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Views from the Choir Loft

Florida Priest Named Head Of USCCB Divine Worship Secretariat

Corpus Christi Watershed · December 15, 2013

From the USCCB website:

ATHER MICHAEL J. FLYNN, 57, a priest of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, and associate professor of theology at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, has been named executive director of the Secretariat for Divine Worship of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

He succeeds Msgr. Richard Hilgartner, who joined the USCCB in September 2007, and is returning to the Archdiocese of Baltimore in June 2014. Father Flynn’s appointment becomes effective June 30.

Father Flynn holds a licentiate in theology from The Catholic University of America; a master of divinity degree from Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans; and a bachelor’s degree in music from Florida State University. He also completed an intensive German language immersion program at Goethe-Institut, Murnau, Bavaria, Germany. He was ordained a priest in 1994.

Father Flynn also has served on the faculty of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. In the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee he was pastor at Resurrection Catholic Church in Miramar Beach, 2003-2007. He had previous assignments as parochial vicar in Pensacola and Tallahassee, where he also worked in campus ministry at Florida State University and the University of West Florida. He is a native of Birmingham, Alabama.

Msgr. Ronny Jenkins, USCCB general secretary, named Father Flynn to the position and thanked Bishop Gregory Parkes of Pensacola-Tallahassee for allowing Father Flynn to work at the USCCB. He also thanked Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans and Father James Wehner, president-rector of Notre Dame Seminary, for giving up a valued faculty member.

“The Divine Worship secretariat carries serious responsibility in assisting both the bishops’ conference and also ultimately the more than 17,000 parishes nationwide,” Msgr. Jenkins said. “The executive director of the office oversees liturgical celebrations of the bishops at national meetings, publication of liturgical books used in parishes all across the country, and statements addressed by the bishops on liturgical matters.”

Msgr. Jenkins thanked Msgr. Hilgartner for his competent service, especially in overseeing implementation of the recent translation of the Roman Missal. “Leading a nationwide educational and implementation effort on this sensitive, international matter called for skills in everything from negotiation across an ocean to instructional workshops nationwide. Msgr. Hilgartner accomplished the task with clarity, graciousness and humor,” he said.


Random Fact:   Pensacola-Tallahassee, FL, is the former diocese of Bishop René H. Gracida.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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President’s Corner

    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“I prefer to preach,” said one priest “even without immediate preparation, for I can always draw—from the various studies stored away during the seminary years—enough material to interest our good Catholic people. But when I have to go to the altar and sing High Mass or a Requiem, and I know that I cannot read a note of the Preface and the ‘Pater Noster’, I feel like going to martyrdom. Yet the notes are right there before my eyes, but they seem to mock my ignorance.”

— From a 1920 article by Very Rev. Leo P. Manzetti

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