Holy Father speaks on use of the internet and then … LITURGY

Posted on 13 November 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Holy Father made some comments about the use of the internet.

From AFP:

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday warned that the Internet does not make people more humane but instead risks increasing a “sense of solitude and disorientation” among “numbed” young people.

“A large number of young people… establish forms of communication that to do not increase humaneness but instead risk increasing a sense of solitude and disorientation,” Benedict told a Vatican conference on culture.

He also said that young people were being “numbed” by the Internet, adding that the technology was creating an “educational emergency — a challenge that we can and must respond to with creative intelligence.”

Benedict last month said the growing use of new technologies should set off “an alarm bell” as it was blurring the boundary between truth and illusion.

Okay, I have seen young people at a table in a restaurant texting other young people at another table in the same restaurant.

There are some loners out there.  True.  But the tools of communication are changing the way people are communicating.  I have been involved in this internet thing for a long time and I have had countless emails from people who express how much it means to them to have a way to connect with other people.  People who are shut in can be connected to the world.  People who are alone don’t have to be wholly alone.  Of course, face to face contact is good.  But this sort of contact is not nothing.

CNA has it this way:

Christian tradition can purify new forms of communication, Pope explains

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2010 / 11:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- New forms of communication must be humanizing or they will increase “confusion and solitude” among their users, Pope Benedict XVI has said. The Church is not indifferent to these innovations but seeks to purify and use them “with critical sense.”

His comments came in a Nov. 13 audience at the Vatican with participants in the Pontifical Council for Culture’s four-day conference on the topic “Culture of communications and new languages.”

This year’s discussions were unique for their venue: Capitoline Hill, Rome’s historic center of culture, government and history.

The president of the council for culture, Cardinal-designate Gianfranco Ravasi, explained at a press conference that the choice of venue aimed to bring their work out of the Vatican and into the city among the people.

Discussions ranged from the effects of the internet on modern communications and interpersonal relations to the way people communicate through food. [Sounds like my kind of conference.]

In his audience with the participants, the Pope said that “speaking of communications and language means … not only touching one of the crucial junctions of our world and its cultures, but for us believers, it means getting closer to the very mystery of God who, in his goodness and wisdom, wished to reveal himself and show his will to men.”

He spoke of the “profound cultural transformation” taking place due to the great changes in forms of communication. The Church, he said, is not “indifferent” to these changes, [something not immediately apparent] but “on the contrary, seeks to avail itself with renewed creative commitment, [!?!] but also with critical sense and attentive discernment, of new languages and ways of communication.”

The Church wishes to enter into dialogue with all people in the world, he said. But, to reach people today, especially young people, it must “tune in” to the same frequency.

“Today not few young people, stunned by the infinite possibilities offered by information networks or by other technologies, establish forms of communication that do not contribute to growth in humanity, but risk rather to increase the sense of solitude and confusion,” the pontiff warned.

He explained that education is needed to promote a “humanizing communication.” [That sounds a little vaporous.  So… HOW do we do what the Holy Father says?  I have my ideas.]

The Church can turn to the Gospel and Christian tradition to “guide, purify, clean and elevate” new forms of communications, he explained. [BUT NOW LOOK AT THIS!!] “In particular the rich and dense symbolism of the liturgy must shine in all its force as a communicative element, until it touches the human conscience, the heart and the intellect profoundly.”  [Isn’t this exactly what I have been talking about?]

Posted in New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, Pope of Christian Unity, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
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Video about St. Michael’s Abbey, Norbertines in California

Posted on 13 November 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I really admire the way some traditional groups are using new technology to get the word out about their communities, their apostolates and their products by which they make a living.

The Norbertines at St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, CA alerted me to this.

Fr. Ambrose, who sent the note, added this:

For the music buffs who frequent your blog, you might set the new video in the context of our upcoming concert with the Pacific Symphony wherein we provide the Gregorian chant background that was the remote seedbed for Bruckner.  Here’s the link about that.

