Roman and I had a conversation last night as to the reaction generally around the Brisbane archdiocese about the Motu Proprio. To date the only reactions I have personally found is from older parishioners (ie. 60yo and above which is probably the majority of the practicing Catholic population), saying things like that "the Pope wants us to go back to the old Mass that we grew up with" - of course incorrect.
The small amount of "official" correspondence contains no surprises, given the ideological backgrounds of the self appointed people managing liturgical issues. Fr Tom Elich in the December 2006 edition of Liturgy News came out with a number of judgements on the issue that have turned out to be totally wrong. He also sides with the French bishops who protested against the Motu Proprio (mmmm - neo "Protestants"??). Elizabeth Harrington of the Brisbane Liturgy Commission goes further in her article of 13 May and by quoting Fr Reggie Foster implies that the Pope is "stupid" for issuing such a document. The biggest criticism is that:
The Tridentine Mass has fewer readings from scripture than the current Mass, there is no Prayer of the Faithful, the Eucharistic Prayer is said in silence and the liturgy is celebrated with the priest’s back to the people.
Particularly irksome, is the same story repeated in many articles is the notion that the priest celebrating "with his back to the people" is somehow anti-social. If the liturgy is only seen as a convivial gathering of a community group (as many "authorities" on liturgy seem to imply), I suppose that is anti-social. However, that is not the reason why the liturgy exists.
Overall it is difficult to maintain any decent discussion on the liturgy with many people as much of the outlook is so infantile (particularly from older people brought up in the pre-conciliar church). Thankfully I can discuss this properly with my fellow bloggers, on this and other sites.
The next blog is about the future.
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