Post # 10. I don’t wish to get into this again.
GIRM 43 says “The faithful kneel after the Agnus Dei unless the Diocesan Bishop determines otherwise.”
That refers to the posture
immediately following the
Agnus Dei; that is, are you standing or kneeling as the priest says “This is the Lamb of God…” And
even if it did refer to the posture after having received Communion, my previous posts show the discussion and intent of the USCCB in that matter and the decision/clarification made by the Church in that regard.
GIRM 387 says that to the Bishop “is entrusted the regulating of the discipline of
concelebration (cf. above, nos. 202, 374) and the establishing of norms regarding the
function of serving the priest at the altar (cf. above, no. 107), the distribution of
Holy Communion under both kinds (cf. above, no. 283), and the
construction and ordering of churches (cf. above, no. 291).”
It says
nothing about posture here.
GIRM 390 says: “It is up to the
Conferences of Bishops to decide on the adaptations indicated in this General Instruction and in the Order of Mass and, once their decisions have been accorded the recognitio of the Apostolic See, to introduce them into the Missal itself. These adaptations include: The
gestures and posture of the faithful (cf. no. 43 above) …”
The USCCB
has already done so, as is noted in the US edition of GIRM 43. It
does not say this is for the Bishop to determine; it says “Conferences of Bishops”, and the Conference has already done its work in this regard.
You wish to speak of the 'rights" of the congregation. I prefer to worship as one community, as we are instructed.
I don’t know how much more plainly I can put it: the Church does not wish to so rigorously mandate posture so as to demand that, following Communion, people may not kneel in prayer. There are other places where our posture
is rigorously mandated (unless you are incapable): standing for the Gospel, sitting for the other readings, etc. But
here is one place where the Church does not want to infringe upon a person’s private post-Communion praying. To prevent the faithful who wish to kneel at this time
from doing so is
pastorally insensitive on the part of a priest or bishop. We can “worship as one community” in a greater context than merely a parochial or diocesan community by respecting the universal permissions and rights afforded to us as Catholics of the Latin Rite.
Why would Rome bother reaffirming the rights of Catholics if Rome wanted those rights to be denied by priests and bishops? Why would a bishop go against the will of his Conference and of the CDWDS by mandating a common posture when the Church has said it desires freedom in this regard?
