Liturgical Dancing

[Robert_Burke]

I thought Rome had banned Liturgical Dancing? Can anyone tell me where I can find the rules regarding dancing during the Mass?

Today was Pentecost Sunday and the young people who brought up the gifts for the offertory did a sort of forwards and backwards “shuffle” up the main aisle.  This might be excused as form of “swaying procession” but they were followed by half a dozen young girls in red tops who danced up the aisle and waived red streamers in the air (the streamers were attached to long poles).  Once they reached the front of the church, they spread out in front of the sanctuary and danced and twirled around in place while waiving the red streamers around their heads.

My children asked me what was going on and I told them that to the best of my knowledge that this sort of thing was not allowed.

Talking to my pastor is a waste of time.  He’s a liberal Dominican who once told me to my face that he did not consider himself bound by a “literal interpretation” of Canon Law.  He informed me that that was an “American” way of thinking and that in Europe things are much looser.  As an attorney, I was appalled at his dismissal of Canon Law.

Even so, if Rome has banned this kind dancing then I would like to show him the reference.

 

[Rolltide]

I’m sure you’re correct, that liturgical dancing is an abuse and has been banned, with the sole exception of the processions of the Alexandrian Rite in the Ethiopian Catholic Church, which is a long part of their tradition. (Interestingly, this is a tradition that also includes drums as a formal part of their liturgy. I just answered a question about that as well…) Unfortunately, I do not know where to find the document.

 

[MarkThompson]

Unfortunately, there’s no specific rule that says, “Thou shalt not have liturgical dance.” You might want to watch what Cardinal Arinze had to say when a questioner asked him about it, here at YouTube. Sadly, you won’t find a document that prohibits this, and this is common at the Los Angeles Religious Educator’s Conference mass and things like that, then priests come back with the idea that they should do it in their own parish – you can watch an entrance “procession” here. Sorry.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

From Cardinal Arinze, an interview in 2004, from the Adoremus Site.
Has liturgical dance been approved for Masses by your office?
There has never been a document from our Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments saying that dance is approved in the Mass.
The question of dance is difficult and delicate. However, it is good to know that the tradition of the Latin Church has not known the dance. It is something that people are introducing in the last ten years – or twenty years. It was not always so. Now it is spreading like wildfire, one can say, in all the continents – some more than others. In my own continent, Africa, it is spreading. In Asia, it is spreading.
Now, some priests and lay people think that Mass is never complete without dance. The difficulty is this: we come to Mass primarily to adore God – what we call the vertical dimension. We do not come to Mass to entertain one another. That’s not the purpose of Mass. The parish hall is for that.
So all those that want to entertain us – after Mass, let us go to the parish hall and then you can dance. And then we clap. But when we come to Mass we don’t come to clap. We don’t come to watch people, to admire people. We want to adore God, to thank Him, to ask Him pardon for our sins, and to ask Him for what we need.
Don’t misunderstand me, because when I said this at one place somebody said to me: “you are an African bishop. You Africans are always dancing. Why do you say we don’t dance?”
A moment – we Africans are not always dancing! [laughter]
Moreover, there is a difference between those who come in procession at Offertory; they bring their gifts, with joy. There is a movement of the body right and left. They bring their gifts to God. That is good, really. And some of the choir, they sing. They have a little bit of movement. Nobody is going to condemn that. And when you are going out again, a little movement, it’s all right.
But when you introduce wholesale, say, a ballerina, then I want to ask you what is it all about. What exactly are you arranging? When the people finish dancing in the Mass and then when the dance group finishes and people clap – don’t you see what it means? It means we have enjoyed it. We come for enjoyment. Repeat. So, there is something wrong. Whenever the people clap – there is something wrong – immediately. When they clap – a dance is done and they clap.
It is possible that there could be a dance that is so exquisite that it raises people’s minds to God, and they are praying and adoring God and when the dance is finished they are still wrapped up in prayer. But is that the type of dance you have seen? You see. It is not easy.
Most dances that are staged during Mass should have been done in the parish hall. And some of them are not even suitable for the parish hall.
I saw in one place – I will not tell you where – where they staged a dance during Mass, and that dance was offensive. It broke the rules of moral theology and modesty. Those who arranged it – they should have had their heads washed with a bucket of holy water! [laughter]
Why make the people of God suffer so much? Haven’t we enough problems already? Only Sunday, one hour, they come to adore God. And you bring a dance! Are you so poor you have nothing else to bring us? Shame on you! That’s how I feel about it.
Somebody can say, “but the pope visited this county and the people danced”. A moment: Did the pope arrange it? Poor Holy Father – he comes, the people arranged. He does not know what they arranged. And somebody introduces something funny – is the pope responsible for that? Does that mean it is now approved? Did they put in on the table of the Congregation for Divine Worship? We would throw it out! If people want to dance, they know where to go.