We’re still trying hard to raise general public interest and sufficient funds for our expansion project and new monastery.  God continues to bless us with many worthy vocations, so we are confident that He’ll provide the buildings we need to house them.

In Christ and Our Lady,
Fr. Ambrose

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The more things change…

Posted on 12 November 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

When I visited the offices of The Catholic Herald yesterday, I had a chance to see bound and archived editions of the paper from yesteryear.  I took a look at the paper that went to press closest to the date of my birth.  It was amazing how little has changed in some respects.

For example,…

I noted that in this week’s edition there is a debate about the behavior… sorry… behaviour of children in church.

In that issue from back in October 1959 there was this.

Of course in 1959 there really weren’t children’s liturgies in the same sense as we understand them today.  There were Masses where lots of children were present, of course.   But there weren’t childish… er… children’s liturgies.

Of course it makes perfect sense that the subject of children in church should be discussed in ever age.  It is a huge concern for parents and fellow Mass goers alike… not to mention the priest.

Posted in Just Too Cool | Tagged
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Middle School Orders Boy to Remove American Flag From Bicycle

Posted on 12 November 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A reader sent me this from WeaselZippers… what a name for a site!  o{]:¬)

Posted in Throwing a Nutty |
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Halcyon days

Posted on 12 November 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The National Catholic Fishwrap published an encomium of Fr. Hans Küng written by the former editor of The Tablet.

It’s kinda sweet, actually.

Rather like overhearing three spinsters muse about halcyon days when a cup of coffee cost a nickel and the boys still looked.

One of them absently pats her bluish hair into place behind her ear and gazes with a little smile at the street beyond the window.  The other two watch her from under their big hair dryers.

[CUE WISTFUL MUSIC]

coffeeWhen you’ve had a hard day trying to figure out just why you keep those books on the shelf and then realize that the terrible theology in them simply can’t hurt anyone anymore, smile and make yourself a fragrant WDTPRS mug of Mystic Monk Coffee!

And as you stare at the old, cliche titles and increasingly irrelevant authors, channel your inner liberal and order some … I am not making this up… Fair Trade Organic Decaffeinated Mexican!

No, no… this is a coffee.

Because liberals are sure to wince at the very thought that both the traditional monks in Wyoming and Fr. Z are getting a taste of the sale, leave them conflicted, in inner turmoil.  After all!  They have a nearly Pavlovian response to phrases like “FAIR TRAAAAAADE” and words such as “orgaaaaaanic“, unless of course “organic” pertains to liturgical development.  The “Mexican” part will probably make them think about Liberation Theology, too!

And do you need a newspaper to wrap those damp, played-out old coffee grounds in?

Yes, it’s all good fun.

Mystic Monk Coffee.

It’s still swell!

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Pope Benedict v. Bugnini liturgy in Italy

Posted on 12 November 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The other day I posted about Pope Benedict’s message to Italian bishops meeting in Assisi in  plenary session.   His Holiness spoke of liturgy in terms that I thought were rather strong.

Sandro Magister takes the Holy Father’s words as a rebuke to the Italian bishops.

Here is some of Magister’s take:

The Pope Rattles the Bishops: “Learn from Saint Francis”

He really knew what true liturgical reform is, writes Benedict XVI in a message that is a severe rebuke to the Italian Catholic hierarchy. Where, in the liturgical field, Ratzinger’s opponents continue to prevail

by Sandro Magister

ROME, November 12, 2010 – The last two popes, on numerous occasions, have pointed to the Italian Church and its episcopate as a “model” for other nations.

There is one field, however, in which the Italian Church does not shine. It is that of the liturgy.  [I can attest to that!]

This was made clear by the severe lesson that Benedict XVI gave to the Italian bishops gathered in Assisi for their general assembly from November 8-11, an assembly centered on an examination of the new translation of the Roman missal.

