In an interview with EWTN News, Archbishop Arthur Roche, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said that he was not pessimistic about the prospect of people returning to Mass after pandemic lockdown restrictions.

"People's longing, people's thirst, [and] absolute hunger for God has increased in this desert experience, which we've all experienced," Roche said June 22.

The archbishop said that it was "important to recognize the presence of the Lord in the Eucharistic and to develop that within your own life."

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Bishops must submit their resignation to the pope when they turn 75. Sarah celebrated his 75th birthday on 15 June.

Two days later on June 17 in a post on his official Twitter account, Cardinal Robert Sarah wrote: "Thank you for the messages that have reached me from around the world on the occasion of my birthday. Let us continue the path with Christ. For my part, I am happy to continue my work within the Congregation for Divine Worship. Always pray for the pope."

Pope Francis reportedly asked Sarah to remain as prefect of the liturgy department "until further provision is made."

Francis was responsible for appointing Sarah as prefect of the liturgy department in November 2014, who is the most senior African prelate at the Vatican. He had previously served as the president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum and as secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Sarah has written a trilogy of books: "God or Nothing" (2015), "The Power of Silence" (2016), and "The Day Is Now Far Spent" (2019).

While he was at the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments Sarah developed a reputation for outspoken commentary on the Church and the world.

Four years ago in 2016, he encouraged priests to celebrate Mass facing east. This prompted a Vatican spokesman to say that his words had been "misinterpreted."

In January this year he was again at the center of a controversy, this time over the presentation of a book, "From the Depths of Our Hearts,". He co-authored the work with the Pope emeritus, Benedict XVI.

He also commented in a magazine interview in April this year that the sick and dying cannot be denied the sacramental assistance of a priest during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Priests must do everything they can to remain close to the faithful. They must do everything in their power to assist the dying, without complicating the task of the caretakers and the civil authorities."

"But no one has the right to deprive a sick or dying person of the spiritual assistance of a priest. It is an absolute and inalienable right."

Last month, Sarah said he was wrongly included as a signatory on a controversial open letter arguing that forces could exploit the pandemic in order to usher in a one-world government.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: ACI Africa

Francis approved the two new liturgical texts for use during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Cardinal Robert Sarah, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, wrote the decree accompanying the texts for the Mass.

Sarah said the Mass "In Time of Pandemic" prayers can be used for any Mass during the pandemic except the following:

• Ash Wednesday
• Lent
• Holy Week
• the Easter octave
• the Easter season
• All Souls' Day
• solemnities
• Sundays in Advent.

"In these days, during which the whole world has been gravely stricken by the Covid-19 virus, many requests have come to this dicastery to be able to celebrate a specific Mass to implore God to bring an end to this pandemic," Sarah wrote.

The Congregation has sent the texts to the world's bishops.

They have also been published on the Congregation's website.

The texts have been issued in Latin as well as several other languages, including English, Chinese, Spanish, French and German.

The decrees are effective immediately.

Source

• America
• Image: LifeSite

Nor can it be reduced to a matter of taste, becoming the subject of ideological polarisation, because it is a primary way Catholics encounter the Lord. Read more

The bishops welcomed this appointment and the opportunity this provides for Cardinal Dew to work collegially with fellow bishops in the important area of liturgy and worship.

Cardinal Dew contributes to the universal work of the Holy See as a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

He is a respected pastor and bishop and recently attended the IARRCUM Meeting in Canterbury and Rome as a representative of New Zealand, an acknowledgement of his strong ecumenical relationships in New Zealand.

The bishops were also pleased to see representation from Australia in the appointment of Archbishop Denis Hart to the Congregation of Divine Worship.

This coming soon after the announcement that the Oceania region will have another Cardinal in the appointment of Archbishop Sir John Ribat of Papua New Guinea to the College of Cardinals, to be formalised in the Consistory later this month.

Pope Francis has appointed 27 new members to the Congregation for Divine Worship and Cardinal Dew is looking forward to working with them.

Cardinal John Dew, the Archbishop of Wellington, has been appointed to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.

The congregation deals with liturgical questions and the celebration of the sacraments.

Dew is one of 27 new appointees named by the Pope last Friday; ten cardinals, seven archbishops, eight bishop and two auxiliary bishops.
See full list of appointees

The new members are mostly known as supporters of the Novus Ordo Mass in the vernacular and facing the people.

All of the existing members of the Congregation have been replaced.

Many of them had been critical of the post-Vatican II liturgical reforms.

Commenting on the changes Robert Mickens his Letter from Rome notes that among the notable new members are:

• Cardinal John Atcherley Dew (Wellington, New Zealand), considered a thoroughly pro-Vatican II bishop
• Cardinal John Onaiyekan (Abuja, Nigeria), who has publicly denounced any repealing of the conciliar liturgical reforms
• Several cardinals known to be enthusiastic supporters of Pope Francis' overall plan to renew the Church, such as Rainer Maria Woelki (Germany), Pietro Parolin (Vatican Secretary of State), Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, (Canada), Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, (Spain) and Beniamino Stella (Congregation for the Clergy).

