By now, the story is all over the place about the new document coming from the Vatican on liturgical abuses. As expected, the secular coverage is highlighting what they see as the most sensational passages. And we haven’t even seen it yet. In fact, as CWN reported yesterday what we know is that an Italian magazine says it will publish what it calls a draft version of the document next month. Okay, so no one’s seen the document and it’s just a draft anyway.
So why the leaks? Could it be that some people don’t like the restrictive directives contained in the draft and want to scuttle it bypublic outrage over it before it is published?
It’s funny that all the attention is on (1) altar girls, (2) clapping in the Church, (3) liturgical dance. Yet those aren’t even the main focus, according to reports. The main focus is on the sacriligeous use of the Eucharistic species, celebration of the Mass by someone who does not have proper faculties, concelebration with ministers of other Christian communities, and the consecration of bread and wine for inherently sacriligeous purposes (e.g. Black Masses).
I would suggest to bloggers that before we begin big debates over the directives in the document that we wait until we actually see the document first. And remember that it will apply to liturgical abuses throughout the world, so not all of it will apply to us here in the US.
P.S. Another reason to discount the current reports: They claim that Catholics will not be able to receive “the wafer and the wine,” obviously referring to the two species. A change in the practice of receiving the Eucharist under both species would be bigger than the Pope ever hinted at in his encyclical. It sounds like someone’s trying to rile everybody up.
Brian,
I think you misunderstand me. What I mean is that document may address issues in other countries involving Eucharistic abuses that aren’t occurring in this country with any regularity.