HE FOLLOWING is an excerpt from Maurice Lavanoux’s Liturgical Arts Quarterly dated 2 February 1970. It was authored by Father Robert W. Hovda—an extremely ‘progressive’ priest of the diocese of Fargo—and Gabe Huck. According to online sources, Gabe Huck was director of something called Liturgy Training Publications from 1977 until 2001. Mr. Huck claimed publicly that he was “fired” (his word) by Francis Cardinal George (d. 2015) of Chicago. From what I can tell, Huck’s goal was to convince Catholics that the sacred liturgy must be looked at primarily through a political lens. Thankfully, he seems to have left no enduring legacy.
1970s Article • If the following excerpt is a good representation of Mr. Huck, Cardinal George did well to fire him. Their article would be impossible to parody:
There are no rigid criteria for
selecting good music for the liturgy.
In recent months many songs have
appeared that could well find an
appropriate place in the liturgy;
these might include “Both Sides Now”;
“Abraham, Martin and John”; “Mrs.
Robinson”; “Gentle On My Mind”
(there is a real need for good love
songs in the liturgy); and “Little
Green Apples.” In a sense we need
“disposable” music just as we need—
and to some extent have—“disposable”
art objects which are created to last
not centuries, but weeks (or hours).
Our secular music is that way; the
amount of new material is so great
that even many good things pass
quickly. While many of the songs
from the folk and pop lists (as well
as the country-western list or the
Broadway list) do not have the depth
or quality to last for decades, they
still have the power to enrich the
liturgy here and now.
Final Thoughts • Father Hovda was highly regarded by the Collegeville Press—they called him “the renowned liturgist”—and continued to be cited (and praised) by that group even after certain of his views became known. Here’s a 1970s review by Father Ralph March, a Cistercian born in Hungary, who ended up teaching at the University of Dallas if memory serves:
Addendum (7 April 2025):
A reader writes: “In today’s post you referred to ‘something called Liturgy Training Publications.’ LTP is the in-house liturgical publishing apparatus of the Archdiocese of Chicago. While much of their output has definitely improved since those heady days of Hovda-worship, they are still stuck in a 1970s mentality overall. However, I will say that I find their bound lectionaries quite elegant, esthetically, and they shocked many of us when they chose our friend Matthew Alderman (definitely not stuck in the 1970s) to provide illustrations for their new Altar Missal. Keep up all of your good work!