Another notable appointee is Archbishop Piero Marini (Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses).

Marini's innovative approach to papal ceremonies sometimes made him the focus of criticism.

He has promoted Vatican II reforms including the "simplification of rites that he believes facilitates active participation."

He is a firm believer in the integration church rites with local customs. In 1998, he allowed Pacific Islander dancers into St. Peter's Basilica to dance during the opening liturgy of the Synod for Oceania.

In 2002, during Pope John Paul II's visit to Mexico City, he allowed an indigenous Mexican shaman perform a purification ritual on the pope during a Mass.

Cardinal Lacroix, Archbishops Hart and Aubertin, and Bishops Morerod, Serratelli and Hopes have participated in or celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass as bishops.

They are known to be friendly to Traditional Catholics. However, none have been vocal about the need for a "Reform of the Reform".

Those who have lost their membership at the Congregation for Divine Worship include:

• Cardinals Angelo Scola (Milan)
• George Pell (Secretariat for the Economy),
• Raymond Burke (Knights of Malta)
• Peter Erdo (Esztergom-Budapest),
• Marc Ouellet (Congregation for Bishops),
• Malcolm Ranjith (Sri Lanka)
• Angelo Bagnasco (Milan).

Almost all these men have been supportive of direction Cardinal Sarah has been trying to steer the Church's liturgy.

Cardinal Sarah, from Guinea, has consistently called for priests to turn their backs on the congregation while celebrating Mass and has struck a very different tone to the Pope's merciful approach to families in difficult circumstances.

Source

• international.la-croix.com
• rorate-caeli.blogspot.com
• en.wikipedia.org
• thetablet.co.uk
• catholicregister.org
• Image: nzcatholic.org.nz

In a recent circular, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments listed several "abuses" of the Sign of Peace that are to be stopped.

These are:

• the introduction of a "song of peace," which does not exist in the Roman rite.
• the faithful moving from their place to exchange the sign.
• the priest leaving the altar to exchange the sign with the faithful.
• at occasions such as holidays, weddings or funerals, people offering greetings, congratulations or condolences.

 
The circular was approved by Pope Francis.

Bishops' conferences were asked to consider "changing the way in which the exchange of peace is made".

In particular, "familiar and worldly gestures of greeting" should be substituted with "other, more appropriate gestures".

"If the faithful do not understand and do not show, in their ritual gestures, the true significance of the rite of peace, they are weakened in the Christian concept of peace, and their fruitful participation in the Eucharist is negatively affected," the circular stated.

But the congregation rejected a move to shift the Sign of Peace to before the Offertory in Mass.

In a July 28 memo, Fr Jose Maria Gil Tamayo, secretary general of the Spanish bishops' conference, said this was done out of consideration of the placement of the rite of peace as "a characteristic of the Roman rite".

Fr Gil added it was held not to be "suitable for the faithful to introduce structural changes in the Eucharistic Celebration, at this time."

But the congregation said, "if it is foreseen that [the Sign of Peace] will not take place properly", it can be omitted.

At the 2005 synod of bishops on the Eucharist, the possibility of moving the rite was discussed.

There has been dialogue with the world's bishops, in consultation with both popes, on the matter.

Benedict XVI wrote of concerns about exaggerated gestures and distractions before Communion in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation "Sacramentum caritatis".

Placing the Sign of Peace before the Offertory would have brought the Roman Rite in line with the Ambrosian Rite, celebrated in Milan.

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• The Tablet
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

The head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has said the bishops cannot do that because mercy is not a valid principle to use in pastoral care where the sacrament is concerned.

Doctrine? Maybe. Faith? Not so much.

In any case, the bishops are going ahead with their plan. They are affirming what Pope Francis has said, that Roman officials do not "outrank" diocesan bishops, but must serve as aids to the bishops' ministry.

The Germans have recently made another move in defiance of Roman commands that deserves attention and belated emulation.

The First Sunday of Advent, was to be the day on which German-speaking Catholics would begin using a new translation of the liturgy. Like the one that has been used for two years in English-speaking churches, it would be more Latin than local.

The English version uses English words in Latin sentence order, Latinate repetition and vocabulary that comes from Latin rather than English roots; presumably the German is similar.

However, the German bishops recently announced that they would not introduce the new version because of wide opposition to the translation's sins against the German language.

Something that English-speaking bishops were afraid to do in the previous papacy is now being done by Germans apparently emboldened by the pastoral approach of Pope Francis.

The new translation two years on

Sunday was the second anniversary of the imposition of the English version.

How have we fared after two years with it?

Congregations have gotten used to their responses, though children probably sometimes think that the Holy, Holy, Holy prayer is to the Lord God of communion wafers.

But what of those for whom the greatest changes were introduced, the priests?

Surveys have shown that a huge majority of priests are still, after two years, united in their dissatisfaction with the maltranslation.

Many say that trying to use it actually hinders their prayerful leading of the liturgy.

