Vatican congregation restructured to emphasize liturgical reform, sacred music and architecture

CWN - November 14, 2012

The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship has been restructured, allowing for greater attention to liturgical reform, to church architecture, and especially to sacred music.

In an analysis of the dicastery’s new structure, Andrea Tornielli of La Stampa says that a new office “specifically dedicated to liturgical art and music” has been established to “provide guidelines to ensure that hymns sung during Mass and the structure of new churches are adequate and correspond to the mystery being celebrated.”

The changes in the Congregation for Divine Worship are being supervised by the prefect, Cardinal Antonio Cañizare Llovera, and follow the guidelines established by Pope Benedict XVI, who has frequently spoken of the need to reform the Latin liturgy.

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  • Posted by: jimgrum697380 - Nov. 15, 2012 6:58 AM ET USA

    One priest stated that even more than the words being sung, the music itself is paramount in offering God his due. Michael Rose says that all churches ought to exhibit 3 characteristics: Verticality, Iconography and Permanence. This restructuring is good news.

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