Sunday, May 21, 2006

Commentaries rolling in on the Cdl Arinze letter to Skylstad on translation

I'll try to fish some commentaries cropping up on this translation letter (click for full letter in my original post). Unfortunately, a quick search of this kind on google reveals absolutely nothing in the "news" section. No doubt that blogdom has the edge on real news, real fast. It may take time for it to make it to more mainstream catholic sources, if it makes some of them at all *sigh*.

The average Catholic without this kind of access will probably never know that Cardinal Arinze even spoke on the issue. It should be at Catholic News Service and when the weekend is over, hopefully, it crops up in their front panel. However, all disrespect aside, I won't hold my breath. Catholic World News is often more reliable, but actual Catholic news sometimes lags even there and it is helpful to read "Off the Record". The Wanderer will have this covered in another week, and it may take another 2 or 3 weeks just to get the issue through snail mail. Bookmark the link I just provided and you will find articles slipping out long before you ever get your print edition. No doubt they will cover this, probably with some solid commentary.

Here is some background from the blog Weight of Glory



It was just about a month ago that Cardinal Arinze discouraged
"liturgies-to-order"


"The Mass is the most solemn action of the
sacred liturgy, which is itself
the public worship of the Church," the cardinal
said. Quoting John Paul II, he said liturgy is
not a "private property" and that priests and
lay faithfuls are "not free to add or subtract
any details" from the official liturgy. He said
communities that are faithful to the Church's
liturgical norms demonstrate their
love for the Church.



"A do-it-yourself mentality, an attitude
of nobody-will-tell-me-what-to-do, or a defiant sting of
if-you-do-not-like-my-Mass-you-can-go-to-another-parish,
is not only against sound theology and ecclesiology,
but also offends against common sense," the
Cardinal said.



"Unfortunately, sometimes common sense is not very
common, when we see a priest ignoring liturgical rules
and installing creativity, in his case personal idiosyncrasy,
as the guide to the celebration of Holy Mass."



You gotta like this Cardinal for his frankness. Some would call it uncharitable. However, sometimes charity comes in the form of straightforward correction and His Emminence certainly doesn't leave any room for ambiguity.

Just to gauge how this is coming along in blogworld, check out a basic search on Arinze. It's pretty obvious that the faithful who are talking in the blogs about this aren't the same ones that some US Bishops think would be harmed by a sudden purification of translations which reflect the original Latin.