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Unfortunately, the state of the liturgy seems to concern very few people in these days of waiting for a new Pope. And yet this issue is among the most important—if not the most important. Lex orandi, lex credendi—the way we pray shapes the way we believe.
The decline of the liturgy and sacred music seems to be of little interest, and some may now consider the sloppiness of many liturgical celebrations—even in the churches of Rome—as something normal.
The Conclave, like every major event, serves the media as a source of headlines to feed their audiences. But behind the media sensationalism, how much do people still understand that this is supposed to be an event of faith?
Perhaps this is why the liturgy seems so uninteresting—it doesn’t make for news. And yet the liturgical barbarization we have been immersed in for decades is a key to understanding the crisis of faith.
When the successor of Peter is elected in the coming days, one of the first acts I would hope to see from him is a clear break from the mentality of the 1970s—a mentality that still holds too many priests captive, a desire to promote a Catholicism that does not exist, in service of a people that does not exist.
They preferred an intellectualized approach to the “people,” thinking that participation would come through understanding the words of the liturgy, failing to recognize that within the liturgy were far more powerful languages that they chose to ignore. For example, the language of beauty, which was set aside in favor of a dry, worldly utilitarianism.
The new Pope must have the courage to confront the liturgical question—not to go backward, but finally to move forward. It must be clearly stated that those who claim to defend the Second Vatican Council are often the very ones who have betrayed it. The Council made specific prescriptions regarding Latin, Gregorian chant, and the organ—yet we all know what we hear in most of our liturgies today.
Of course, there is the risk that the Cardinal who is elected Pope may himself be a victim of the mentality I’ve described—the very mentality that has brought the Church to her knees. This is not just a remote possibility, but a real and present danger. And yet, especially in this Jubilee of Hope, we must not lose hope that there may still be a chance to rise again.
Let’s be honest: the signs coming from the Vatican are not encouraging. There are forces that continue to work against renewal. But despite this, we must remain firm in our principles and repeat the words that the Apostle Peter once spoke to Our Lord: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
