"The Pope Lets a Thousand Liturgies Bloom"

Francis X. Rocca discusses the Pope's Anglican initiative:

'Benedict is hardly permissive when it comes to liturgy. The Neocatechumenal Way, a growing international movement that the pope has long praised for its vigorous work in evangelization, was forced to modify some of its most distinctive practices—such as taking Communion in the form of a large loaf of bread shared around a table—before receiving final Vatican approval last year. The pope has also warned against liturgical dance that turns the Mass into a form of entertainment and has made clear his preference for tradition when it comes to music (Gregorian Chant) and the distribution of Communion (on the tongue while kneeling, rather than the more recent practice of receiving the host in the hand while standing).

'Yet according to the theologian Tracey Rowland, one of the pope's most informed and accessible scholarly interpreters, Benedict is a genuine "liturgical pluralist," ready to countenance any rite that "can be traced back as an organic development of apostolic provenance." The key concept, Ms. Rowland says, "is organic development. What he's really against is your parish liturgy committee getting together and saying, 'let's do something different.'"'


Pope Benedict XVI is showing himself to be the worthy successor of John Paul II.