-It is worth considering whether the removal of the tabernacle from the centre of the sanctuary to an obscure, undignified corner or to a separate chapel, or whether to have placed the celebrant's chair in the centre of the sanctuary or in front of the tabernacle -- as was done in many renovations of older churches and in new constructions -- has contributed in some way to a decrease in faith in the Real Presence. (§39)
-In other responses some lamented the poor quality of translations of liturgical texts and many musical texts in current languages, maintaining that they lacked beauty and were sometimes theologically unclear, thereby contributing to a weakening of Church teaching and to a misunderstanding of prayer. A few responses made particular mention of music and singing at Youth Masses. In this regard, it is important to avoid musical forms which, because of their profane use, are not conducive to prayer. (§61)
Note: "Responses" refers to answers bishops around the world sent to the Vatican after inquiries about what they'd like to discuss at the synod. Well, that's putting it really, really simply. Read the entire Instrumentum Laboris here.
What's a "snyod"?
ReplyDeleteA synod is sort of like a council of the church, except it's not as big a deal as an ecumenical council (remember Betsy's post on those, lol?)
ReplyDeleteThe Catholic Encyclopedia has a good definitional article here. The synod being held in October is a gathering of the world's bishops to discuss the Eucharist. I think the Anglicans have them, too; I guess at the most recent Anglican synod they decided to have women bishops (booo! Bad liberals! ;)