How do Catholics in the United States understand the liturgy today? Five different approaches are prominent, but some share more with Pope Francis’ synodal and liturgical vision.
John F. Baldovin
John F. Baldovin, S.J., is a professor of historical and liturgical theology at the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
Pay to pray: Catholics should stop offering money for Mass intentions
It’s time to rethink “having a Mass said” for someone.
Posted inFaith
A liturgical expert explains Pope Francis’ change to Mass translation rules
This latest document may not be a bombshell but it is certainly a significant change in direction with regard to who has responsibility for liturgical translations.
Posted inExplainer, Faith
Five reasons Pope Francis embraces the Vatican II liturgy
With his speech last week, Pope Francis has definitively and unequivocally put his weight behind a liturgical movement.
Posted inIn All Things
What’s at stake in the debate over facing East during the liturgy
The decision to face the people rested on a profound theological insight.
Posted inFrom Our Archives
Jack, Bobby, Ted: Three Kennedy funerals and the progress of liturgical reform
On Nov. 22, 1963, the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church assembled for the second session of the Second Vatican Council voted on the final draft of the “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy” (“Sacrosanctum Concilium”). A few hours later President John F. Kennedy was assassina
Posted inFrom Our Archives
An Active Presence: The liturgical vision of Vatican II 50 years later
The liturgical vision of Vatican II 50 years later
Posted inFrom Our Archives
Translating the Liturgy
In 2001 the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued an instruction on the translation of the liturgy entitled Liturgiam Authenticam. Five years later, at their semi-annual meeting in Los Angeles in mid-June, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Posted inFrom Our Archives
Why Go to Mass?
Not every Mass is going to be a great and deeply moving experience, not for the vast majority of us anyway. But there is a great deal to be said for simple fidelity to our worship. St. Ignatius Loyola says in the Spiritual Exercises that the person who is experiencing some desolation (dryness, &ldqu
Posted inFrom Our Archives
Presiding at the Liturgy of the Word: The second in the Lent-Easter series on ‘Good Liturgy’
There is a saying, “Well begun is half done.” Liturgical celebrations are among the places where that saying is especially true. What follows is one presider’s and teacher’s reflection on the first half of the liturgy of the Mass, from before the entrance procession to the en