This week the Pontifical Liturgical Institute centered
at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm (AKA Sant’Anselmo) held the Ninth International
Congress on the Liturgy in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Institute’s
foundation. The theme of the congress was “The Pontifical Liturgical Institute:
Between Memory and Prophecy.” In the Clementine Hall, the Pope met with Abbot Notker Wolf, Abbot Primate and Chancellor of the Pontifical Athenaeum, Dom Juan Javier Flores, professors and participants in the Congress. The Italian version of the Pope’s talk is here; he English translation: Benedict XVI to Pontifical Liturgical Institute May 6 2011.pdf The Pope said several noteworthy things, among them:
“Blessed John XXIII, recognizing the requests of
the liturgical movement that sought to give new impetus and a new spirit to the
Church’s prayer, shortly before Vatican Council II and during its celebration,
asked the faculty of Benedictines on the Aventine Hill to establish a center
for study and research to ensure a solid basis for conciliar liturgical
reform,” said Pope Benedict XVI.
the liturgical movement that sought to give new impetus and a new spirit to the
Church’s prayer, shortly before Vatican Council II and during its celebration,
asked the faculty of Benedictines on the Aventine Hill to establish a center
for study and research to ensure a solid basis for conciliar liturgical
reform,” said Pope Benedict XVI.
Benedict XVI noted “with the term ‘prophecy,’ our gaze opens to new horizons. The Liturgy of the Church goes beyond the ‘conciliar reform,’ the objective of which in fact was not mainly to change the rites and texts but rather to renew the mentality and to put the celebration of Christ’s paschal mystery at the center of Christian life and pastoral work.”
The Pope honestly admitted: Unfortunately the liturgy has perhaps been seen – even by us, pastors and experts – more as an object to reform than a subject capable of renewing Christian life, seeing that “a very close and organic bond exists between the renewal of the liturgy and the renewal of the whole life of the Church.”
“The liturgy, … lives a proper and constant relationship between sound ‘traditio’ and legitimate ‘progressio,’ clearly seen by the conciliar constitution Sancrosanctum Concilium at paragraph 23. … Not infrequently are tradition and progress in awkward opposition. Actually though, the two concepts are interwoven: tradition is a living reality that, in itself, includes the principle of development, of progress.”
Benedict stated his desire that the “Faculty of Sacred Liturgy continue its service to the Church with renewed enthusiasm, in full fidelity to the rich and valuable liturgical tradition and to the reform desired by Vatican Council II, in accordance with the magisterial directives of the Sancrosanctum Concilium and the pronouncements of the Magisterium.”