Bruno Volpe on Petrus has an interview with the Archbishop of Lima, Peru, H.E. Juan Luis Card. Cipriani Thorne. He says something rather astonishing.
CITTA’ DEL VATICANO – Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Peru, authoritative representative of the Sacred College and of Opus Dei, and one of the great experts of the Catholic Church in moral theology and liturgy. And it is precisely on the theme of liturgy, so current in this time, the Cardinal willingly took some questions from Petrus.
Your Eminence, what is true liturgy?
I will be brief: it is the pure face of the Faith. This isn’t mere exteriority or respect for formal rules, but in the liturgy the Mystery of Christ, who died and rose, is celebrated with joy. And so, it is important to celebrate Holy Mass worthily and correctly, with a liturgy faithful to the canons of the Church, above all for respect for Jesus. I appreciate, in that sense, the continuous appeals of the Holy Father Benedict XVI for respect for the decorum of the liturgy.
In the last years there has been noted a worrying escalation of liturgical abuses. How do you explain this negative trend?
The idea of sin has been lost, and so also the Sacrifice of Holy Mass has been mistreated and undervalued in currents of thought, also within the Church, that justify and tolerate everything creating a debatable circular and assembly-like dimension for the Eucharistic ceremony. Then, and I believe this is partly the fault of the Roman Curia after Vatican II, there was a relaxed attitude, above all in interpretation, regarding the Council. It is urgently necessary to remedy this situation; I believe that the vertical dimension of the Eucharist is absolutely necessary because the faithful can grasp the great gift of Christ. Surely, the faithful are at risk of being only scandalized and driven away with the so-called "show-Masses" in which there are committed, in the name of freedom and creativity, every sort of wickedness.
Let us come to the manner of administering Communion…
Even in this matter that relaxed attitude of many priests has made ridiculous in the eyes of Catholics the value of the Eucharist. Personally, I retain that it best way to administer Communion is on the tongue, so much that in my diocese I have forbidden the Host in the hand. In Masses with great attendance, in the past we even found Hosts thrown onto the pavement of the Church.
Petrus is worried about the Neocatechumenate: the Journey has aroused admiration but also worry and suspicion.
I don’t doubt that the intentions of the Neocatechumens are praiseworthy and they are really searching fr God with fervor and joy. And I think that there must be started a healthy and at the same time firm dialogue with them in truth. The Vatican itself is trying to find a solution for approving their statutes. In any event, in the celebration of Holy Mass on the part of Neocatechumens there are certain aspects that I absolutely do not share. I call to mind and repeat that the liturgy is unique and must be respected by everyone in the same way. Indeed, tolerance, of course, for Neocatechumens, but it is the competence of the Church to call them back to respect for the Eucharist.
CITTA’ DEL VATICANO – Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Peru, authoritative representative of the Sacred College and of Opus Dei, and one of the great experts of the Catholic Church in moral theology and liturgy. And it is precisely on the theme of liturgy, so current in this time, the Cardinal willingly took some questions from Petrus.
