Pope: improve seminarians’ education to counter ‘banality’ of contemporary Church music
March 06, 2017
Pope Francis spoke about the “banality” of contemporary Church music as he addressed 400 people who were taking part in a Vatican conference on sacred music.
The conference commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of Musicam Sacram, the Sacred Congregation of Rites’ 1967 instruction on music in the liturgy.
“Certainly, the encounter with modernity and the introduction of [vernacular] tongues into the Liturgy stirred up many problems: of musical languages, forms, and genres,” the Pope said on March 4 in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.
“Sometimes a certain mediocrity, superficiality, and banality have prevailed, to the detriment of the beauty and intensity of liturgical celebrations,” he continued, as he called for improved musical education for seminarians, “in dialogue with the musical trends of our time, with the demands of the different cultural areas, and with an ecumenical attitude.”
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Posted by: brenda22890 -
Mar. 07, 2017 5:30 AM ET USA
At last! Something Pope Francis and I agree on!
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Posted by: jalsardl5053 -
Mar. 07, 2017 3:39 AM ET USA
The Pope gets this one right.
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Posted by: rickt26170 -
Mar. 07, 2017 12:05 AM ET USA
I agree with the Pope. That feels good to say.
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Posted by: Travelling -
Mar. 06, 2017 6:50 PM ET USA
This is good. The document Musicam Sacram is important and neglected. As classical musician I am pleased to hear the Pope speak about the current banality of Sacred music.