In the message that he addressed to the bishops on the eve of the assembly, pope Joseph Ratzinger did not limit himself to greetings and good wishes. He was the one to dictate the criteria of a “true” liturgical reform. [The Bishops of Rome has a special role in the Italian Bishops Conference.  He is one of them, but he isn’t at all one of them, so to speak.  He appoints the President.  At the same time, when the Pope reveals his mind to this group of bishops, other groups of bishops would do well to pay attention, even though they don’t share the same sort of position.]

“Every true reformer,” he wrote, “is obedient to the faith: he does not act in an arbitrary manner, he does not appropriate any discretion over the rite; he is not the owner, but the custodian of the treasury instituted by the Lord and entrusted to us. The whole Church is present in every liturgy: adhering to its form is a condition of authenticity for what is celebrated.” [Italian bishops cannot simply ignore the universal laws of the Church when it comes to liturgy.  That includes Summorum Pontificum, by the way.]

The pope gave as an example of genuine liturgical reform the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, which put into the hands of the priests the “Breviary” with the liturgy of the hours, and reinforced the belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic bread and wine.

Those were the times of Saint Francis of Assisi. And Benedict XVI dedicated a good part of his message to illustrating for the Italian bishops the spirit with which that great saint obeyed that liturgical reform, and made his friars obey it.

Saint Francis, as is known, is one of the most popular and universally admired saints. He is a model also for those Catholics who want a Church that is more spiritual and “prophetic,” instead of institutional and ritual. In the liturgical field, they are pushing for more creativity and freedom.

But Benedict XVI showed, in the message, that [NB] the real Saint Francis was of a completely different bent. He was profoundly convinced that Christian worship should correspond to the “rule of faith” that has been received, and in this way give form to the Church. The priests, first of all, must base their holiness of life on the “holy things” of the liturgy. [I often say that Benedict has a kind of “Marshall Plan” to revitalize Catholic identity devastated for the last 40 years or so.  In this major project of his pontificate, liturgical worship plays a special role.  It is the tip of the spear, so to speak.  Moreover, you will often see that liberals who oppose Pope Benedict’s vision (and indeed a genuine Catholic spirit in general) will sneer at priests and bishops interested in solemn and high liturgical worship.  If you ever needed a convincing argument that we need more solemn, careful, traditional transcendent liturgical worship, it should be enough to know that liberals detest it and ridicule those who want it.]

*

Curiously, the Italian bishops to whom the pope addressed this lesson had gathered this time in none other than Assisi, the city of Francis.

And the bishop of Assisi is Domenico Sorrentino, an expert on the liturgy, but not of an approach like that of Ratzinger.  [Ahhhh, yes.  Sorrentino.   When he was sent to Assisi as ordinary, I was reminded of the old phrase in the Stations of the Cross by St. Alphonsus: “And they closed the tomb, and all withdrew.”]

In 2003, Archbishop Sorrentino was appointed secretary of the Vatican congregation for divine worship. But he lasted only two years. Shortly after he became pope, Ratzinger transferred him to Assisi, and replaced him with someone extremely faithful to him in liturgical matters, Malcolm Ranjith of Sri Lanka, today archbishop of Colombo and soon to be named a cardinal.

Before 2003, for five years, the secretary of the congregation for divine worship had been another Italian expert on the liturgy, Francesco Pio Tamburrino, [Ahhh yes, Tamburrino…] a Benedictine monk. But his stance was also contrary to that of the cardinal prefect of the congregation at the time, the “Ratzingerian” Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez. And in fact, he was also removed and transferred to a diocese, that of Foggia. [And that big stone rooooollllls into place.]

Sorrentino and Tamburrino are two prominent figures of the commission for the liturgy of the Italian episcopal conference. But also on this commission, until a short time ago, was Luca Brandolini, bishop of Sora, who distinguished himself by proclaiming a sort of protest “bereavement” when in 2007 Benedict XVI issued the motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum,” which liberalized the use of the ancient rite of the Mass.

In electing the members of the commission for the liturgy, the Italian bishops have always given preference to their colleagues of this tendency, whose inspiration comes from the architects of the liturgical reform following Vatican Council II, in particular Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro and the main conceptualizer and executor of that reform, Archbishop Annibale Bugnini. [In other words, diametrically opposed to Papa Ratzinger’s vision.]