Cardinal Arinze was at the time of this interview, as he is now, the head of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

 

[benedictgal]

I thought Rome had banned Liturgical Dancing? Can anyone tell me where I can find the rules regarding dancing during the Mass?

Today was Pentecost Sunday and the young people who brought up the gifts for the offertory did a sort of forwards and backwards “shuffle” up the main aisle.  This might be excused as form of “swaying procession” but they were followed by half a dozen young girls in red tops who danced up the aisle and waived red streamers in the air (the streamers were attached to long poles).  Once they reached the front of the church, they spread out in front of the sanctuary and danced and twirled around in place while waiving the red streamers around their heads.

My children asked me what was going on and I told them that to the best of my knowledge that this sort of thing was not allowed.

Talking to my pastor is a waste of time.  He’s a liberal Dominican who once told me to my face that he did not consider himself bound by a “literal interpretation” of Canon Law.  He informed me that that was an “American” way of thinking and that in Europe things are much looser.  As an attorney, I was appalled at his dismissal of Canon Law.

Even so, if Rome has banned this kind dancing then I would like to show him the reference.

Here is the 1975 document from the CDWDS:

The dance has never been made an integral part of the official worhship of the Latin Church.

If local churches have accepted the dance, sometimes even in the church building, that was on the occasion of feasts in order to manifest sentiments of joy and devotion. But that always took place outside of liturgical services.

Conciliar decisions have often condemned the religious dance because it conduces little to worship and because it could degenerate into disorders.

…However, the same criterion and judgment cannot be applied in the western culture.

Here dancing is tied with love, with diversion, with profaneness, with unbridling of the senses: such dancing, in general, is not pure.

For that reason it cannot be introduced into liturgical celebrations of any kind whatever: that would be to inject into the liturgy one of the most desacralized and desacralizing elements; and so it would be equivalent to creating an atmosphere of profaneness which would easily recall to those present and to the participants in the celebration worldly places and situations.

Neither can acceptance be had of the proposal to introduce into the liturgy the so-called artistic ballet[2] because there would be presentation here also of a spectacle at which one would assist, while in the liturgy one of the norms from which one cannot prescind is that of participation.

Therefore, there is a great difference in cultures: what is well receieved in one culture cannot be taken on by another culture.

The traditional reserve of the seriousness of religious worship, and of the Latin worship in particular, must never be forgotton.

There is another note here:

FROM THESE DIRECTIVES, from the NATIONAL CONFERENCE of CATHOLIC BISHOPS, all dancing, (ballet, children’s gesture as dancing, the clown liturgy) are not permitted to be “introduced into liturgical celebrations of any kind whatever.” [NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS (BISHOPS’ COMMITTEE on the LITURGY) NEWSLETTER. APRIL/MAY 1982.]

