Pre-16 was long interested in liturgy and his book on the liturgy titled The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger is chock-full of his great insights on the liturgy. Now as B16, Pope Benedict has recently stated that papal liturgies must set the liturgical gold standard for other liturgies to emulate.
"Pope Benedict XVI today said that papal ceremonies ‘must be exemplary liturgy for the entire world.’
"The Pope was speaking to choir of the pontifical chapel, led by director Giuseppe Liberto, after a concert in the Sistine Chapel. Speaking extemporaneously, the Pope spoke about the importance of liturgical music.
"The importance of pontifical liturgy has become more pronounced, the Pope said. He noted that ‘today, with television and radio, many people, from all parts of the world, follow the liturgy.’ Those who follow the papal ceremonies are likely to use them as a yardstick against which liturgy should be measured, the Pope said. Thus the liturgy becomes a way in which the Pope teaches the Catholic faithful, giving them a proper idea of what they should expect."
Another report is from the Vatican Informatin Service:
The Pope concluded: “I would like to thank you with all my heart. The liturgy of the Pope, the liturgy of St. Peter, must be an exemplary liturgy for the world. You know that today, through television and radio, many people all over the world follow this liturgy; from here they learn … what the liturgy is and how it must be celebrated. That is why it is so important, not only that our masters of ceremonies show the Pope how to celebrate the liturgy well, but also that the Sistine Chapel should be an example of the beauty of song in praise of God.”
(From http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/e0_en.htm )
Archbishop Foley stressed the importance of the Midngiht Mass at the synod of bishops (From http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/bollettino_21_xi-ordinaria-2005/02_inglese/b05_02.html ):
“It is interesting to note that the most widely watched regularly scheduled religious program in the world is the telecast of the Holy Father’s Midnight Mass at Christmas, which is viewed in about seventy-five nations. Quite a few people, including Protestants, have said that this telecast from Rome has become a Christmas tradition with them and entire families gather around the television set to be united in prayer with the Holy Father. While a number of nations in Western Europe do not transmit this telecast, preferring to telecast local liturgies, television executives in a number of nations in America, Asia and Africa have told us how delighted they are to receive such a program from the Vatican. With the deregulation of the media in the United States, the Christmas Midnight Mass from the Vatican remains the only – I repeat, the only – regularly scheduled religious program on major network television.”
This ties in to the St. Stanislaus post… Archbishop Burke has given to all the priests in the Archdiocese of St. Louis for Christmas a copy of “The Spirit of the Liturgy” by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
Leading by example… one thing Papa Ratzi can do with maximum effect, now that he is Pope.
God guard his life & health!