From Brian Taylor re Joseph Pope's letter on liturgical abuses.

I agree with Mr. Pope's observation that the heading "Vatican halts liturgical abuses" is "overly optimistic" (Letter, C.I., July/Aug. 2004, p.5). If the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Commandments don't halt murder, adultery and theft, a mere Vatican document isn't likely to halt liturgical abuses. Abuses of any kind are halted only when the perpetrators stop perpetrating, rather like Bernard Nathanson ceasing to do abortions when his conscience kicked in because he took the science of foetology seriously.

What is necessary here is for liturgical ministers to take their sacred promises seriously. Canon 833 requires a solemn profession of faith as expressed by the Creed and as required by the ordinary magisterium of the Church, and a promise of obedient service--with his hand on the Gospels--by every cardinal, bishop, priest and deacon, among others. Isn't this promise recalled annually at the Holy Week Chrism Mass?

Included in the promise of obedient service is:

   "I ... promise that in my words and
   actions I shall always preserve
   communion with the Catholic
   Church. With great care and faithfulness
   I shall carry out the duties
   which bind me to the Church,
   both universal and
   particular ... according to the
   requirements of the law. In fulfilling
   the charge entrusted to me in
   the name of the Church, I shall
   hold fast to the deposit of faith in
   its entirety, I shall faithfully hand
   it on and expound it, and I shall
   avoid any teachings opposed to
   that faith. I shall follow and foster
   the discipline common to the
   whole Church, and I shall observe
   all ecclesiastical laws, especially
   those contained in the Code of
   Canon Law. I shall follow with
   Christian obedience what the
   sacred pastors as authentic doctors
   and teachers of the faith declare,
   and what they prescribe as rulers
   of the Church...."

Needless to say, if everybody kept this promise, there would be no liturgical abuses, because liturgical abuses are actions which do not preserve communion with the Catholic Church and are forbidden by her laws (cf. canon 519, 528.2, 214). What seems to be lacking is awareness that the requirements of the Code of Canon Law are binding in conscience. Addressing some American bishops, Pope John Paul II said:

"(A)s a basic rule, ecclesiastical laws bind in conscience. In other words, obedience to the law is not a mere external submission to authority but a means of growing in faith, charity and holiness, under the guidance and by the grace of the Holy Spirit" (L'Osservatore Romano, Oct. 21, 1998).

Abuses do not come from upright consciences: 'A good tree brings forth good fruit; by their fruits you will know them.' Consider the promise (above) and ask, Are we to be led in worship by sacred ministers who have jettisoned their consciences?

Subdeacon Adam de Ville's quote of Ukrainian Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky ("If I were bishop for a day," C.I., July/Aug. 2004, pp. 38-44) is worthy of consideration: "The people are completely right to demand certain things from a bishop, and it is absolutely correct to censure him if he shirks the task that he has to perform on behalf of the Church and his people" (e.g., can. 392).

Toronto, ON