Ten most common liturgical abuses

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I am not a cradle Catholic. I learned the faith later in life. The way I look at these threads are that they serve to confuse and divide. Worse yet, they cause people to question if they are sinning and potentially good enough for God. They serve to show to many (especially Protestants who are anti-Catholic) that we are just a bunch of rule-followers, and to people looking to come into the faith, question why they should move from following God’s law, to following a divided community which cannot make up its mind on what is right and what is wrong when it comes to saying prayers and receiving the Eucharist.

As far as I’m concerned, the important stuff like loving God and loving neighbor far outweigh whether someone holds hands with their neighbor during the Our Father. True, I understand the need for guidance and law in the liturgy, but unless 1 of 2 things happens for me, I’m not sweating it. 1) Pope declares Ex Cathedra or 2) It is specifically documented in canon law.

Outside that, “this father said this” or “that father said that” or “this web site has a video and proves this or that”… I’m going to ignore. If millions of people around the world are now destined to hell because they are ignorant of the “true” way to say the Our Father, we’ve got some self reflection to do, because our faith is turned upside down on its head…
 
I read the article months ago and found it excellent. While things have gotten better since the mid-1960s, significant work is needed. I have seen liturgical abuse more than once and I have come back to the Church not even one year ago.

God bless
 
The Marty Haugen Gloria from The Mass of Singpraise should be on the list. Illicit form as glorias do not have refrains.
 
No one is saying anything about anyone going to hell… except perhaps any clergy that deliberately lead us astray. Jesus instructed us to be like children. Like children dependent on their parents, we place our trust and faith in the hands of our church fathers. As long as you are acting in good faith, with obedience and genuinely good intent, you should be just fine.

As for the details… they do matter. Everything that happens during Mass has multiple layers of symbolism and meaning, however subtle. So much so, that as a cradle Catholic myself, I am still learning new things. Our Holy and ancient church is rich in history, tradition, meaning, and expressions of truth. Ironically, frustration with these issues is not about division, but the preservation of tradition and standards which serve to uphold universality… unity. Deterioration in this regard can have profound effects on subsequent generations. You are blessed to have the faith that you do. The greater concern, in my opinion, is for those that are yet to be drawn to it.
 
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Thank you.
I also pray that way.
Someone told me once that prayer is a giving and receiving. We can’t give our stuff to God with clenched fists, and we can’t reveive a gift with clenched fists, so…
 
SMHW said:
I’m wondering how most people define “liturgical abuse”.

To me, a liturgical abuse is a violation of the G.I.R.M. or of other documents which clarify the G.I.R.M. Bishops and archbishops have the power to grant exemptions for many, but not all, instructions and regulations.

But I suspect that many people consider the granting of exemptions to be abuses.
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When it comes to Mass what an individual Bishop may change is very limited, and it certainly can’t violate documents that already forbid the actions. Most of the adaptations have to be made by a country’s Conference of Bishops per GIRM 386-399

Some of the things an individual bishop may do:
Forbid Communion in the hand.
Forbid female altar servers.
Allow standing after the “Ecce Agnus Dei…”
 
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