I’m trying not to watch the USCCB – is it sad that it’s a temptation? Perhaps. But it’s interesting to see the personalities in action, to read between lines, etc.
I was interested this morning to hear bits and pieces of Archbishop Wuerl speak on a proposed high school curriculum outline. I didn’t know something like this was in the works, and I’m glad to hear it. As he described it, the core of the curriculum would be Christ. As in: This is who Jesus is. (Christology/Scripture) This is how He lives today. (Church) This is how we are saved by Him. (Faith) And this is how a disciple of Jesus lives. (Morality/spirituality)
Young people don’t need to be shown prettier and more awesome pictures of the Church as an institution, pictures that are somehow supposed to convince them that it’s the cool place to be and that “Catholic identity” is neat, too. They need to be awakened to the nature of their humanity and what they were made for, introduced to Jesus Christ as the answer and his Church as His Body, where they truly meet him, grow in relationship with him, learn how to serve Him in gratitude and are nourished by Him.
This morning is basically preliminary – talking about the action items/documents that are going to be voted on, simply introducing them. Amendments are accepted to the drafts during the day, and then the resultant documents will be voted on in the course of the rest of the meeting.
And…Benedict’s coming to town – to DC and NYC. From John Allen:
APRIL 15
Benedict XVI arrives in the afternoon.
APRIL 16
Morning: Official welcome at the White House
Afternoon: Address to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
APRIL 17
Morning: Mass at the new sports stadium in Washington, D.C.
Afternoon: Meeting at the Catholic University of America with educational leaders
APRIL 18
Morning: Address to the United Nations
Afternoon: Ecumenical meeting
APRIL 19
Morning: Concelebration with priests of New York and from across the country in St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Afternoon: Session at the Seminary of the New York archdiocese organized by the seminarians
APRIL 20
Morning: visit to Ground Zero
Afternoon: Returns to Rome
(April 16 will be his 81st birthday.)
And…on the music document, “Sing to the Lord” – it will no longer be a document with force of law, but an advisory document. Interesting. And I think it has been withdrawn from further consideration at this meeting because of the number of proposed amendments (over 100). Correct me if I’m wrong on that last point.
Fr. Z parses it:
The document was originally to be an official document of the conference and thus would have some force of law. As such it would have required a 2/3 majority vote and then the recognitio of the Holy See.
However, Bp. Trautman offered the docume to the bishops as “Guidelines” rather than as an official document. This meant that a simple majority of bishops could have passed it and it would not have requried the recognitio of the Holy See.
While I was rather pleased that the USCCB (BTW… every go review Apostolos suos) was not going to get into something as important as sacred music. I still shudder with the horrors my imagination conjured. So, the fact that this is not to be an official document is a good thing.
However, consider that the document, if it is eventually passed in the form of Guidelines, would not need the approval of the Holy See.
We all know that in the past even guidelines were taken as if they had the force of law. Think of the disasters that resulted from the NCCB’s ghastly Environement and Art in Catholic Worship and various other now obsolete unofficial documents.
Had the document on sacred music remained classified as a proposed official document of the conference, Rome could have gotten involved with the content.
Now that it is proposed as mere guidelines, the bishops would not have to send it to Rome.
Food for thought.
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