He also needs to be reminded that in Redemptionis Sacramentum, it states that:

[11.] The Mystery of the Eucharist “is too great for anyone to permit himself to treat it according to his own whim, so that its sacredness and its universal ordering would be obscured”.27 On the contrary, anyone who acts thus by giving free rein to his own inclinations, even if he is a Priest, injures the substantial unity of the Roman Rite, which ought to be vigorously preserved,28 and becomes responsible for actions that are in no way consistent with the hunger and thirst for the living God that is experienced by the people today. Nor do such actions serve authentic pastoral care or proper liturgical renewal; instead, they deprive Christ’s faithful of their patrimony and their heritage. For arbitrary actions are not conducive to true renewal,29 but are detrimental to the right of Christ’s faithful to a liturgical celebration that is an expression of the Church’s life in accordance with her tradition and discipline. In the end, they introduce elements of distortion and disharmony into the very celebration of the Eucharist, which is oriented in its own lofty way and by its very nature to signifying and wondrously bringing about the communion of divine life and the unity of the People of God.30 The result is uncertainty in matters of doctrine, perplexity and scandal on the part of the People of God, and, almost as a necessary consequence, vigorous opposition, all of which greatly confuse and sadden many of Christ’s faithful in this age of ours when Christian life is often particularly difficult on account of the inroads of “secularization” as well.31

While this does not specifically address the issue of “dancing”, as I read your post, it seems that the priest is taking it upon himself to insert something into the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that is not part of the Roman Missal.

 

[ljubim]

Oh, leave the parish now, that is absolutely a liturgical abuse! :nope:

 

[corsair]

Benedictgal,

Thank you. We can generally count on you for the references in either the canon law or the GIRM
Hope you had a great Pentecost

 

[VetA]

I thought Rome had banned Liturgical Dancing? Can anyone tell me where I can find the rules regarding dancing during the Mass?

Today was Pentecost Sunday and the young people who brought up the gifts for the offertory did a sort of forwards and backwards “shuffle” up the main aisle.  This might be excused as form of “swaying procession” but they were followed by half a dozen young girls in red tops who danced up the aisle and waived red streamers in the air (the streamers were attached to long poles).  Once they reached the front of the church, they spread out in front of the sanctuary and danced and twirled around in place while waiving the red streamers around their heads.

My children asked me what was going on and I told them that to the best of my knowledge that this sort of thing was not allowed.

Talking to my pastor is a waste of time.  He’s a liberal Dominican who once told me to my face that he did not consider himself bound by a “literal interpretation” of Canon Law.  He informed me that that was an “American” way of thinking and that in Europe things are much looser.  As an attorney, I was appalled at his dismissal of Canon Law.

Even so, if Rome has banned this kind dancing then I would like to show him the reference.

i am truly sorry that you had to suffer through that. i went to a traditional latin mass today most solemn and beautiful mass ive ever been to.

that being said bring it up over his head to your bishop even though he’s a dominican i am fairly certian that religious orders serve in parishes at the leisure of the bishop so he can still tell them to stop abusing the mass in his diocese.

 

[Robert_Burke]

I live in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. I would gladly leave the parish but most (if not all) of the nearby parishes are just as bad if not worse.

I’ve meaning to write a letter to my local bishop. I guess I can’t put it off anymore.

 

[VetA]

I live in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. I would gladly leave the parish but most (if not all) of the nearby parishes are just as bad if not worse.

I’ve meaning to write a letter to my local bishop. I guess I can’t put it off anymore.

i guess not. i will pray that he receives it and reads with an open mind. [edited]

 

[boatbearer]

i guess not. i will pray that he receives it and reads with an open mind. but that seems like the least of your worries over there, im surprised that your bishop hasent excommunicated the lovely Ms. Pelosi yet

What would that do other than make her a martyr in some peoples’ eyes?

 

[centurionguard]

What would that do other than make her a martyr in some peoples’ eyes?

Interesting reply.

Seems quite evident though that there are numerous money-changers, liturgical abusers and the like within the Church who want their own self-styled cafeteria type Catholic Church.

Can you imagine the drama unfolding within the Church if Jesus Himself in person came in to our parishes with a whip to drive such people out?

I shudder to think.

 

[John_Lilburne]

From the 1994 Instruction INCULTURATION AND THE ROMAN LITURGY,
Varietates Legitimae (the full document is at adoremus.org/doc_inculturation.html ):

“42. Among some peoples, singing is instinctively accompanied by handclapping, rhythmic swaying and dance movements on the part of the participants. Such forms of external expression can have a place in the liturgical actions of these peoples on condition that they are always the expression of true communal prayer of adoration, praise, offering and supplication, and not simply a performance.”