If anything, their discomfort has grown as they have struggled to proclaim prayers whose tortured word order and repetitions are close to gibberish if spoken aloud before a congregation that cannot go back over the words to figure out the grammar.

How does one proclaim a sentence that begins with the object of the verb rather than the subject, something entirely possible in Latin, but which English-speaking priests now know is at least strange in their language?

Rewriting to make sense of it

The answer is that increasingly priests are not trying.

A pastor in the United States said that the only good thing he could say about the new translation is that it forces him to read the prayers on Saturday so that he will know how to revise them for proclamation on Sunday.

The majority of priests in his diocese admit among themselves that they engage in the same editing process, turning the prayers into real English. In other words, many congregations do not hear the new version.

Two years ago I wrote: "Priests who want to help their communities pray will gradually, but increasingly, begin to rework and reword the translation we have been given.

Instead of an authorized new translation from Latin such as was approved by the world's English-speaking bishops in 1998, we will now get an unauthorized plethora of ad hoc translations from Gibberish. I am not saying that should happen, but it shall happen."

Well, it has happened. What's next?

Time to implement the 1998 version, officially or unnofficially

The 1998 translation that was meant to correct the hastily done 1973 translation has already been approved unanimously by all the English-speaking bishops' conferences of the world, but was suppressed by curial officials who were not even English speakers.

So, why should not some conferences declare that translation valid for use in their countries? Failing that, individual bishops might take that initiative on their authority as leaders of worship in their dioceses.

Otherwise, my next prediction will come true.

Priests will increasingly on their own initiative begin using the 1998 translation once they get a copy, available for downloading after only a few minutes' search on the Internet.

Or, they will dig out their 1973 Sacramentaries, even in dioceses like that in which my friend the pastor serves and where the bishop thought he had confiscated them all in order to prevent just that sort of thing.

It is time for English-speaking bishops to learn from their German confreres and take back responsibility for the life and worship of their people.

Fr William Grimm is publisher of ucanews.com based in Tokyo.

Image: ucanews.com

The Congregation for Divine Worship issued the decree calling for the inclusion of St Joseph in Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV. St Joseph is already mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I, as mandated by Blessed John XXIII.

The decree from the Congregation for Divine Worship, formally dated May 1 (the feast of St. Joseph the Worker), provides that the name of the Virgin Mary will be immediately followed by the words "with blessed Joseph, her spouse".

The decree notes that after John XXIII added the name of St Joseph to the Roman Canon, there were petitions from the faithful asking that St Joseph also be named in the other Eucharistic Prayers. These petitions, the decree said, had the support of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, and the latter approved the new mandate.

An official of the congregation told Catholic News Service that national bishops' conferences could set a date for the changes to begin if they believe that is necessary, "but because it is a matter of only adding five words, priests can begin immediately".

The decree described St Joseph as "an exemplary model of the kindness and humility that the Christian faith raises to a great destiny, and demonstrates the ordinary and simple virtues necessary for men to be good and genuine followers of Christ".

Pope Francis, who has a flower used as a symbol of St. Joseph on his coat-of-arms, chose the March 19 feast of St Joseph as the date for his inaugural Mass.

Pope Benedict, who was born Joseph Ratzinger and celebrated the March 19 feast of St Joseph as his name day, told a crowd in Cameroon in 2009 that he had "received the grace of bearing this beautiful name".

Sources:

Catholic News Service

Vatican Information Service

Image: Wikimedia

The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Cardinal Antonio Canizares, said the guidelines will help priests to "celebrate well and to participate well".

He said the liturgy is God's gift to the Church rather than the invention of individuals. "God wants to be adored in a concrete way and it's not up to us to change it."

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The office will provide advice, encouragement and guidance, but it will not attempt to impose specific styles, according to Marist Father Anthony Ward, undersecretary of the congregation.

"The Church has always adopted local artistic, architectural and music styles," Father Ward told Catholic News Service. At the same time, as the Second Vatican Council taught, "it always has emphasised Gregorian chant as the homegrown music of the Latin rite."

The Second Vatican Council's document on the liturgy said, "The Church has not adopted any particular style of art as her very own; she has admitted styles from every period according to the natural talents and circumstances of peoples, and the needs of the various rites."

The council called for the preservation of the great liturgical art of the past and the encouragement of modern artists to create pieces appropriate for Catholic worship, "provided that it adorns the sacred buildings and holy rites with due reverence and honour".

The changes in the congregation were introduced just one year after Pope Benedict XVI issued his motu proprio Quaerit Semper on September 27, 2011.

This took away two of the matters for which the congregation had previously been responsible — to do with the invalidity of priestly ordination and the dispensation for contracted but unconsummated marriages — and put the Roman Rota in charge of these.

In the motu proprio, the Pope explained: "In present circumstances it has seemed appropriate for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to focus mainly on giving a fresh impetus to promoting the Sacred Liturgy in the Church, in accordance with the renewal that the Second Vatican Council desired, on the basis of the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium."

The new office for liturgical art, architecture and music will become operational in the new year.

Sources:

Vatican Insider

Catholic News Service

Image: Corpus