"In a sacred place only those things are to be permitted which serve to exercise or promote worship, piety and religion. Anything out of harmony with the holiness the place is forbidden. The Ordinary may, however, for individual cases, permit other uses, provided they are not contrary to the sacred character of the place."There is also a 1987 declaration by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on "Concerts in Churches".
Regarding the 99 names of Allah concert, the Cathedral authorities would argue that singing the names of Allah promotes peace and harmony and inter-religious dialogue etc. and is therefore OK. They have repeatedly made the point that this was not an act of worship but a concert.
The CDW's practical directives say that concerts should only be held in Church to perform music of a religious character and not music of a secular character, however beautiful. (It probably did not occur to the congregation to specify that the religion concerned should be the Christian one.)
One interesting provision is that:
In order that the sacred character of a church be conserved in the matter of concerts, the Ordinary can specify that:This brings up a more general question which needs a post to itself.
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c. Entrance to the church must be without payment and open to all.
19 comments:
And as Cardinal Levada regularly seems to be a guest at Archbishop's House, I am sure the CDF are well aware of the use of the Cathedral as a concert hall.
Many thanks, Father.
"In a sacred place only those things are to be permitted which serve to exercise or promote worship, piety and religion. Anything out of harmony with the holiness the place is forbidden".
Well that's it then, shucks, just as I was getting the hang of the words - Kum-ba-Ya, la-la-la!
But even Kum-ba-Ya and Colours of Day pale into insignificance, no in fact become truely Orthodox Catholic when compared to the 'sing-along-with-allah' performance at Westminster Cathedral.
WHAT! People paid to get in ?????
I wonder if Muslims regard the 99 Names event as a mere "concert."
I do hope they removed the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle beforehand.
The is a wonderful picture of the dome and the tower of the Cathedral on Fr Langan's site just crying out for a small crescent moon to change it into mosque.
Father, I am sorry to be controversial but I thought the piece was exquisite from start to finish. The most sacrilegious and appalling tripe is permitted in this country in the context of the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries. It seems to me entirely within the sacred character of the cathedral that musical works of a transcendent character be performed within it, however unfashionable the text. The Baroque-era tradition of using churches from time to time as "concert halls" to ennoble the spirits with non-liturgical music seems to be a highly precious thing: Vatican regulators would be better turning their attention to the much greater number of churches being used as "music halls" and karaoke-dens during the Mass!
Our choir director should read this. Maybe then we wouldn't have to listen to hit songs that were popular on the radio - OK, they do mention Jesus once or twice, but they are NOT hymns suitable for worship.
Ma - no idea if they removed the Blessed Sacrament, but the various Masses during the day were bumped into the Cathedral HALL so they could set up for the concert...
...the incorrupt body of St John Southworth wouldn't have been removed...
I don't think it matters how beautiful it is; Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" is beautiful, too, but doesn't belong in a Church.
Nor does any beautiful but specifically Protestant piece of music.
If any exception could be made, it would be a beautiful piece of sacred music from the Jewish faith, but solely on the basis that Judaism is the root of Catholicism.
There is just no reason to bring any piece of sacred music, no matter how beautiful, into the Cathedral if the music contains the theology of Islam. Islam is not the true faith and we shouldn't pretend that it is, under the guise of ecumenism.
I think most people here would certainly agree with Anon regarding the sorry state of the liturgy today. Yes, the Church needs to immediately address abuses occurring within the Holy Mass.
But knowing that we have THAT problem doesn't excuse deliberately creating ANOTHER problem.
I would love to hear the 99 names, simply because I love beautiful, ancient music.
But I would loathe to hear it in a Roman Catholic Church.
Cardinal Levada regularly seems to be a guest at Archbishop's House ...
Why?
Anonymous - the text was not 'unfashionable' it was unacceptable no matter how nice the music was. How can it be regarded as appropriate for the words 'God the humiliater' 'God the death-bringer' and 'God the avenger' to be sung in a Catholic cathedral?
"'God the humiliater' 'God the death-bringer' and 'God the avenger' to be sung in a Catholic cathedral?"
A Christian version would be
"He casts down the mighty from their thrones". (Magnificat)
"He gives Life and He gives Death" (Job)
"God is my Avenger". (Psalms)
It is the syncretic nature of this work that worries me, it is pure New Age confusion; a Catholic venue, Islamic text, Buddhist or Hindu structure, instruments that a have a sacred meaning in other religions, all inspired by a vision or apparition.
It is a statement that backs up the statement, "all religions are the same, aren't they?", which seems to be what the Prince of Wales wants to say, and what "Dominus Jesus" is at pains to deny.
My reference above to Card. Nevada's visits was to suggest that there was not much point in appealing to the CDF.
Further to previous comments, I'm not sure one can make a comparison between singing the Christian and Muslim 'names' of God in this sense. Reciting the 99 names of Allah is not analogous to singing the Psalms or Magnificat which are direct translations from biblical texts. The 99 names of Allah, as sung, don't exist in any Islamic holy book; they were compiled indirectly from the Qur'an and there is some disagreement amongst Muslim scholars as to the proper form of some of the names.
My point would be that any recitation of the 99 names necessarily lacks context, in contrast to Christian texts such as the Magnificat which follows "He casts down the mighty from their thrones" with "and exalts the humble and meek". The 99 names are essentially an Islamic devotional aid that has developed in some strains of Islam and are not 'gospel' in an equivalent sense.
Edmund, I agree with that.
Veneror Adoroque Illum Deum Verum Et Vivum Qui Omnia creavit.
Worship, not Concerts!
I sure wish someone would have stood outside and sung the names of 99 recent Christians martyred for the Faith by Muslims. They would have had no trouble coming up with that many names.
(Oops. Politically incorrect.)
Father, this is not a comment, but I wanted to claim ownership, despite the typos, of the the "Anonymous" comment beginning "Father, I am sorry to be controversial". I was not wishing to avoid giving my name, I sinply could not see how to do it!
Best wishes,
Liam Devlin
Liam - can register with google and get a username. (You don't have to start a blog and you don't have to put anything on the "profile"). that gets you entry to comboxes on blogs where anonymous posts are not allowed.
You can also on this blog click the "other" button and give yourself a name.
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