Who knew? Cardinal Kasper appears to be much more orthodox than suggested by his earlier reputation as among the liberal German bishops ranged against Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the 1990s! It's the second time he has spoken up since his retirement to express orthodox views - the first time was on priestly celibacy recently, when the German media tried to make much of a letter that he and then Prof. Joseph Ratzinger were supposed to have signed in 1970, which suggested that German bishops start a discussion on the issue of priestly celibacy. Now it's the liturgy....
Cardinal Kasper urges
'reform of the liturgical reform'
Translated from the website of the Diocese of Muenster
VALLENDER, Germany - Cardinal Walter Kasper is advocating 'a renewal of liturgical-sacramental culture in the Church'.
"One cannot be forever tinkering with the liturgy," said the emeritus President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, speaking in Vallender, in the diocese of Muenster, on Monday, April 4.
Rather, what is needed, he said is "a deep reform of the (post Vatican II) liturgical reform".
He spoke on the first day of a symposium entitled "Liturgy in the Church' sponsored by the Walter Kasper Institute for Theology, Ecumenism and Spirituality, which has its headquarters in the Philosophical and Theological Institute of Vallender.
He warned that liturgy must not be desacralzied and robbed of its grandeur, stressing that liturgy is worship of God, and never just a community celebration.
Precisely in s secular culture which tends to level off everything and is empty within, Kasper said, the experience of the sacred - its majesty and fascination - could be healing.
By coincidence, Scottish composer-conductor James MacMIllan describes his personal experience with the traditional Mass in - of all places - Amsterdam, on his Telegraph blog...
Traditional Mass in Amsterdam:
'Much more inspiring than
the usual trendy rubbish'
By James MacMillan
April 6th, 2011
Mass at the Sint-Agneskerk.
I was in Amsterdam last week, conducting at the Concertgebouw. I found out that the FSSP (Priestly Fraternity of St Peter) have a thriving parish there, in the Sint-Agneskerk. I went along on Sunday for their beautiful Extraordinary Form liturgy.
The Dutch Church is a wasteland/joke/disaster area because of 30 years of liberalism. Basically there are no Catholics left here! Or so it seems sometimes, thanks to the usual rubbish. Thankfully there are some younger, faithful Catholics willing to swim against the tide.
I’m still a bit of a novice when it comes to the EF – Sunday’s was my third – but I am struck each time by just how devotional the atmosphere is, even on entering the church. Everything seems focused on the tabernacle.
There is a palpable presence of God, which tends to be missing from a lot of churches now, which feel more like Glasgow Central station than a house of prayer.
In the FSSP’s Amsterdam church there was a veritable tsunami of mantillas on display! There is a liberal argument in Holland which is opposing the government’s crackdown on Islamic women wearing the hijab/niqab/burka. Those same liberals who would have a fit if they saw a mantilla in a Catholic church, no doubt!
I certainly got the impression that the people present on Sunday were being helped enormously in their faith, much of which has been swept away in Holland. Many ethnic/immigrant faces in evidence. It reminded me of the Newman Beatification Mass at Cofton Park.
Compared to this, the anti-Pope demonstrations in London looked terribly white and middle-class. Just like most opponents of Rome, outside and inside the Church.
“Ah, but we can’t go back to the past,” we hear the usual ageing handwringers cry. But the past is the past, and has no bearing any more on the new impetus to sort out the liturgy. Latin Mass can be in the EF and the Novus Ordo – that’s the beauty of Latin, and that’s why the Devil (let alone the Tabletistas) hates it!
“Oh but where is the active participation in the Latin Mass?” cry the liberal killjoys. But lay involvement is clearly possible to the fullest extent in the EF or Latin Novus Ordo.
In the three EF liturgies I have attended in the last year, the assembly sang much, much more than one ever sees or hears in a Glasgow “Mass-for-Daily-Record-Man” or its depressing equivalent up and down the country.
Everything from the Asperges Me, through the Kyrie, Sanctus and all the Dominus vobiscum/et cum spiritu tuos – sung by EVERYBODY.
There is no point in using the past, pre-Vatican II practice as a weapon against the inevitable. None of the young Catholics now committed to good liturgy have any idea what the old curmudgeons are going on about when they moan about the bad old days. Their bad memories are irrelevant and have no bearing at all on the push for improvements. And these improvements will have a bearing on both forms the Mass, especially the English vernacular, I’m sure.
Even the readings – chanted in Latin – were understood by everyone, because we had the translations in Dutch and English in our bulletins. I have never felt so participatory...
James MacMillan is a Scottish composer whose symphonies, concertos, operas, sacred music and many orchestral and instrumental works are strongly influenced by his Catholic faith. His St John Passion was premiered by Sir Colin Davis and the LSO in 2008. His specially commissioned congregational Mass was performed when Pope Benedict XVI beatified Cardinal Newman during his visit to Britain in September. He and his wife are lay Dominicans and live in Glasgow. He also blogs at jamesmacmillaninscotland.com.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 07/04/2011 21:16]