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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Liturgical Abuse and Abuse of Minors

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · January 16, 2014

862 Trad O Lord, help us renew our good resolutions. CCORDING to ecclesiastical law, there are two forms or uses of the Roman Rite: the Ordinary and the Extraordinary. Each is equally valid; both are to be regularly available for the benefit of the faithful. Alas, the way in which the Ordinary form is still typically celebrated in most American parishes amounts more to an abuse of the Roman Rite than a use of it; and surely, the ongoing indifference or even hostility to training seminarians in the usus antiquior and to making it widely present in parishes across the land is nothing short of a scandal.

The decades-long abuse of the sacred liturgy—and therefore, of faithful Catholics who, as Redemptionis Sacramentum declares, have a right to the sacred liturgy in its fullness—constitutes the first and fundamental form of clerical abuse of the laity, of which sexual abuse is a particular and more demented moral variety. Given the absolute centrality and the inherently infinite dignity of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist, abuse of the liturgy and the sacraments is, in itself, the worst crime against God and man. If the highest and holiest thing in existence does not deserve our utmost veneration, why should mere human beings deserve any respect? We are mere dust and ashes compared to the divine Sacrifice of the Altar—and yet, if we profoundly reverence and fear Christ, we will acknowledge and care for His image in the souls and bodies of human beings.

An insight that I had never seen openly acknowledged—namely, that clerical sexual abuse was linked to clerical liturgical abuse and that sexual perversion is a moral mirror-image of liturgical perversion—now suddenly seems to have become a quite prevalent view among faithful Catholics. Martin Mosebach, one of our best Catholic authors today, saw quite clearly the connection between the loss of the sacredness of the Mass and the loss of priestly identity and virtue.

At his blog, Fr. Zuhlsdorf quoted a pointed and poignant reader’s message:

[I]f we can’t treat the body of our Lord and Saviour with respect, why would we treat the bodies of our neighbors with respect? Is there a short, slippery slope that runs between sloppiness at Mass and sin? . . . When we take Mass and the Eucharist seriously and let all our relationships flow forth from that first, essential relationship as Christ, we cannot use other people as objects. When the Mass goes, everything else starts to go too.
Of course, abuse can happen in ‘Good Liturgy’ settings, too—because good liturgy cannot be our goal. Our goal is to love and adore Christ. I think that a reverent liturgy flows naturally from a love of Christ in the Eucharist and a realization that we’re in the presence of God. (For instance, I noticed my 6-year-old’s behavior at Mass has improved DRAMATICALLY since we started attending Children’s adoration once a month.) If you have a nice-looking Liturgy, but no love, it’s just an empty pageant. On the other hand, most awful liturgies are also empty pageants, focused on the congregation instead of the Divine.
Father Z is right. “Save the Liturgy, Save the World.” It’s not a coincidence that the pope [Benedict] who is focused on cleaning up the filth of abuse in the Church is also focused on cleaning up the liturgy. If we can’t respect God, we won’t respect each other.

Father Zuhlsdorf himself has said, with characteristic vigor:

The Eucharist, its celebration and itself as the extraordinary Sacrament, is the “source and summit of Christian life.” If we really believe that, then we must also hold that what we do in church, what we believe happens in a church, makes an enormous difference. Do we believe the consecration really does something? Or, do we believe what is said and how, what the gestures are and the attitude in which they made are entirely indifferent? For example, will a choice not to kneel before Christ the King and Judge truly present in each sacred Host, produce a wider effect?
If you throw a stone, even a pebble, into a pool it produces ripples which expand to its edge. The way we celebrate Mass must create spiritual ripples in the Church and the world. So does our good or bad reception of Holy Communion. So must violations of rubrics and irreverence.

At times, a Catholic feels the urge to say to the secularizing and liberalizing clergy of the past five decades: you and your minions wrecked theology with modernism; you wrecked the liturgy with your “reform”; and, as the coup de grace, you wrecked the lives of children. This is a ghastly inversion of the Kingdom of God. A time will come when all this evil is purged, if not while yet there is time for repentance, then assuredly when the Lord prepares for us a new heavens and a new earth.

Meanwhile, let us remember this fundamental truth and promote its realization with all the energy we have been given: traditional Catholic theology and traditional Catholic liturgy go hand in hand, and both are the necessary precondition of real pastoral care, true evangelization, and superabundant works of charity.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Liturgical Abuse Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College (B.A. in Liberal Arts) and The Catholic University of America (M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy), Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is currently Professor at Wyoming Catholic College. He is also a published and performed composer, especially of sacred music.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    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

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

“If we continue to tolerate sad examples of liturgical abnormalities, experimentation, abuse, and simply poor-quality liturgies, why should we single out those connected to the ancient rites of the Church for special vigilance? It just doesn’t seem right.”

— An Example of a response (sent to Pope Francis) Re: the TLM

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