Pope Francis returned to the canonisation rite reformed by Pope Paul VI for the canonisation of six saints on Sunday.
The move by the Pontiff is a reversal of the “reform of the reform” instituted by Pope Benedict.
“The Rite of Canonisation introduced on October 21, 2012, by Pope Benedict XVI and which was largely based on the Rite of Canonisation before Pius XII is now gone,” mourns the conservative blog Rorate Caeli.
The move by Pope Francis to change the rite of canonisation comes against a background of the Pontiff’s appointment of Cardinal Robert Sarah from Guinea, as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Cardinal Sarah was listed by some as among the “Papabili” after the resignation of Pope Benedict XV.
Formally, little is known of Cardinal Sarah’s view on liturgy, however Roman sources say that Sarah is “theologically conservative but socially and ‘liturgically free,'” and, tweeting about the appointment Deacon Greg Kandra wrote, “There goes that crazy progressive pope again.”
The National Catholic Register (NCR) calls Pope Francis’ move to appoint Sarah as signalling a “decisive tone” in the reform of the curia.
NCR says that with his experience, Cardinal Sarah will re-balance the Congregation for Divine Worship.
Sarah, the former president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, will take over his new post whose ranks have changed since the previous prefect, Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, was appointed archbishop of Valencia, Spain, in August.
Father Anthony Ward and Mons Miguel Anguel Ferrer, the two undersecretaries of the congregation, were released with immediate effect on 5 November.
NCR describes the removal of Father Ward and Mons Ferrer “as a shock.”
Ward had worked for more than 15 years in the congregation’s English section and Ferrer was a personal pick of previous prefect, with whom he shared a particular sensitivity for the traditional Latin Mass, NCR says.
Ward and Ferrer are replaced by recently promoted Father Corrado Maggioni, who is seen as a disciple of Archbishop Piero Marini, formerly the papal Master of Ceremonies of John Paul II.
Marini is known for being enthusiastic for innovative forms of the liturgy.
Sources