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Views from the Choir Loft

Breaking News! Pope Francis Refuses To Adopt “Narrative” Of Progressive Liturgists

Jeff Ostrowski · August 18, 2014

945 Pope Francis VER SINCE HIS ELECTION, irresponsible and sensationalistic journalists have created a particular “narrative” for Pope Francis. (The irony, of course, is that if they’d simply stuck with the facts about the man, they’d be amazed & inspired.) What I especially hate is when they slobber over Pope Francis, yet ignore his message, in which he glorifies Jesus Christ … not himself.

The distortions about Francis might have been created with malicious intent, but more likely result from ignorance, laziness, and (most importantly) greed. After all, it’s difficult to sell newspapers and magazines without giving stories an “angle,” and journalists don’t seem to care how genuine their angle is.

A number of picco-liturgists have subscribed to this fictitious narrative, and wake up every morning hoping Pope Francis will insert “progressive” elements to the Roman Missal. From the beginning, some have pointed out how improbable such a development would be, but the “progressive” liturgists refuse to give up hope.

At this point, it seems they’re grasping at straws.

I recently came across an article in The Tablet dealing with the recent document by the CDW on the Sign of Peace, which (though helpful and welcome) is fairly inconsequential, containing absolutely nothing new or surprising. The Tablet article could best be described as “ill-informed gossip” by a totally unqualified author with too much time on his hands; yet one can easily find hundreds more just like it!

I’ve attempted to write a parody, but I fear it’s so similar to what passes for journalism these days, it hardly qualifies as satire:

TEINWAY HAS RECENTLY BEGUN constructing pianos with a slightly different alloy than they had used before. Some say this new alloy might be cheaper than the old one (but this hasn’t been confirmed yet). If so, the Steinway corporation might have more money to spend on helping the poor, and this would obviously be a response to the pope’s initiatives. After all, Pope Francis is the first church leader ever to encourage helping those in need. Indeed, this new alloy epitomises Pope Francis’ approach to life, the Church, and the sacraments, and suggests that Pope Francis will soon make vast changes in the Church, such as allowing women’s ordination and eliminating all dogmas.

As I mentioned already, it’s highly unlikely Pope Francis will make sweeping changes to the liturgy. In spite of what some have claimed, 1 Pope Francis is not as interested in the liturgy as B16 was.

I have a secret … but please don’t tell the “progressive” liturgists. If they want to learn about a pope who made sweeping changes to the liturgy, they should study Pope Paul VI. They would be amazed at the great number of changes he made. (In fact, he left very few items untouched.) Again, please don’t tell them, because it’s quite amusing to watch them go crazy every time Francis does something, assuring us that his “secret fingerprints” are on such-and-such, and he’s secretly intending to do such-and-such, and he’s poised to make massive changes, ETC.

I HAVE TO ADMIT, there was a good deal of ignorant sensationalism about Benedict XVI, as well. People who knew absolutely nothing about how the Church operates would notice B16 wearing some vestment (which popes have worn for centuries) and declare that “big changes” are coming to the Church. Yet, when I’d walk into a local Church, nothing had changed. For example, we still had disrespectful musical styles with horrible lyrics, like a Communion meditation I heard recently at Mass:

We are the Church, we are the chosen.
We are the poor, we’ll suffer no more.
We are the victors, we’re here and we’ll triumph.
We’ll come to the light, we’ll be there with might,
and accept our cup of blessing.

(Those are the actual lyrics of the song.)

But all this has been taken to another level with the “Francis Myths.” How can people take this stuff seriously? Maybe Fulton Sheen was right. “The problem is not that modern people believe too little; the problem is, they’ll believe anything.”

By the way, if you haven’t read Fr. Friel’s article about Benedict XVI and Francis, please do so.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Fr. Anthony Ruff, who frequently presents at “progressive” gatherings like Call to Action, asserted in 2013 that Pope Francis is “more interested in liturgy” than Pope Benedict XVI.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Pope Francis 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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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —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

When you consider that the greatest hymns ever written—the plainchant hymns—are pushing the age of eight hundred and that the noble chorale hymn tunes of Bach date from the early eighteenth century, then what is the significance of the word “old” applied to “Mother at Thy Feet Is Kneeling”? Most of the old St. Basil hymns date from the Victorian era, particularly the 1870s and 1880s.

— Paul Hume (1956)

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