Brendan;
The Bishop assigns a priest to a parish to serve the parish, not himself.
I have seen nothing to state that the priest was NOT serving the parish. In fact, it was specifically stated that he was saying Mass, which is itself a service.
Throwing out all the music the people where using and replacing it with Gergorian Chant, which they had no expertise in, was the priest serving himself in his desire on what style of music he wanted.
Teaching the Chant is, of itself a service. Once again, here is a document prepared by Pope St Paul VI that accompanied the selections of Chants that the Pope desired the faithful to know.
adoremus.org/2007/12/31/Voluntati-Obsequens/
I doubt that any of us here would question that Pope’s commitment to active participation in the Liturgy.
This paragraph is of particular note
In effect, when the faithful gather together for prayer they manifest at once the diversity of a people drawn "from every tribe, language and nation (Ap. 5:9) and its unity in faith and charity. Their diversity is manifested in the present multiplicity of liturgical languages and in the vernacular chants which, in the context of one shared faith, give expression to each people’s religious sentiment in music drawn from its culture and traditions. On the other hand, their unity finds particularly apt and even sensible expression through the use of Latin Gregorian chant.
The congregation clearly had a beauty of expression in the music of their culture and tradition, but the Pope desired more of the faithful, a common unity expressed in Latin Gregorian chant.
The priest was simply calling them to a sense of unity, not just with their particular parish community, but the Church as a whole. That is a mode of service.
Vatican II made that clear in Sacrosanctum Concillium
Nevertheless steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them
.
That was echoed by Pope Benedict, in his exhortation on the Eucharist,* Sacramentum Caritatis
*
nor should we forget that the faithful can be taught to recite the more common prayers in Latin, and also to sing parts of the liturgy to Gregorian chant.
So it was clearly that they could be taught Latin chant, and that they should be taught.
Other forms may certainly be used in the liturgy, but if the priest found this parish to be deficient in their knowledge of Latin chant, it would certainly be an act of service to have them learn.
Again, the priest has to serve the parish and allow them to participate fully in the Mass. Throwing out their hymns and going with Gregorian Chant, excluded them.
The is of chant does not exclude full participation. If it did, the Church would not promote it or even use it at all.
Heck, they signed a petition to have to priest removed and apparently they were heard.
Heard how, the bishop did nothing. The priest, on his own initiative, took a sabbatical. All of the statements from the Bishop were supportive of the priest.
Actually the faithful do dictate the style of liturgy to be used, providing it’s a format approved by the Church and the Bishop.
Could you provide any documents of the Church that support your position?
Recall that if a group wanted to have the TLM celebrated, the Bishop and Pastor of that parish had to work to meet their request.
None of which was happening here. This was a Mass said in the Ordinary Form according to the legitimate options provided for by the Church and the bishop.
We don’t have the full story, do we. But the fact remains, he only served 3 years and is now on sabbatical, after parishioners sent a petition to the Bishop.
And, once again, it was the priest himself, of his own initiative, who requested the sabbatical.
This is the opposite of what the Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy from Vatican II called for, but you have your own agenda on this, so it isn’t worth continuing the debate.
I’ll quote it again for you
In Masses which are celebrated with the people, a suitable place may be allotted to their mother tongue. This is to apply in the first place to the readings and “the common prayer,” but also, as local conditions may warrant, to those parts which pertain to the people, according to the norm laid down in Art. 36 of this Constitution.
Nevertheless steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.
. If the readings and responses were in the vernacular and, which it seem they were, every indication is that the priest was obeying the directives of S.C.
In addition, his actions seem to be in accord with the wishes of Pope Paul VI himself
This was done in response to a desire which the Holy Father had frequently expressed, that all the faithful should know at least some Latin Gregorian chants, such as, for example, the “Gloria”, the “Credo”, the “Sanctus”, and the “Agnus Dei”