 

[benedictgal]

From the 1994 Instruction INCULTURATION AND THE ROMAN LITURGY,
Varietates Legitimae (the full document is at adoremus.org/doc_inculturation.html ):

“42. Among some peoples, singing is instinctively accompanied by handclapping, rhythmic swaying and dance movements on the part of the participants. Such forms of external expression can have a place in the liturgical actions of these peoples on condition that they are always the expression of true communal prayer of adoration, praise, offering and supplication, and not simply a performance.”

But, with all due respect, this speaks to inculturation, not to the Western understanding of liturgy. Inculturation would kick in, in this case, if the peoples were living in missionary territories, not your average parish in the American Midwest.

 

[EasterJoy]

But, with all due respect, this speaks to inculturation, not to the Western understanding of liturgy. Inculturation would kick in, in this case, if the peoples were living in missionary territories, not your average parish in the American Midwest.

Well, it depends. We have a large Phillipino population here in the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon. Not only does Archbishop Vlazny allow their traditional liturgical dance done in traditional dress, but he accepted their offer to do it for his anniversary Mass of Thanksgiving. Likewise for the Cinco de Mayo Mass: there is traditional dance and music, done by Catholics of Mexican descent, but as it has traditionally been done in Mexico. It is an expression of their unique Catholic heritage, which they brought with them when they immigrated here.

In these cases, though, the music and dance is done as it has always been done. The dress, choreography, and music have to follow the traditional norms. The goal is not to invent something, but to preserve something that has withstood the test of time. That is the difference.

When you think about it, it makes sense. You can’t send missionaries into a new culture, incorporate their identity into the Mass, and then say, “ooops, you’ve been Catholic long enough. Welcome to America, land of the lowest common denominator.”

That is also another good reason to encourage the Latin Mass. That is the traditional ethnic liturgy of the Europeans who came to America. It is our heritage, the way our forebearers offered the Mass. We don’t have to have it at every Mass, but we ought not be denied access to it altogether.

 

[benedictgal]

Well, it depends. We have a large Phillipino population here in the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon. Not only does Archbishop Vlazny allow their traditional liturgical dance done in traditional dress, but he accepted their offer to do it for his anniversary Mass of Thanksgiving. Likewise for the Cinco de Mayo Mass: there is traditional dance and music, done by Catholics of Mexican descent, but as it has traditionally been done in Mexico. It is an expression of their unique Catholic heritage, which they brought with them when they immigrated here.

In these cases, though, the music and dance is done as it has always been done. The dress, choreography, and music have to follow the traditional norms. The goal is not to invent something, but to preserve something that has withstood the test of time. That is the difference.

When you think about it, it makes sense. You can’t send missionaries into a new culture, incorporate their identity into the Mass, and then say, “ooops, you’ve been Catholic long enough. Welcome to America, land of the lowest common denominator.”

That is also another good reason to encourage the Latin Mass. That is the traditional ethnic liturgy of the Europeans who came to America. It is our heritage, the way our forebearers offered the Mass. We don’t have to have it at every Mass, but we ought not be denied access to it altogether.

However, Cinco de Mayo is a secular event and this, as I see it, should not have happened. Furthermore, even for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a celebration that has its roots since 1531 where the Aztecs performed a ritual dance in her honor, the Matachines (their descendents) do not do this dance during the Mass. They do it before the Mass and, more often than not (at least, down here) outside of the church. In fact, this is the only time of the year that the Matachines dance.

 

[EasterJoy]

However, Cinco de Mayo is a secular event and this, as I see it, should not have happened. Furthermore, even for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a celebration that has its roots since 1531 where the Aztecs performed a ritual dance in her honor, the Matachines (their descendents) do not do this dance during the Mass. They do it before the Mass and, more often than not (at least, down here) outside of the church. In fact, this is the only time of the year that the Matachines dance.

