Editorial

Liturgy: light at the end of the tunnel

Michael Gilchrist

Contents - Dec 2007 - Buy a copy now Editorial: Liturgy: light at the end of the tunnel - Michael Gilchrist Liturgy: Australian archbishops report progress with new English Mass translations - Michael Gilchrist News: The Church Around the World Schools: The state of Catholic education: teacher and student experiences - Br Barry Coldrey Catechetics: Religious education in Catholic schools: the role of parish priests - Michael Gilchrist Church History: Interesting aspects of ecumenical councils - Frank Mobbs Britain: British Catholicism: the salt has lost its flavour - John Haldane 1962 Missal: Australian bishops support Benedict XV's liberalising of the Latin Mass - AD2000 Report Architecture: Did Vatican II recommend the removal of altar rails? - M. Cassey Letters: Dissent - Brian Bibby Letters: Far-sightedness of Father Purcell - Fr Brian Harrison OS Letters: Response - Don Gaffney Letters: Narrow way - F. Thims Letters: Latin Mass - Carol V. Phillips Letters: Pope's Masses - Paul Martin Letters: True Church - Peter D. Howard Letters: Homosexual 'marriage' - Arnold Jago Letters: Unbaptised infants - Lawrence R. Hurley Letters: Archaeology - Ann Marie Streda Events: Latin Masses for Christmas in Caulfield and Kew Books: JESUS, THE APOSTLES AND THE EARLY CHURCH by Pope Benedict XVI - Tim Cannon (reviewer) Books: THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD AND WOMEN by Sara Butler MSBT - Paul Woodbury (reviewer) Books: Books available from AD Books Reflection: May we deepen our longing for the Lord's coming - Bishop Arthur Serratelli

For those favouring an eventual 'reform of the reform' of the Latin Rite Mass following decades of misinformation in the 'spirit' of Vatican II, there has been much to be thankful for in recent years.

On the one hand, improvements are under way in the English Missal translation for the Novus Ordo Mass after over 30 years' use of an inferior, hastily produced text.

On the other, we have Benedict XVI's motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, allowing unlimited scope for celebrations of the 1962 Missal - what the Pope calls the 'extraordinary' form of the Latin Rite, as distinct from the 'ordinary' form which is the post-Vatican II Novus Ordo.

As the report on page 3 indicates, two Australian archbishops are playing a major role in improvements to the Novus Ordo English translation while a third, Cardinal Pell, is chairman of the Vox Clara Committee which oversees the drafting process to ensure it remains in line with John Paul II's guidelines in Liturgiam Authenticam.

A second report (pages 10-11) illustrates how Australia's bishops have been responding positively to Benedict's motu proprio, with celebrations of the 'extraordinary' form of the Mass in several cathedrals in recent weeks.

Included in that report is an interview with the Secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Liturgy and the Discipline of the Sacraments who offers forthright views on abuses in the Novus Ordo along with the need for the world's bishops to cooperate fully with the terms of Benedict's motu proprio.

With gradual improvements to the Novus Ordo, including the re- introduction of a little Latin here and there, and the emergence of younger priests more attuned to the Church's liturgical rubrics than some of their older confreres have been, the gap between the 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' forms of the Latin Rite will gradually narrow with obvious benefits for both and the overall spiritual climate in parishes.

Michael Gilchrist is Editor of AD2000 (email address available on request).

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 20 No 11 (December 2007 - January 2008), p. 2