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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

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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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    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

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

“Whether celebrated with priest and people facing each other or with priest and people together facing the same direction, every Eucharist is Christ coming to meet us, gracing us with a share in his own divine life.”

— Most Rev’d Arthur J. Serratelli (1 December 2016)

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