If we are grateful for something, how is that not something for which a Mass of Thanksgiving is rightly offered? As much as Cinco de Mayo is a day to be thankful for Mexican heritage, it is a great day to be thankful for being Catholic, for the debt that Mexico owes to the faith, and to have a Mass. When July 4th falls on a Sunday, the Sunday takes precedence, but when it does not, why not have a Mass of Thanksgiving? Don’t we believe the United States of America are in God’s debt? I’d think, rather, that a Catholic ought not celebrate a holiday that celebrates nothing for which God deserves praise and thanks.

But yes: the dances ought not be inserted into the liturgy in places where they would not traditionally have been placed. There is a history of Masses being offered outdoors in Mexico, at outdoor shrines, and so that tradition has to be taken into consideration, too.

 

[benedictgal]

If we are grateful for something, how is that not something for which a Mass of Thanksgiving is rightly offered? As much as Cinco de Mayo is a day to be thankful for Mexican heritage, it is a great day to be thankful for being Catholic, for the debt that Mexico owes to the faith, and to have a Mass. When July 4th falls on a Sunday, the Sunday takes precedence, but when it does not, why not have a Mass of Thanksgiving? Don’t we believe the United States of America are in God’s debt? I’d think, rather, that a Catholic ought not celebrate a holiday that celebrates nothing for which God deserves praise and thanks.

But yes: the dances ought not be inserted into the liturgy in places where they would not traditionally have been placed. There is a history of Masses being offered outdoors in Mexico, at outdoor shrines, and so that tradition has to be taken into consideration, too.

But, with all due respect, I think that you are missing the point in your first paragraphs. The context and the problem lie in the fact that Cinco de Mayo is still a secular holiday, not a religious one. A legitimate use of the dance revolves around the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which predates Cinco de Mayo by nearly three centuries. Furthermore, this dance was done as a specific tribute to her, not in celebration of a battle.

Furthermore, would you be in favor of having a Mass (complete with dancing) on November 20th, another Mexican holiday that celebrates the adoption of a constitution that wound up leading to the martyrdom of thousands of priests and laity and would not allow, until some 20 years ago, priests and bishops to wear their clerical garb? At least, thank God, some parts of the constitution were abrogated, but, I would not necessarily want to have a Mass to mark the significance of November 20th, since three days later, the Church marks the martyrdom of Mexico’s Pro-to Martyr, Blessed Miguel Pro (and his feast is certainly not marked with Matachines dancing).

 

[boatbearer]

From the 1994 Instruction INCULTURATION AND THE ROMAN LITURGY,
Varietates Legitimae (the full document is at adoremus.org/doc_inculturation.html ):

“42. Among some peoples, singing is instinctively accompanied by handclapping, rhythmic swaying and dance movements on the part of the participants. Such forms of external expression can have a place in the liturgical actions of these peoples on condition that they are always the expression of true communal prayer of adoration, praise, offering and supplication, and not simply a performance.”

You bring up a good counterpoint. The rather dated/arcane/non-authoritative documents and casual comments some are relying on to “prove” that liturgical dancing is prohibited is actually doing the exact opposite – they illustrate that it is not, at least not in all places in the Latin Rite.

I think dancing during the Mass is inappropriate, particularly the hideous dancing I have seen in the past at my parish. Yet it’s clear the Church does not prohibit it else there would be short paragraph in the GIRM about it given the practice’s incendiary nature.

 

[benedictgal]

You bring up a good counterpoint. The rather dated/arcane/non-authoritative documents and casual comments some are relying on to “prove” that liturgical dancing is prohibited is actually doing the exact opposite – they illustrate that it is not, at least not in all places in the Latin Rite.

I think dancing during the Mass is inappropriate, particularly the hideous dancing I have seen in the past at my parish. Yet it’s clear the Church does not prohibit it else there would be short paragraph in the GIRM about it given the practice’s incendiary nature.

This “arcane” document, as you put it, has never, never been abrogated and still remains in force. Just because something is absent from the GIRM that does not give anyone the right, be he bishop, priest or layman, to insert something into the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that does not belong there.