I don’t think I will ever figure out JP II and his reasoning for having Archbishop Marini serve as his MC for so many years. According to the online magazine Chiesa, Marini was responsible for a host of bad liturgical practices (inclusive of the one John Allen relayed in Mexico City).
Now, the Matachines are the indigenous Indian dancers that perform a cermonial dance in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. However, this dance occurs
before the Mass begins and is sometimes included in the opening procession (although, the Matachines “dance” even before the normal procession begins). Their dance is more of a ritual than a performance as the steps are meticulous; however, they, in no way, interfere with the Mass and are gone before the regular procession begins to wind its way towards the altar.
Having said that, I do not endorse the so-called forms of liturgical dance that have crept into the Church (in the United States). Cardinal Arinze made his point perfectly clear: it is forbidden.
But, back to the OP. Marini, according to one of the Chiesa articles, dismissed a renowned Sacred Music expert and replaced him with someone who favored mediocre music. In fact, the quality of the Sistene Chapel Choir had deteriorated to the point that at JP II’s funeral Mass, they almost sounded slightly better than the Roman street cats. A priest friend of mine called them the Sistene Screamers.
Now a new Sheriff is in town. Even though it took him almost three years to get rid of Marini, Pope Benedict is initiating his own reform of the Reform. While Marini stressed creativity (to the point of cobbling up things that had no right to be inserted into the liturgy), Benedict is more interested in restoring things to its proper order. He made the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass the cornerstone of his papacy. He said that in his first homily as Pope (I ought to know, I woke up at 3AM to witness the live telecast–my Dad thought I was nuts, but, after celebrating his election, I had to hear his first homily):
- My Pontificate begins in a particularly meaningful way as the Church is living the special Year dedicated to the Eucharist. How could I fail to see this providential coincidence as an element that must mark the ministry to which I am called? The Eucharist, the heart of Christian life and the source of the Church’s evangelizing mission, cannot but constitute the permanent centre and source of the Petrine ministry that has been entrusted to me.
The Eucharist makes constantly present the Risen Christ who continues to give himself to us, calling us to participate in the banquet of his Body and his Blood. From full communion with him flows every other element of the Church’s life: first of all, communion among all the faithful, the commitment to proclaiming and witnessing to the Gospel, the ardour of love for all, especially the poorest and lowliest.
I ask everyone in the coming months to intensify love and devotion for Jesus in the Eucharist, and ***to express courageously and clearly faith in the Real Presence of the Lord, especially by the solemnity and the correctness of the celebrations. ***
***I ask this especially of priests, whom I am thinking of with deep affection at this moment. The ministerial Priesthood was born at the Last Supper, together with the Eucharist, as my Venerable Predecessor John Paul II so frequently emphasized. "All the more then must the life of a priest be “shaped’ by the Eucharist” (Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 2005, n. 1; ORE, 23 March, p. 4). In the first place, the devout, daily celebration of Holy Mass, the centre of the life and mission of every priest, contributes to this goal. ***
These words, along with the books he wrote as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, were the sure sign of things to come. Marini may have been there, standing in ceremony, but, I can assure you that the one running the ship from get-go has been Pope Benedict. As far as Marini is concerned, it is quite telling that the Vatican is not a stop on his book tour. If John Allen’s article on the book is any indication, then Marini’s words will prove to be the antithesis of Pope Benedict’s writings and documents on the Liturgy. Benedict was very emphatic that while the Council produced fruits, the misinterpretations under the guise of the so-called “Spirit of Vatican II” left much to be desired. It’s not the hearts and roses that Marini and company would have us believe. I won’t invest the money in buying the book; I’ll wait for it to get to my library (or, I can check it out through the Inter-Library Loan program).