The negative results of that reform are what Benedict XVI is working against. [As I was saying.] But Paul VI had already seen its abuses, and was so pained by them that in 1975 he removed Bugnini and sent him into exile in Iran as the apostolic nuncio there.

[NB] But the sentiment of the majority of the Italian bishops and clergy continues to be influenced by the “Bugnini line.” The excesses seen in other European Churches are rare in Italy, but the predominant style of celebration is more “assembly-focused” than “turned toward the Lord,” as pope Ratzinger wants it to be.  [With a heavy dose of just plain lazy punctuated by syrupy faux-pastoral warmth.]

The Italian episcopal conference is a special case, compared with all the others. It has a direct connection to the bishop of Rome. And in fact, its president is not elected, but appointed by the pope.

Introducing the work of the episcopal conference in Assisi on November 8, the current president, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, cited a comment by Ratzinger on the fact that Vatican Council II dedicated its first session precisely to the liturgy:

“By starting with the subject of the liturgy, it unequivocally put in the spotlight the primacy of God, the absolute priority of the topic ‘God’. Before everything, God: this is what starting with the liturgy says. Wherever attention to God is not the deciding factor, everything else loses its orientation.”

But in order to understand more deeply the meaning of the “reform of the reform” desired by pope Ratzinger, the following is what he wrote to the Italian bishops about the liturgy.

[…]

The documentation of the assembly of the Italian bishops in Assisi, with the complete text of Benedict XVI’s message.

If there is going to be any meat and bone and blood in this New Evangelization project, and not just the usual jar of runny goo, our liturgical worship must be redirected.

We must rid ourselves of immanentizing tendencies in our worship and reorient ourselves to the transcendent.

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QUAERITUR: disposing of glass “chalices”

Posted on 12 November 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

I live next to a mission parish where I observed this past summer the
use of glass vessels. I brought this to the attention of the pastor, a
faithful, though unformed man, referencing GIRM & Sacramentum
Caritatis. He got around to ordering a silver communion cup months
later. [That’s good, right?] Knowing the malformation of the “sacristans” and the priests, I set aside all the glass vessels so that I could have Father send them back to the diocese for proper disposal. Sure enough, the pastor came to me asking for one (or possibly several) of the glass vessels back so that he could return them to the parishioner of the mission, ostensibly for use. I told him I had the intention of returning them to *him*/ the diocese, but that the glass vessels could not be used for non-sacred use, and they actually need to be disposed of respectfully. He balked at that assertion, half-responding that “maybe they’re going to put it in a [home] shrine.” A friend who’s a canon lawyer thinks there’s a canon (besides liturgical common sense) that says he cannot simply give away a liturgical appointment, and he needs to either 1) return it to the diocese, or 2) formally request permission to destroy/dispose from the diocese. When I give these back, I want to make it clear to him what the proper responsibility is, but if I can’t point to Church documentation, he tends to ignore me. If anything, say a prayer for me. Thank you!

Part of the problem here, as I see it, is that you are in the middle.

Also, I am glad that the priest was willing to obtain suitable vessels.  That’s a plus, right?

After consultation with a canonist here is an opinion.

Sacred vessels can be alienated unless they are of artistic or historical value (cf. c. 1291) though they should not be sold.  For example, a priest can leave his chalice in his will to his family, and something given to the Church for use can be returned to the donor.

Sacred vessels should not be used for sordid use, of course (c. 1171) and someone who does so is liable for a penalty (c. 1376), presuming that the vessels “are designated for divine worship by dedication or blessing.”

Were the chalices blessed? Or were they simply used? An argument can be made that a chalice is blessed simply by holding the Precious Blood, but that might not hold canonical water, as it were, especially when we talk about the application of penalties.  Strict interpretation of the law is required.

