“The songs and hymns presently in use need to be reconsidered.”

The Instrumentum Laboris for the Bishops Synod in October of 2006 had some remarkable commentary on music and chant:

HE FAITHFUL NEED TO KNOW the standard Gregorian chants, which have been composed to meet the needs of people of all times and places, in virtue of their simplicity, refinement and agility in form and rhythm. As a result, the songs and hymns presently in use need to be reconsidered. To enter into sacred or religious usage, instrumental or vocal music is to have a sense of prayer, dignity and beauty. This requires an integrity of form, expressing true artistry, corresponding to the various rites and capable of adaptation to the legitimate demands of inculturation. This is to be done without detracting from the idea of universality. Gregorian chant fulfills these needs and can therefore serve as a model, according to Pope John Paul II. Musicians and poets should be encouraged to compose new hymns, according to liturgical standards, which contain authentic catechetical teaching on the paschal mystery, Sunday and the Eucharist….

…it is important to avoid musical forms which, because of their profane use, are not conducive to prayer. Some responses note a certain eagerness in composing new songs, to the point of almost yielding to a consumer mentality, showing little concern for the quality of the music and text, and easily overlooking the artistic patrimony which has been theologically and musically effective in the Church’s liturgy….

Certain responses ask for the use of Latin, particularly at international celebrations, to express the unity and catholicity of the rite of the Mother Church of Rome. In this case, it is desirable that Christians everywhere know how to pray and chant some basic texts of the Latin liturgy, such as the Gloria, Credo and the Our Father.