The Holy See is curculating a preparatory document (known as a lineamenta) for next year’s synod of bishops, which will be focusing on the liturgy. The document contains, among other things, a list of questions that the Holy See wants answered regarding the liturgy.
Though the document is issued to bishops and is principally for bishops, it also states:
This Lineamenta is intended to encourage episcopal conferences, the Eastern Churches sui iuris, the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and the Union of Superiors General to invite the participation of all in the Church so that they can enter into discussion and take a pastoral inventory. In this way, the responses of these entities to the questions in the Lineamenta might be indicative and complete, thereby ensuring a fruitful synod.
Since it says that it is encouring the bishops to invite the participation “of all in the Church,” one presumably could send one’s answers to the questions to one’s bishop or to the bishops’ conferences for forwarding to Rome. Or one could forward them to the Synod of Bishops offices oneself, presumably.
The questions indicate the Rome is continuing its focus on improving the quality of liturgy and eliminating liturgical abuses. Among the questions are these:
4. The Shadows in the Celebration of the Eucharist: In the Encyclical Letter Ecclesia De Eucharistia (n. 10) the Holy Father mentions “shadows” in the celebration of the Eucharist. What are the negative aspects (abuses, misunderstandings) existing in Eucharistic worship? What elements or actions done in practice can obscure the profound sense of the Eucharistic mystery? What is the cause of such a disorienting situation for the faithful?
5. The Eucharistic Celebration and Liturgical Norms: In an attempt to be personal and avant-garde, do priests manifest any attitudes in their celebration of Mass which are explicitly or implicitly contrary to the liturgical norms established by the Catholic Church (cf. The General Instruction on the Roman Missal, Chapter IV; Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches)? In your estimation, what are the underlying reasons for such behaviour? What elements or actions during the celebration of Holy Mass, and also in Eucharistic worship outside of Mass, according to their respective norms and dispositions, should receive attention so as to highlight the profound sense of this great Mystery of the faith hidden in the gift of the Eucharist?
6. The Sacrament of the Eucharist and The Sacrament of Penance: Conversion is necessary to participate fully in partaking of the Eucharist. What is the faithful’s understanding of the relationship between the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of the Eucharist? Holy Mass is also the celebration of salvation from sin and death. For the return of sinners, above all on Sundays, what is provided so that the faithful can celebrate the Sacrament of Penance in time to participate in the Eucharist? Do Christian communities often display a casual approach to receiving Holy Communion or do they unjustifiably refrain from receiving it? What is being done to assist the faithful to discern if they have the proper dispositions to approach this great Sacrament?
8. Holy Mass and the Celebration of the Word: In parishes awaiting a priest, how widespread is the practice of celebrating the Liturgy of the Word with the distribution of the Eucharist, over which a lay person or Eucharistic minister often presides? What specific formation do those responsible receive? Are the faithful able to understand the difference between such celebrations and Holy Mass? Do they have an adequate knowledge of the distinction between an ordained and non-ordained minister?
9. The Eucharist and the Other Sacraments: To what measure and with what criteria are the other sacraments celebrated during Holy Mass? When the sacraments and sacramentals are celebrated during Holy Mass (Matrimony, Funerals, Baptisms, etc.) with non-practising Catholics, non-Catholics and unbelievers present, what steps are taken to avoid a casual attitude or even carelessness towards the Eucharist?
10. The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist: Have the faithful in your parishes preserved faith in the Lord’s Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist? Do they have a clear understanding of the gift of the Lord’s Real Presence? Do situations exist in Eucharistic Liturgies or the Worship of the Eucharist which might lead to a diminished regard for the Real Presence. If so, what might be the reasons?
11. Eucharistic Devotion: Does the Worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament have a due place in parish life and communities? What importance do pastors give to adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament? To Perpetual Adoration? To Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament? To personal prayer before the tabernacle? To processions on the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ? To Eucharistic devotion in parish missions?
13. Dignity at Eucharistic Celebrations: Is attention given in your Churches to the liturgical environment for Eucharistic celebrations? What is the artistic-architectural setting in which the Eucharistic liturgy is celebrated both on solemn occasions and on weekdays? Do the surroundings give a clear indication that the Eucharistic banquet is truly a “sacred” banquet (Ecclesia De Eucharistia, 48)? How frequently and for what pastoral reasons is Mass celebrated outside of this place of worship?
14. The Eucharist and Inculturation: To what measure must attention be given to inculturation in the celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist so as to avoid a misunderstood creativity which leads to peculiar and strange practices. What criteria are followed in inculturation? In the Latin Church, are the norms proposed in the Instruction De Liturgia Romana et Inculturazione given adequate consideration? What is the experience of the Eastern Churches in the inculturation of the Eucharist?
16. The Eucharist, Ecumenism, Interreligious Dialogue and the Sects: Considering the ideas on the Eucharist held by our separated brothers and sisters in the West and the challenges of other religions and the sects, how is the mystery of the Most Blessed Sacrament preserved and presented in its entirety, so as not to cause confusion or misunderstanding among the faithful, particularly at ecumenical and interreligious meetings?
17. The Eucharist and Ecclesial “Intercommunion”: “The celebration of the Eucharist cannot be the starting-point for communion” (Ecclesia De Eucharistia, 35). How are the norms of intercommunion applied (cf. The Code of Canon Law, canon 844)? Are the faithful aware of the norm that a Catholic cannot receive the Eucharist in communities which do not have the Sacrament of Orders (cf. Ecclesia De Eucharistia, 46)?
Other questions, too are devoted to improving the quality of liturgical life.
For the full text of the lineamenta, see here.
For a news story on it, see here.
It’ll be interesting to see whether those who always clamor for more lay participation in the Church will take the Vatican up on this offer.
Are the bishops under any obligation to pass along responses sent in by the laity? Or will most just draft their own statements without regard to the comments they receive?
Is it me, or are the Holy Father and the bishops just not getting it?
I think most of these documents miss the larger picture when they single out all these particular abuses. In many parishes, the problem isn’t so much abuses, as it is just a lack of reverence. But the things that used to make up a “reverent” Mass were not always indicated in the rubrics. They were just common practice.
For example, when I was a postulant for the Society of Saint John Cantius, we altar boys were taught to always walk reverently, with our hands folded. All movements of the servers were supposed to be purposeful and ritualized. Now, in most parishes, the servers don’t have this demeanor at all. So you could theoretically have a non-abusive Mass, but one that still isn’t reverent, or conducive to an appreciation of the sacred.
I can’t stand the way that priests conduct themselves when they say Mass. Hands are down by their side, they’ll pick eye-crud or scratch their nose, play with their fingers or fidget when they sit, take off their glasses and put them on the altar, etc. Even if they do not improvise the words of the Mass, their very manner of celebrating is irreverent. The prayers are “moaned” and not prayed.
Most priests are also loathe to SING a Mass. Your average Novus Ordo is just an irreverently celebrated Low Mass with tacky hymns.
These are not specific things that can be addressed by a document. They’re a state-of-mind, a disposition, that a priest either has, or hasn’t.