Religious rites of Hindu origin in the Cathedral of Naples in Italy allegedly

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If you dance in church the virus is frustrated and masks are pointless I guess.
 
Is there some context, such as a news story, for what is going on in the initial video?

I’m not going to get shocked just from seeing non-Western people doing what I presume is religious or perhaps even liturgical dance from their own culture in a cathedral.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
Is there some context, such as a news story, for what is going on in the initial video?

I’m not going to get shocked just from seeing non-Western people doing what I presume is religious or perhaps even liturgical dance from their own culture in a cathedral.
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Churchmilitant.com seems to have a link to the original story in the Italian press and further information regarding the significance of the dance from a Sri Lankan theologan here: https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/sacrilege-in-naples-cathedral
 
I see. Do you have anything that’s not from the perpetually outraged Church Militant? It’s hard to take them seriously when they include some English deacon complaining about “the Bergoglian papacy” and also include all kinds of editorializing adjectives like a tabloid.

If it is truly so outrageous, I would expect other news outlets to cover it as well.
 
I’m a little confused - one place says “tribal dance”, another “Hindu”, and a third says “Buddhist.”

Was it possible the tribes “baptized” their dances? (The Ethiopian tribes did, and they dance them in church for special holidays)
 
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I felt that way about the Electric Slide when it first became popular in middle school.
 
I appreciate your very charitable reading of the situation! I have no interest in watching the video, without knowing the context…but its always good to assume the best until proven otherwise!

There are legitimate forms of liturgical dancing in the Church. The Ethiopian Rite, as you note, is a great and ancient example. In more recent times, the Church has incorporated the dances of certain other African (and perhaps Asian?) cultures into the local praxis as well… what has been condemned is the artificially imposed “liturgical dance” that appeared in some Western (North American / European) parishes starting in the 60s/70s, which, as Rome has noted, has no legitimate place in Western worship as we have no tradition of using dance as worship.
 
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twf said:
what has been condemned is the artificially imposed “liturgical dance” that appeared in some Western (North American / European) parishes starting in the 60s/70s, which, as Rome has noted, has no legitimate place in Western worship as we have no tradition of using dance as worship.
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I saw Western “liturgical dance” once in the early 70s at my then-parish. It involved two women (Might have been religious order members) in blue leotards doing a not very good modern dance/ mime of building a city in front of the altar while somebody played guitar and sang the opening hymn, Dan Schutte’s “Let us build the City of God”. I remember the lector or priest coming out and explaining what we were going to be watching before it took place.

Even at age 7 or 8 I was unimpressed.
Never saw anything like it at Mass again.
 
Honestly, who else besides the “perpetually outraged” outlets would you expect to? The video speaks for itself, but I would be curious to hear how the more sympathetic outlets would explain it away. If they can’t, there will probably be no mention at all.
 
The OP provided an Italian newspaper covering the story as well.
Often such things get local coverage.

The translation to English of the La Republica story is as follows:

Naples, prayers and ethnic dances in the Cathedral for the Assumption​

We prayed in all the languages of the world for overcoming the pandemic, and for those who suffer from its effects, “at all levels and at various latitudes” in the celebration of the feast of the Assumption held in the Cathedral of Naples and presided over by the cardinal Crescenzio Sepe. A liturgy, as usual by now, open to the songs and rites of the various ethnic groups of the populations and for this reason called the International Mid-August Mass, with the archbishop’s initial and final greetings in seven languages.

"We also pray for the intercession of the Virgin , whose Assumption into heaven we celebrate today. A feast that for us is Mary’s Easter. It is the Mother who listens to us, in this moment of great uncertainty and pain in the world ", underlines the archbishop, in a Cathedral with a strict control of distance and with many tourists (especially Italians, but also French, English) dozens of whom wait neatly in line outside, despite the torrid temperature of these hours, to avoid close contacts. In fact, the mask is missing for a few minutes only for those who dance and is at a distance from everyone else. Mother Assunta is at the center of the invocations and the homily, which also touches on “the eternal struggle with the evil one”, recalled by the first reading of the Apocalypse in which - Sepe emphasizes - “the forces of evil are overwhelmed by God”.

Among the faithful who also participated with choirs, percussion and dances, representatives of the African, Chinese, Sinhalese communities (in addition to those of the European community). And also in other points (from the offertory to the prayer of the faithful), the celebration which was also attended by the auxiliary bishops Lucio Lemmo and Gennaro Acampa, it left room for the sounds and idioms of other cultures.

The cardinal’s thanks go to all the communities: “Let us represent the Universal Church together, in brothers and sisters by this intimate union with Christ”. Until the exchange of wishes, felt in a special way since Sepe is already in prorogatio, and the now distinctive blessing of Sepe from the altar, which is in Neapolitan and does not need translation: 'A Madonna t’accumpagne.
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Sounds like they do this every year. Would be interesting to see a video of the whole thing.
 
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Oh you children. When I was in the 8th grade WE were doing the Funky Chicken.
 
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