Cardinal Llovera praises "Fit for Mission"
Another senior Vatican figure has weighed in to praise Bishop O'Donoghue's excellent "Fit for Mission? Church."
This time, Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, has said,
This time, Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, has said,
"This Congregation is grateful for Your Lordship referring to many of the “shadows” which have hampered the celebration of the Liturgy in recent years, and your noting the need for the light of Obedience to be shone particularly on the celebration of the Liturgy as priests and people “do not have an illusory liberty by which we think we may do what we wish”" (Fit for Mission? Church, p.54).Cardinal Cañizares went on to express the Congregation’s gratitude to Bishop O'Donoghue Patrick for
"repeating your expectation that all within your Diocese follow the requisite liturgical norms."Speaking of the document as a whole, the Cardinal said:
"The thorough-going consideration of this document, its professional presentation and the overall desire of Your Lordship’s publication to address some of the issues that confront the Church not only in Your Lordship’s Diocese, but also within England generally, make Fit for Mission? Church a timely read."Bishop O’Donoghue said:
"In the weeks leading up to the launch of my new document, Fit for Mission? Marriage: A Preparation Course I have been greatly encouraged by Cardinal Llovera’s commendation of my previous work on Liturgy. The Sacred Liturgy is always the life-blood of the Church, which must always be treated as a precious encounter between the life of God and the life of His people.
My concern is that in a Church where many lapsed and even non-believing Catholics present themselves and their children for the sacraments – for whatever reason – that the sacraments should not be cheapened or treated with disrespect, no matter how unintentionally."