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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro (1891-1976)

Jeff Ostrowski · February 28, 2017

335 Cardinal Lercaro CONSILIUM PRESIDENT HE BISHOPS of Vatican II who voted for Sacrosanctum Concilium (December 1963) assumed the reforms would be undertaken by the Sacred Congregation of Rites. However, Pope Paul surprised everyone on 25 January 1964 by taking this job away from them and establishing a new body called the CONSILIUM to enact the liturgical reforms. It soon became apparent the Consilium wanted to go “beyond” Vatican II, while the Sacred Congregation of Rites attempted to retain only what the Council fathers mandated—and (sadly) met with precious little success. 1 Archbishop Piero Marini publicly admitted this in a 2007 book.

Ready for confusion? The Sacred Congregation of Rites was headed by CARDINAL LARRAONA whereas the Consilium was headed by CARDINAL LERCARO.

Larraona (1887-1973) was a Spanish Cardinal who had participated in the preparation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Lercaro (1891-1976) was Italian, and served as Archbishop of Bologna. He turned his episcopal palace into an orphanage and was mentioned numerous times in La riforma liturgica (Rome, 1983), a work by Annibale Bugnini which attempts to hide neither its bias nor its triumphalism.

When Bugnini’s book appeared in English in 1990, Monsignor Richard Schuler said:

Of course, there are “good guys” and “bad guys” according to Bugnini’s story. The “bad guys” are the church musicians and those wishing to retain some use of the Latin language, conservatives who evoke the anger and sarcasm of the author because of their efforts to defend the heritage of the Church in its liturgical texts and the musical settings (from Gregorian chant to modern compositions). Bugnini attributes bad will to many of those sitting with him on the various commissions, especially the members of the Consociatio Internationalis Musicae Sacrae.   [emphasis added]

You can read everything Msgr. Schuler had to say about Archbishop Bugnini in 1990, including this devastating assessment of the book:

There remains throughout the presence of Bugnini—his bias, his anger, and his prejudice—making one continuously ask the unanswerable question: “Why?”

FATHER LOUIS BOUYER, a close friend of Pope Paul VI and important member of the Consilium, had this to say about Cardinal Lercaro:

Unfortunately, on the one hand a deadly error in judgment placed the official leadership of this committee into the hands of a man who, though generous and brave, was not very knowledgeable: Cardinal Lercaro. He was utterly incapable of resisting the maneuvers of the mealy-mouthed scoundrel that the Neapolitan Vincentian, Bugnini—a man as bereft of culture as he was of basic honesty—soon revealed himself to be.

Here are some pictures and video of Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro, President of the Consilium:


(For the record, although it’s certainly not sacred music, I find that video’s soundtrack striking.)

10 Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 9 Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 8 Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 7 Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 6 Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 5 Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro

5904 Cappa Lercaro 4 Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 2 Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro

6x Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 5x Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 4x Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 3x Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 2x Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro 1x Giacomo Cardinal Lercaro



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The Sacred Congregation of Rites was occasionally able to block the Consilium—such as when the Consilium tried to eliminate Hebrew words like Hosanna, Amen, and Alleluia from the liturgy.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (27 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
    All of the chants for 27 July 2025 have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (both text and melody) are exceedingly beautiful and ancient.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser
    To assist our fundraiser, Mrs. Kathleen Ostrowski has drawn several beautiful sketches which she offers to all our readers free of charge. If you have a moment, I invite you download them at this link.
    —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

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