That said, this whole situation needs to be sorted out.  You are in the middle here and don’t really have a proper role.  You don’t have the right to keep these vessels from the priest.  The priest gets to make the judgment about how they are to be disposed, since he has oversight of the goods of the parish and it cannot be argued that these things are of great historical or artistic value.  He can dispose of them.

But… wouldn’t it be sad if the priest had an accident with those glass things?  I know of more than one macrame banner that went to its reward because someone (read = traditional priest/seminarian) accidentally got that candle flame just liiiiiitle too close.  Glass vessels… gosh… they are soooo easily broken.  Clay… glass… they sometimes fall and break!  It happens!  It’s all very sad, of course.

But it is consoling that the pieces can be swept up and thrown away without too much fuss.

In the meantime, I will here repost a photo I was sent a while back.

There are uses for glass vessels.

glass chalice

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box | Tagged , ,
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“Vigil for all NASCENT human life” – 27 Nov. St. Peter’s Basilica

Posted on 12 November 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Oremus pro pontifice!

From Lifesite:

Pope Benedict Calls for Worldwide Prayer Against Abortion
by Steven Ertelt

Pope Benedict XVI has issued what Catholic pro-life advocates are calling an unprecedented request for prayers worldwide from all pro-life people against abortion.

The head of the Catholic Church will begin Advent by celebrating a solemn “Vigil for all nascent human life” at St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, November 27. [I like the use of the word “nascent”.   The very form, from the Latin deponent verb “nascor… to be born” suggests ongoing action.  The -sc- element is inchoative: ongoing, beginning, not yet complete.  That is to say, from the moment of conception the newly conceived person begins the process of being born.  Sure, we identify different stages of development and birth.  But from this other point of view, which I hear in “nascent human life”, every abortion would be a partial birth abortion.]

The call is not limited to Catholics as the Pope is asking that “all Diocesan Bishops (and their equivalent) of every particular church preside in analogous celebrations involving the faithful in their respective parishes, religious communities, associations and movements.”  [In sum: every Catholic in the world.]

[…]

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, Pope of Christian Unity, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged ,
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Day in London

Posted on 11 November 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Chilly windy rainy… then just windy. Then rainy again.

Having sent my article for the paper, I headed into town to meet the wonderfully persistent Anna Arco of the UK’s best Catholic weekly, The Catholic Herald, for lunch.

This isn’t from today, but I include it anyway.

After lunch and walking to the offices of The Catholic Herald, we passed a little slightly hidden church, St. Mary Moorfields.

I was delighted to find Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

I then had the chance to meet some of the other staff, along with their leader Luke Coppen.

TwitterI visited as well the nearby cemetery of Bunhill Fields where, among other notables, there are buried John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, and William Blake.

The pilgrim on Bunyan’s tomb.

Wesley’s chapel is across the street.

Then off to a pub I know at Seven Dials where I met a reader of this blog who SMS’d me at the
right moment.

Then a tube ride and a stop at Tesco for salad stuff.

I ask prayers for an improvement in my health.

When I am out and about tomorrow, God willing, I will eventually have to land somewhere for a rest and pint.

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Implementing Anglicanorum coetibus

Posted on 11 November 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A reader alerted me to this from VirtueOnline, described as the Voice for Global orthodox Anglicanism.

In an interview in this week’s Church of Ireland Gazette with Canon Ian Ellis, Editor, Bishop Tom Wright speaks openly about theological and Church matters, including the current issues of women bishops in the Church of England, the Ordinariate and the Anglican Covenant.

For example:

Asked to comment on the Vatican’s ‘Ordinariate’ scheme to enable Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church, and the desire in a parish at Folkestone to change allegiance, Bishop Wright said that people had thought that there were “dozens of parishes ready to jump”, adding: “Many of the Roman Catholic bishops that I know in England were not terribly happy at the thought that they might have to administer this kind of whole extra wrinkle on top of the complicated structure they’ve already got, and I did hear one Roman Catholic priest – how representative I don’t know – saying we’ve got quite enough traditionalists in our own Church without having all yours as well.”

Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity.

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