Cardinal Bergoglio on the celebration of the Mass

February 20, 2015

L’Osservatore Romano has published comments made by the future Pope Francis on the celebration of the Mass.

The March 2005 address was delivered during a meeting of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. L’Osservatore Romano reported that the text was the basis of Pope Francis’s February 19 remarks to the clergy of Rome.

The future Pope called for a recovery of Eucharistic awe and wonder in the face of the reality of the mystery being celebrated. It is important, he added, that the priest be a man of prayer who puts on the Lord Jesus Christ and that in the homily, he speak from the heart.

Cardinal Bergoglio added that the variety of options in the current missal is “remarkable” compared to the Eastern liturgy and that there is thus no need for “superfluous, poor texts of wild ‘creativity.’”

In speaking the words of the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest, he added, should neither be a “showman” of “superficial animation,” nor use “rigid gestures,” as if the faithful were not present.

 

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Further information:

• Poco e bene (L’Osservatore Romano, p. 6)
• Pope emphasizes need for reverence in liturgy, at meeting with priests of Rome (CWN, 2/19)