone can’t figure out to consider their sins and ask God for mercy during the Confiteor of the Latin Mass they don’t need a slide show . . . they need to TRY HARDER.
WVC off the top rope with a folding chair, excellent.
Another problem with screens in churches, if they’re not stolen these days, is that Susan from the Parish Council will be unable to let a screen go to waste. She’ll start displaying fifteen minutes before Mass photos of certain bishops cooing at a Pachamama idol seated in a boat, travel agency ads for the Three Days of Darkness in sunny Los Angeles, and photos of her nephew’s pilgrimage to the editorial offices of the Fishwrap.
Soon, that parish will resemble the pagan stronghold of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. From the College’s website (h/t Benjamin Boyce):
“The students at The Evergreen State College now have access to a resource for support in an avenue they’ve never had before: spirituality. Chaplain Melissa Bennett, M. Div. (Umatilla/Nimiipuu/Sac & Fox/Anishinaabe) now holds an official position as student activities assistant director of spirituality and meaning making.
“Just this year, she earned a certificate in Movement Chaplaincy from Faith Matters Network, a Womanist-based organization and leader in spiritual care for people on the front lines of social movements, organizing and activism.”
Boyce says that Evergreen State College also offers daily tarot readings on their Instagram page.
Well, for “meaning making” how about Rosary beads and a cold, hard cathedral floor. Followed by bench pressing a log twenty times while one of your buddies plays the bagpipes. No electricity or Newspeak required.