...Uh-Oh............

[hcoll]

....guess everyone's entitled to their opinion.....even the Big Kahuna.............. ;D

Pope wants guitars silenced during mass
Jun. 28, 2006 at 12:01AM

Pope Benedict XVI is calling for an end to guitars and a return to traditional choirs in the Catholic Church.

The recital of mass set to guitars has grown in popularity in Italy and in Spain it has been set to flamenco music, the London Telegraph reported.

"It is possible to modernize holy music," the Pope said, at a concert conducted by Domenico Bartolucci, the director of music at the Sistine Chapel. "But it should not happen outside the traditional path of Gregorian chants or sacred polyphonic choral music."

The Pope's supporters say that the music played during mass is a vital part of the communion between worshippers and God, and that medieval church music creates the correct ambience for perceiving God's mystery, the newspaper said.

But Cardinal Carlo Furno, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, said it was "better to have guitars on the altar and rock and roll masses than empty churches
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...anybody ever heard of the Equestrian Order.....sounds like the 'orse's 'arse......maybe Dan Brown will inform us in his next Langford tome............I do agree with the remark about empty churches..............

[hcoll]

....someone reminded me yesterday............

....the Pope's a classical pianist.....of course he doesn't like guitars....folk music.....rock & roll............

[goldtopsnopp]

Ouch hcoll, that sucks. Not that I ever go to church (we're not even catholics in sweden, we're actually nothing, really), but I can see how it would attract more young people with some guitar music in church, wy is that bad?
"maybe Dan Brown will inform us in his next Langford tome" Do you mean Langdon, the main character in his books?

[hcoll]

...lol....thought I changed that...yes...I meant Langdon.......

...sorry...but I need to vent...I meant to keep religious denomination out of this...yes I'm a Catholic....there are a lot of people in my folk group that are upset about this....too many times we hear that we can't do something...why..."well the Pope said so".....I hope this doesn't turn out like that.........

...having participated in Folk Masses since the mid-60's when I was in high school and college....I took the music liturgy forgranted....I shouldn't have.....when I joined this group in my local parish I found out just how unique it was....in the Wash, DC Archdiocese hardly any pastors let their congregations have this......

...as a result of this...our Mass draws people from all over...it has the largest attendance of all the Masses in our parish...so much so...that the doors to the vestibule in the front are opened up and folding chairs are lined up.....this is at 11:15 am on Sundays....not exactly the most convenient of times since it cuts the day in half....I certainly never attended this until I started playing guitar....the congregation is mainly young families with children....although there are some older and some teenagers....the teens have their own liturgy at 5 pm on Sundays....electric guitars & half stacks....drums....that's pretty well attended too......the service before us features the traditional adult choir......there's a lot to choose from...........

...here's our real worry.......

..............our cardinal has retired and we're in the process of getting a new archbishop............

..............our pastor is being re-assigned to another parish....we don't know who his replacement is.............

...does anyone recognize the chain of command.....each one is new and may want to do his boss' wishes to the max...........

...when the Pope says something that deals with Faith & Morals...he has to be obeyed....doesn't sound like this is one of those....but...for some people that doesn't matter.....whatever the Pope says is cut & dried....out of context or not....no questions asked.......

...we're hoping that the reality check from the Cardinal Furno prevales.............

[goldtopsnopp]

I don't know much about how the church works and all that, so I can't really have any opinions. But I hope it works out for you and your church.

[hcoll]

....I'm not trying to promote my religion.....I just hate to see our parish shoot itself in the foot.....when we met yesterday to play I saw a lot of upset people.....I did receive some "thanks for the heads up....at least we're not going to be blind-sided.....the director of our group said she's tired of defending our music liturgy................

....we have been told that a new pastor for has been picked.....as of yet he remains un-named.......hopefully we will know who it is next weekend................