Adoremus Bulletin
SEPTEMBER 2019
News & Views
For the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy
Vol. XXV, No. 2
Cultural Compass Points and the True North of Faith
A Liturgical Tour of the Church’s Eastern Rites in Development and Practice
Seal of Confession is ‘Intrinsic Requirement,’ Vatican Says
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Vatican City (CNA)—The head of the Vatican’s Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary released a note July 1 reaffirming the inviolability of the seal of confession and the importance of other forms of secrecy in the life of the Church. The text follows action by governments in Australia, California, and other parts of the world, to undermine the sacramental seal. “The defense of the sacramental seal and the sanctity of confession can never constitute some form of connivance with evil; on the contrary, they represent the only true antidote to evil that threatens man and the whole world,” states the note signed by the head of the penitentiary, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza. The Apostolic Penitentiary is responsible for dealing with cases related to the internal forum, and for processing certain reserved cases under the seal of confession. The Catholic Church declares that every priest who hears confessions is obliged, under the severest legal penalties, to keep absolute secrecy concerning everything learned in the context of sacramental confession. Violation of the seal by a priest is punishable by an automatic excommunication, and can be augmented with other penalties, including dismissal from the clerical state. In May, California’s state senate introduced a bill that would require priests to violate the seal if they had knowledge or suspicion of child abuse gained from hearing the Please see CONFESSION on next page
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By Courtney Grogan
The Church emerged in the world, fully formed, in AD 33 on Pentecost, as depicted in this 1732 painting by Jean II Restout (d.1768). At that moment, she possessed all of the gifts necessary to fulfill the Great Commission she received from her founder to make disciples of the nations. On that day, the Church, although composed in that moment completely of Jews, was at the same time already universal. And from Jerusalem, the apostles went out, to the north, the east, the south, and the west—to the four regions of the Earth.
By Father Thomas A. Baima
D
id you know that the Ethiopian Rite has an anaphora (i.e., Eucharistic Prayer) directed to the Blessed Virgin Mary? Or that many of the Latin texts of the Roman Rite emerged not from the Eternal City but from North Africa? Or that Christianity appeared in the early centuries as another Eastern religion, one unlikely to take root in the West? The history of Christian culture—and Christian liturgy—is fascinating and complex. Too often in the past, when we spoke about the liturgical differences within the Church, particularly between East and West, we referred to the Eastern “rites” as if the sole difference between Latins and Easterners was liturgical rubrics. In the 20th century, the liturgical movement has helped us understand liturgy in a much richer way than merely as a different set of rubrics and ceremonies. Since the Second Vatican Council, schools of theology have done a better job at distinguishing doctrine from theological reflection, which has allowed the ecumenical movement to progress by stressing the essential elements of faith, sacramental life, and
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Adoremus Bulletin SEPTEMBER 2019
the ordained ministry between the churches in the East and West. In addition, theologians are also doing a better job of admitting that two churches (Latin and Coptic, for example) might explain a mystery of the faith (doctrine) differently because of their theology. At the same time, the liturgical rituals of the churches often express the essential unity better than formal theology. Theology, in a sense, has to catch up to
Each of these stories is told through the development of its liturgy, a development which took place in part because of geographical, social, and historical “accidents,” where the Gospel was first proclaimed and, in part, because the mission of the Church—to plant the seed of faith in diverse soils—remained integral to the expression of the faith as found in the various rites.
what is already expressed in the rites themselves. To help facilitate theology in this effort, it is important to explore the cultural roots of the Eastern Rites. Each ritual tradition, including the Latin Rite of the West, has a story to tell—rather than a theological treatise to expound.
Preparation for Voyage But to embark on a tour of the various rites—and the regions from which they sprang—requires that we have a good working definition of culture so that when we explore how the Gospel is “inculturated” in a particular ritual tradition, we do so in a way consistent with Catholic consciousness and attitudes. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council describe culture in Gaudium et Spes (GS) this way: “Man comes to a true and full humanity only through culture…. The word ‘culture’ in its general sense indicates everything whereby man develops and perfects his many bodily and spiritual qualities; he strives by his Please see CULTURE on page 4
Got Culture? According to Father Thomas Baima, the Church does—with more than enough to transform all the compass points of human culture into historically beautiful liturgy.................................. 1
The Young and The Restless If you dread heading to Mass with children more than a trip to the dentist for a double root canal, Father Michael Rennier has some seriously playful advice for you ............................................ 8
Liturgy with a Kick Kansas City Chief ’s kicker Harrison Butker has one foot squarely on pigskin and, as Father Aaron Williams relates, the other set firmly on the rock of his Catholic faith................................. 3
The Bugnini Enigma No, it’s not the latest Robert Ludlum thriller— but it is, says Michael Brummond, what Yves Chiron attempts to unravel in his new bio of the Vatican liturgical reformer..................................12
“ Each ritual tradition, including the Latin Rite of the West, has a story to tell—rather than a theological treatise to expound.”
Flocking to the Truth Andrew Seeley and Rechina Curphey introduce the most important teacher in the classroom— Christ—as the key to success for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd............................................ 6
News & Views...................................................2 The Rite Questions....................................... 10 Donors & Memorials................................... 11