Keep in mind Pope Francis has celebrated Mass ad orientem and given Holy Communion on the tongue by way of intinction to kneeling deacons.
The biggest bombshell, though, is that Pope Francis approved the Ordinariate's Liturgy which is a marvelous blend of The OF and EF liturgies with Anglican aspects, but explicitly allows for ad Orientem and kneeling for Holy Communion! It's calendar has EF elements too.
Thus this comment at another blog concerning Cardinal Sarah's oil and water relationship with Pope Francis is quite interesting to say the least:
Despite all suggestions to the contrary, I don’t get the sense that Cardinal Sarah is truly at odds with the liturgical vision of Pope Francis, at least to the degree that is often implied. Liturgy obviously isn’t as much of a pet project to Francis as his predecessor Benedict, but his retention of the very traditional papal MCs he inherited from Benedict, his appointment of more traditionalists to CDWDS (minus some EF activists), his lack of rebuke to Sarah’s recent statements on communion, and the other oddities the author points out, suggests he is maybe more privy to Sarah’s vision for the liturgy and Benedict’s “new liturgical movement” than we may have been led to believe. Let’s also not forget that Francis himself appointed Sarah to lead CDWDS, and if he truly couldn’t stand him he would’ve sacked him by now, the same way he did Cardinal Burke. It’s certainly possible the Pontiff played some “Game of Thrones” tactics when hiring Sarah, either to win loyalty from traditionalists or to settle some undisclosed debt with him. But that Sarah’s still here, despite the controversy he sometimes causes, tells me Francis finds him helpful in advancing liturgical renewal in the Church.
2 comments:
Cdl Sarah is a very humble man, and will take criticism with no animosity. But he is also a very holy man, a mystic who understands the importance of union with God, particularly in the liturgy, and I suspect that is why Francis appointed him to his position.
He is also honest, and will not hesitate to make known his views when they are important to correct abuses in the Church. I can just see Francis getting tons of complaints from bishops around the world when Sarah recommended ad orientem to improve the liturgy by making making it more sacred that way. I can just hear Francis speaking to Sarah when he called him in: "Cool it, you are going too fast for the many radicals. These things need a lot more time and prepration." Or tons of complaints from bishop's conferences around the world when Sarah suggested that the translations still need to be approved by the Vatican: they do, but one should not say so that directly because it angers the radicals.
Yes, Francis is not a liturgist, but I do notice that he is quite pious when celebrating Mass, unlike many progressives. There is some truth to that blogger's comment.
While Pope Francis is undoubtedly devoted to the sacred liturgy, he is also undoubtedly ambivalent about the Roman Rite. I doubt he gave Sarah's original appointment much thought, but later did think restaffing the CDW would keep Sarah out of the limelight. But this prophet of silence cannot be silenced!
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