Get the feed!
Pope Benedict XVI unplugged
Read the article / show / issue that provoked me to write a letter and my response below that or go straight to my response
Date Posted on this Site
June 27, 2006
Publication
National Post
Publication Date
June 27, 2006
Published Content
Pope benedict XVI unplugged: Pontiff calls for end of modern music in church, prefers Gregorian chants
Malcolm Moore
ROME - Pope Benedict XVI has called for an end to electric guitars and modern music being played in Roman Catholic Church ceremonies and demanded a return to traditional choirs and Gregorian plainchant.
The Church has been experimenting with new ways of holding Mass to try to attract more people.
The recital of the service set to guitars has grown in popularity in Italy;in Spain it has been set to flamenco music; and in the United States the Electric Prunes produced a "psychedelic" album called Mass in F Minor, but based on the words of the traditional Latin Mass.
However, the use of guitars and tambourines has irked Pope Benedict, who loves classical music.
"It is possible to modernize holy music," the Pope said on Sunday during a concert conducted by Domenico Bartolucci, the director of music at the Sistine Chapel.
"But it should not happen outside the traditional path of Gregorian chants or sacred polyphonic choral music."
The purist stance of Benedict, himself a talented pianist with a preference for works by Bach and Mozart, is in contrast to that of his predecessor John Paul II, who worked hard to make the Church more appealing to young people.
Pope Benedict XVI's comments prompted the Italian newspaper La Stampa to compare him with Pope Pius X, who denounced faddish classical and baroque compositions and reinstated Gregorian chants in 1903.
But Benedict XVI's supporters argue that the music played during Mass is a vital part of the communion between worshippers and God, and that medieval church music, with the liturgy, creates the correct ambience for perceiving God's mystery.
"It is often forgotten that the liturgy is not a symbol but rather a truth," said Ersilio Cardinal Tonini, the archbishop of Ravenna.
"Mass is the presence of Christ and the music adds so much more when the harmony allows the mind to transcend the concrete to the divine."
The argument about music is part of a wider debate over whether to return to a Latin Mass. If Latin Masses are not reintroduced into common practice, few Catholics will know the words to the Latin Gregorian chants that the Pope advocates.
The Latin Mass was restricted in the Vatican II reforms of the 1960s, on the grounds it was deterring people from attending Church.
Pope Benedict's conservatism is becoming more apparent, a year after his election.
Last month, the Catholic News Agency reported the Holy Father was about to receive the final proposal from the recent Synod of Bishops for the drafting of his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist. This is due to be released in October.
According to a Vatican source, the commission is expected to approve "a proposal and a plan for liturgical reform."
The source added that the exhortation would include an invitation to greater use of Latin in the daily prayer of the Church and in the Mass as well as in large public and international Masses.
The document would also encourage a greater use of Gregorian chant and classical polyphonic music; the gradual elimination of the use of songs whose music or lyrics are secular in origin, as well as the elimination of instruments that are "inadequate for liturgical use," such as the electric guitar or drums, although it is not likely that specific instruments will be mentioned.
Lastly, the Pope is expected to call for "more decorum and liturgical sobriety in the celebration of the Eucharist, excluding dance and, as much as possible, applause."
THUMBS DOWN
An example of a modern Roman Catholic hymn by Dan Schutte
City of God
Awake from your slumber! Arise from your sleep!
A new day is dawning for all those who weep.
The people in darkness have seen a great light.
The Lord of our longing has conquered the night.
Refrain: Let us build the city of God.
May our tears be turned into dancing.
For the Lord our light and our love has turned the night into day.
2. We are sons of the morning; we are daughters of day.
The One who has loved us has brightened our way.
The Lord of all kindness has called us to be a light for all people to set their hearts free.
3. God is light; in God there is no darkness.
Let us walk in the light. God's children one and all.
O comfort my people make gentle your words, proclaim to my city the day of her birth.
4. O city of gladness now lift up your voice, proclaim the good tidings that all may rejoice.
THUMBS UP
THE NICENE CREED
Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium, et invisibilium.
Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum.
Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum, non factum, consubstantialem Patri: per quem omnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis. Et incarnatus est de spiritu sancto ex Maria Virgine: et homo factus est.
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis, sub Pontio Pilato passus, et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas.
Et ascendit in coelum: sedet ad dexteram Patris.
Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, judicare vivos et mortuos: cujus regni non erit finis.
Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem: qui ex Patre Filioque procedit.
Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per prophetas.
Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.
Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum.
Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum.
Et vitam venturi saeculi.
Amen.
My Response Letter
I was shocked to read your reprint of the Daily Telegraph article "Pope Benedict XVI Unplugged", as it contained numerous errors and several offensive statements.
First, a simple read of the Pope's comments shows that the Holy Father did not call for an end to modern music in the Mass. Instead, he said that "sacred polyphony...is a legacy that must be carefully conserved, maintained alive, and made known," and that holy music can be modernized given the right foundation. Hardly the damning indictment of all modern music. And not once a mention from him of electric guitars. Surely, this type of hyperbole is unwarranted.
Second, the de facto statement that the Latin Mass was "restricted" in the so-called Vatican II reforms is patently false. Anyone who cares to read the documents will see that, far from disregarding Latin, the fathers of Vatican II upheld its value while allowing for Masses to be celebrated in the vernacular. There are Masses said all over the world in Latin, including in Toronto and other Canadian cities.
Third, and most offensive, is the statement that the Pope's "conservatism is becoming more apparent." The Pope is neither liberal nor conservative. He is orthodox. He upholds the faith. Pope Benedict protects and promotes the same things that Pope John Paul II did. To suggest that only now is Pope Benedict's "conservatism...becoming more apparent" is to suggest that the Holy Father has lied for a year and a few months, covering up his true feelings and thoughts in order to fool the world. Absolute balderdash!
Finally, the examples at the end of the article are not comparable and escape explanation. Yes, City of God is a modern hymn. But the Nicene Creed is not a hymn or a song of praise. It is a profession of faith. There is no comparison.