The final weeks of 2003 were packed with much activity on the liturgy front, both in Rome and around the world. Pope John Paul II’s document on sacred music, released on December 3, marked the 40th anniversary of the Vatican II Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and the centennial of another papal letter on church music, penned by Pope Pius X. 

It was good to read of a high regard for silence: “In a society that lives in an increasingly frenetic manner, often dazed by noise and scattered by the transient, rediscovering the value of silence is vital.” After year-long speculation of a vigorous return to chant and organ, the pope referred to other instruments and genres as a “precious enrichment” of the liturgy. New compositions were also encouraged, providing they reflect the intent of the liturgy and help people to pray. 

Condemned were “elitist” attempts to “introduce into the liturgy ancient or contemporary compositions which, while perhaps having artistic value, indulge in a language that is incomprehensible.” And that seems to keep Vatican II squarely on track from the standpoint of good, prayerful music sung by the whole community. 

Cardinal Danneels on liturgy

Last fall, the Zenit News Agency published an interview with Cardinal Godfried Danneels, a former professor of liturgy at the University of Louvain in Belgium. As always, his opinions were provocative. For example, on the Latin Mass: “When you have a parish Mass, you shouldn’t do it in Latin. You can do it perhaps for more intellectual people who have a certain culture, but I think it is very exceptional.” 

• On the Tridentine indult: “I don’t understand people who say the real Mass is the Tridentine Mass. No, the Mass is the Mass of the Church of today. Just as it was in the Mass of the eighth century, the 12th and the 16th.” 
• On liturgical language: “In the liturgy you need a certain sacrality. (L)iturgical texts should have certain cultural standards and theological depth and a kind of being-the-same-text in the whole area. Liturgical language is not the spoken language of every day, every hour and in my kitchen.”
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  On liturgical dance: “There’s a difference between dance of Asia and Africa and modern dances in Europe and America. There is no eroticism in African dances. It’s very solemn, it’s very sacred. But our dances or other dances — we shouldn’t transform liturgical dances into a ballet. The Nutcracker or something like that. The problem is if you have a liturgical dance, it should make you think about God. If you have a normal ballet, you think about the dancing. That’s completely different.”  ML

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