The Vatican’s congregation for worship has ruled that priests are not to leave the altar to make the Sign of Peace with the faithful at Mass. 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 Read more
The Church of England has removed all reference to the devil from the wording of its official Baptism liturgy. New wording approved by the church’s General Synod asks whether parents and godparents will “turn away from sin” and “reject evil”. In the traditional service, the request was to “reject the devil and all rebellion against Read more
Most of Asia’s bishops’ conferences have asked one of their Rome representatives why liturgical translations cannot be done at conference level. This request was put to Cardinal Oswald Gracias from India, who is a member of the so-called C8 council which is advising Pope Francis on reform of the Roman Curia. Cardinal Gracias and Honduran Read more
We are people of the Way, an ancient term for the first Christians which is found in the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus showed us that way throughout his whole life on earth, but this way becomes particularly clear and calls to us most profoundly in the events of Holy Week, not only by Jesus’s Read more
Pope Francis has denounced liturgy that is detached from true spiritual worship as empty and almost magical. The Pope also called for a renewed commitment by the Church to the Second Vatican Council’s vision of the liturgy. He said this in a message to a symposium devoted to the 50th anniversary of Sacrosanctum Concilium – Read more
The German bishops are developing guidelines that would allow Catholics who have divorced and remarried to once again share the Eucharist. 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 Read more
Female altar servers are becoming an issue in some parishes that have high numbers of migrants attending Mass, Auckland diocese’s liturgy centre says. Many migrant populations have not been used to women and girls serving in this way, a statement from the liturgy centre to NZ Catholic noted. “This matter has to be handled with Read more
Pope Francis spoke English in public for the first time on October 18, when he sent a video message to a conference on evangelisation in the Philippines. On the same day he met representatives of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy and praised their translation of liturgical texts. In the video message to Read more
The “2013 Survey of U.S. Priests on the New Roman Missal” was conducted under the auspices of the Godfrey Diekmann, OSB Center for Patristics and Liturgical Studies at Saint John’s University School of Theology Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. The objective of the survey was to determine as accurately as possible the views of U.S. Catholic priests about the new translation Read more
He recites the liturgy of the Mass from memory with all the appropriate gestures. He even gives homilies. And he’s only three years old. Samuel Jaramillo, an orphan who lives with his grandmother and aunt in the city of Medellin, Colombia, has become an Internet hit since family members posted YouTube videos showing him pretending Read more