In other synod business Monday, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of the Greek Catholic church in Ukraine posed a provocative rhetorical question: if Catholics and Orthodox are in agreement on the Eucharist, on the validity of one another’s ministries and on apostolic succession, why are we not unified? If the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of Christian life, in the words of the Vatican II document on liturgy, why is this not enough?
Husar proposed to Benedict XVI that the next synod be devoted to the Oriental churches, with representatives from those churches.
Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, issued a stirring defense of inculturation in the African church, urging the synod to focus less on abuses than on accomplishments.
“Solemnity and sacredness can be expressed not only in plain chant and the organ, but also the gong, the xylophone, and the tam-tam,” Onaiyekan said.
Onaiyekan also appeared to call for some degree of decentralization in governing the process of inculturation.
“The role, right and responsibility of the local bishop as the primary mystagogue in relation to the Eucharist need to be recognized and upheld,” he said.
Bishop George Cosmas Zumaire Lungu of Zambia largely seconded Onaiyekan’s point about the desirability of inculturation.
Critiquing suggestions in the Instrumentum Laboris for wider use of traditional modes of liturgical expression, Lungu said, “I find this part of the document to be over-optimistic about the organ, Gregorian chant and even the use of Latin at international meetings in an attempt to meet the needs of the people of all time and places.”
“My proposal is that we should not go back to making these instruments of worship universal. … Communication and participation is vital in every liturgical celebration including the Eucharistic celebration. Our hope lies in the future and not in the past,” Lungu said.
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