Thursday, March 01, 2007

The Vatican's Liturgy Wars

Diogenes draws our attention to Fr. Santora's column on the liturgy wars in the Vatican, which set Archbishop Piero Marini, the papal master of ceremonies, against the Congregation for Divine Worship.

Diogenes comments: "At one pole of the Vatican liturgical divide stands Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, former prefect of the CDW, as its rallying figure. At the opposite pole is Archbishop Marini, officially the head of the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff and unofficially the mascot for the Desperate Housewives, as this faction of Roman clergymen is known by unsympathetic onlookers."

Further: "It's undeniable that Pope Benedict has insisted on somewhat greater decorum than his predecessor regarding pontifical liturgy, but it's just as undeniable that the Liturgy Wars continue to split the Church, from the humblest Mass-center in the Marianas Islands to the Basilica of St. Peter itself. It must be an odd sensation for the Pope to celebrate Mass -- prayerfully, as ever; by the book, as ever -- hearing the knives being sharpened in the background while his own acolytes gaze meaningfully at the exposed neck of the Roman Rite. Apparently the Pope feels it's a risk worth taking."

More recent articles:

For more articles, see the NLM archives: