Document on liturgy published

THE final version of the document on the Sacrament of Redemption (Redemptionis Sacramentum), on which we commented a few weeks back, has now been published.

According to some observers it has not been as drastic as at first feared. Some, like the UK Bishops' Conference, have welcomed it and expressed the hope that the document would help the whole Church to a deeper participation in the Eucharistic Ministry. The principal aim of the document is to check liturgical abuses during Mass which, it seems, are prevalent in certain countries.

These abuses include the improvisation of Eucharistic liturgies, allowing lay people to recite the priest's prayers from the Canon of the Mass and, according to a report, the use of Communion bread mixed with fruit or sugar and honey! Although one hears locally of certain other "abuses" during the celebration of Mass, these are indeed few and far between.

However, some of the directions contained in the document easily apply to Malta, like the distribution of Communion by lay people. In this regard the document states that lay men and women should not give out Communion except at busy Masses.

In Malta it has become quite normal to see lay people distributing Holy Communion even at Masses where the congregation is made up of a handful of people. In many churches lay ministers - incidentally the document insists that they should be called extraordinary and not special ministers - seem to take it for granted that they should distribute Communion even when there are enough priests, or the congregation is small.

Among other things the document condemns the clericalisation of the priestly ministry by lay people. With regard to altar girls, the document, while not banning them outright as was originally feared, praises the use of boys and youths who provide a service at the altar.

The document insists that immediately before Communion people should shake hands only with those standing next to them in church and not cross over from one side to another, as is customary in certain countries. This, incidentally, definitely does not apply locally because many here hardly turn aside to give the sign of peace.

Commenting on the new norms, The Catholic Herald states that they are "something of an anticlimax". However, it fully endorses some of the instructions especially those relating to lay ministers.

"Bishops who encourage routine use of 'extraordinaries' should rethink their position and issue special norms bringing local practice into harmony with Church tradition and law," it said, adding that "...it would have been prudent for the Congregation of Divine Worship to preface its comments by recognising that 'extraordinaries' accept their ministry in a spirit of humble service rather than a quest for prestige and power".

One hopes that the document will be given the attention it deserves. Priests as well as lay men and women can do worse than study it and put into practice all that is relevant in Malta and Gozo.