EDITORIAL A reasonable solution on liturgy
Both friend and foe of the
International Commission on English in the Liturgy, a joint project of the
worlds English-speaking bishops conferences, agree that one of the
core issues in the current debate over its future is episcopal authority.
Supporters of the commission see the demand for control made last
October by Cardinal Jorge Medina Estévez, head of the Vaticans
liturgy office, as a threat to the authority of bishops conferences;
critics see Medinas action as an emancipation of the bishops from
liturgical bureaucrats whose progressive views, they feel, dominate the
commissions work.
Though both views have been pushed to extremes, both contain their
kernel of truth. The commission, born at Vatican II, really is an expression of
the empowerment of bishops conferences intended by the council fathers.
It is a recovery of what a young Joseph Ratzinger called the
horizontal dimension of authority in the church, which had badly
atrophied under more than a century of ultramontanism and its emphasis on
vertical ties to the pope.
Yet for that claim to be more than mere rhetoric, the bishops who
represent their national conferences on the commission need to take an active
hand in steering its work. While every jot and tittle of every commission
document has always had the full approval of the episcopal governing board, it
is no doubt salutary now and again to ask if the bishops are as engaged as they
might be.
A reasonable person looking at the debate, therefore, would
conclude that while Medinas assertion of new powers such as a veto over
staff and a ban on original texts violates the intent of the Vatican Council
documents, and therefore should be rejected, it would nonetheless be prudent to
strengthen the bishops involvement in the commissions inner
workings.
Remarkably enough, that seems to be what has happened in the new
statutes now awaiting review. The outcome would thus be largely a positive one
for the English-speaking Catholic world.
Of course, the story is far from over. Medina could declare the
new statutes unacceptable, an act with uncertain consequences but one that
would generate new, fruitless conflict. The careful process followed by the
bishops should inspire trust that the proper result has been achieved.
Then, too, some may worry that bishops with an ideological axe to
grind could use the new level of involvement specified in the statutes to
frustrate the work of the commission or to push out staff with whom they do not
agree. That fear, however, will surely dissipate as reasonable people sit down
to work together.
If the statutes hold up, the crisis over the commission could be
remembered for three valuable lessons it taught the church. First, it has
offered a needed reminder that liturgical renewal is still unfinished
business.
Second, the level of communication among English-speaking bishops
engendered by the crisis has probably not been rivaled since the council. One
hopes the conversations will continue. A first fruit might be addressing the
rift that seems to have emerged between the United States and other
English-speaking conferences over translation issues. It would be a serious
blow to collegiality and communion if that rift were to widen into an open
split.
Third, the process behind the statutes is a tantalizing hint of
how a system of checks and balances might work within Catholicism. Neither
Rome, nor the commissions critics, nor its boosters got all of what they
wanted, but the process of give and take, shaped by significant public debate,
has led to a result that seems basically sound. Its a case that merits
study by anyone searching for ways to foster collegiality in the life of the
church.
It is premature to declare a happy ending to the drama surrounding
the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. As plot twists go,
however, this ones not bad.
National Catholic Reporter, May 12,
2000
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