Te Deum laudamus!: Abp Ranjith: Opposition to Summorum Pontificum "beneath the dignity of a shepherd"

Monday, November 19, 2007

Abp Ranjith: Opposition to Summorum Pontificum "beneath the dignity of a shepherd"

Abp Ranjith, the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, for which Cardinal Arinze is the head, had something to say again, about bishops who oppose the Pope's motu proprio, liberating the Tridentine, Summorum Pontificum. As much as I love Cardinal Arinze, Abp Ranjith is a very direct and quotable man. He says it like it is. Here is a short excerpt from Apcom which Fr. Z has up in English.

Mons. Ranjith criticizes the insubbordination of bishops over Latin

"No to dances, ditties and sermons of a socio-political nature"

Rome 16 Nov. (Apcom) –

....

The attitude of "autonomy" demonstrated "among some ecclesiastics", but also "in the highest ranks of the Church" certainly doesn’t help "the noble mission Christ entrusted to His Vicar", the Pope, the Archbishop affirmed in an interview with Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. [Here it is.]

"You hear in certain countries or dioceses that there have been issued by bishops rules which practically countermand or distort the intention of the Pope. Such behavior is not consonant with the dignity and nobility of the vocation of a pastor of the Church."

Mons. Ranjith then calls to mind the motivation which lead the Pope to sanction formally the validity of the liturgy before the Second Vatican Council. "The post-Conciliar reform is not entire negative", the Archbishop affirmed. "On the contrary, there are many positive aspects which were achieved. But there are also harmful things for the faith and the liturgical life of the Church." In particular, "the use of dances, musical instruments and songs that have little to do with liturgy", Ranjith stated "are not in any way in keeping with the sacred context of the church and of liturgy; I would add also certain sermons of a socio-political nature, often poorly prepared. All this perverts the celebration of Holy Mass and turns it into a backdrop (coreografia) and demonstration of theatricality, but not of faith."