Roman Catholics: Revolution in Worship

“Liturgy” derives from Greek words meaning work of the people, but in Roman Catholicism it often seems to be exclusively a job for priests. Compared with most Protestant denominations, in which congregations participate in the service with hymns and responses, Catholicism at prayer is a church of silence. Enter almost any Roman Catholic church in Manhattan or Mantua or Manila: the priest at Mass will be standing at the altar, his back to the congregation, mumbling almost inaudibly in Latin, while the laymen in the pews silently finger rosaries or flip through the pages of their missals to find out what prayer the celebrant has reached.

A Growing Reformation. This one sided form of corporate worship disturbs some Roman Catholics as much as it puzzles Protestants — and Catholics are doing something about it. Roman Catholicism is in the midst of a growing liturgical reformation that seeks to gain for the church what Protestantism gained four centuries ago — active congregational participation in worship.

Only a few years ago, many bishops looked upon liturgical reformers as troublemakers; today, the liturgical movement is supported by a majority of the prelates who will be attending the second session of the Vatican Council and by Pope Paul VI.

Last week in Philadelphia, about 13,000 “litniks,” as liturgical reformers are sometimes called, gathered for the 24th annual North American Liturgical Week. There they honored Minnesota’s Benedictine Father Godfrey Diekmann, 55, a pioneer promoter of liturgical reform during his 25 years as editor of the monthly journal Worship. The most compelling problem confronting the conferees was one that indicated the growing importance of liturgical reform in the Roman Catholic Church: how to educate parishes to the changes in worship that are certain to be ordered by the council.

Toward Greater Meaning. The principal act of Roman Catholic worship is the Mass—a re-enactment of Calvary in which the congregation joins with Christ in offering anew the sacrifice of his body and blood under the form of bread and wine. The ritual evolved over many centuries. The “Mass” of the early Christians was a simple commemorative meal, at which worshipers ate bread and drank wine over which a priest had repeated Jesus’ words at the Last Supper. Each local church developed its own customs and ceremonies to surround these acts, but in the Middle Ages the rite performed in Rome became the model for the entire Western church. Gradually the Mass became a mysterious rite, celebrated in a language not understood by the congregation. Prayers once recited by the congregation were reserved to the priest and his assistants.

Roman Catholic liturgical renewal began early in the 20th century among a group of German, French and Belgian Benedictines who were inspired by new knowledge of how the first Christians conducted their worship. With permission from Rome, the reformers undertook to restore lay participation in the liturgy. The reformers revived congregational singing of chants and hymns that accompany the Mass. In place of ornate altars, they celebrated Mass on plain stone tables, and they faced the congregation instead of the wall. They introduced the “dialogue” Mass, in which the congregation responds to the prayers of the priest. Some reformers advocated that at least parts of the Mass be recited in the language of the people.

Far from being a nostalgic re-creation of ancient ceremonies, liturgical reform has been an attempt to make Catholic worship more meaningful to the congregation. Says Godfrey Diekmann: “We’re trying to restore worship as the center of life.”

Toward Greater Unity. Five years ago, to the delight of liturgical reformers, Rome’s Sacred Congregation of Rites urged bishops to introduce some measure of lay participation in the Mass. Since then, the progress of liturgical reform has been rapid in some places and slow in others, depending upon the attitude of the nation’s or region’s Catholic hierarchy. The hierarchies in several countries have received papal permission to use the language of the country in parts of the Mass. Enthusiasm for liturgical reform in Germany and France contrasts with stony immobility in Ireland, Spain and much of Latin America. In the U.S., liturgical reform is slowly but steadily progressing. Many Catholic churches in the U.S. have adopted the dialogue Mass. In some churches, the congregation repeats parts of the Mass in English, following along after an assisting priest, or even a layman, who stands facing the congregation and says in English what the priest at the altar has just recited in Latin.

Liturgy, a source of religious strife during the Reformation, is today a force for Christian unity. Liturgical reform is bringing Catholic worship closer to Protestant practices. At the same time, some U.S. Protestant and Episcopal churches have introduced into worship practices once considered “popish,” such as incense and eucharistic vestments at Holy Communion. Long before Protestants and Catholics succeed in resolving their doctrinal conflicts, they may find that the old, divisive differences in forms of worship have already vanished.