Vatican reportedly weighing liturgical proposals for 'reform of the reform'

August 24, 2009

The Congregation for Divine Worship has presented Pope Benedict XVI with a list of proposed changes to the liturgical norms for the Mass, according to a report by Andrea Tornielli of the Italian daily Il Giornale. The suggestions-- which, according to Tornielli, were approved at a meeting of the Congregation in March-- are designed to restore a greater sense of the sacred. The Rorate Caeli web site, which has furnished a translaton of the Giornale report, suggests that these proposals could be the basis for the "reform of the reform" that Pope Benedict has sought in the liturgy, enriching the Novus Ordo with elements that reflect the liturgy of the Tridentine Mass. Among the proposals under discussion, reportedly, are a call to end the practice of receiving Communion in the hand, and a return to celebrating Mass ad orientem.

The suggestions submitted to Pope Benedict were, according to Tornielli, matters worthy of further discussion and study rather than concrete proposals for immediate change. And the Giornale report has not been confirmed by the Vatican. But Tornielli has compiled an impressive record in recent months, accurately predicting several important developments at the Vatican.

 

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Further information:

• Ratzinger riforma la messa Basta con l’ostia sulla (Il Giornale
• The "Reform of the Reform" is in motion (Rorate Caeli)