Pope to restructure curial office to promote 'reform of the reform'?

February 09, 2011

Pope Benedict XVI plans to alter the jurisdiction of the Congregation for Divine Worship, placing its focus squarely on the effort to promote reverence and a sense of the sacred in the liturgy, according to Italian media reports.

The Pope will soon issue a motu proprio redefining the task of the Congregation for Divine Worship, reports Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale. The report by Tornielli—who has correctly predicted a number of recent developments inside the Vatican—has been echoed by other Vatican-watchers.

The Congregation—technically known as the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments—will be relieved of responsibility for canonical questions about the administration of the sacraments. Those questions, under the terms of the motu proprio, will now be handled by the Roman Rota. The change would allow the Congregation for Divine Worship to devote its work entirely to the promotion of liturgical reform—a task that has always been a top priority for Benedict XVI.

The restructuring of the Congregation would further the Pope’s cherished goal of restoring reverence to the Roman liturgy. Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, has revealed that the Pope wants to encourage “a new, clear, and vigorous liturgical movement throughout the entire Church.” According to Tornielli’s report, the motu proprio has already been drafted and reviewed by canonical experts, and could be made public soon.

Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, has confirmed that the Pope has been considering a motu proprio that would place juridical questions about the sacraments under the jurisdiction of the Roman Rota. He did not comment on the prospects for other changes in the work of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Un motu proprio per il culto divino (Il Giornale)
• Motu Proprio on a New Liturgical Movement? (New Liturgical Movement)
• Arriva il Motu Proprio di B-XVI che risistemerà la liturgia (Il Foglio)