The Bishops' hit list:
“All Are Welcome”
“The Lord of the Dance”
“Canticle of the Sun,”
“God is Here! As We His People”
“Now in This Banquet”
“Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees”
“The Play of the Godhead”
“Led by the Spirit”
“God Beyond All Names”
“Sing a New Church”
“As a Fire is Meant for Burning”
“O Crucified Messiah”
The above list contains hymns cited as having "deficiencies" in the new guidelines the U. S. Bishops have issued for evaluating hymns used in liturgies.
In other words, don't use them.
And the list is just of examples; there are other hymns we should not use.
When evaluating hymns, the bishops said we should apply two criteria:
1. Is the hymn in conformity with Catholic doctrine?
2. Is the hymn expressed in image and vocabulary appropriately reflective of the usage
of Scripture and the public liturgical prayer of the Church?
They then cite, and explain (with the examples) the deficiencies that render a hymn inappropriate:
Deficiencies in the Presentation of Eucharistic Doctrine
Deficiencies in the Presentation of Trinitarian Doctrine
Hymns with Deficiencies in the Doctrine of God and His Relation to Humans
Hymns with a View of the Church That Sees Her as Essentially a Human
Construction
Hymns with Doctrinally Incorrect Views of the Jewish People
Hymns with Incorrect Christian Anthropology
I have no arguments with the document, and I think it as necessary given some of the things I've seen and heard in churches over the years. Hymns do reveal and help to perpetuate the poor catechesis we've suffered over the past few decades.
It would have been nice if they could have included as deficiencies blandness, insipid lyrics, or over-use. Oh well.
Of the hymns they cited, I'm only familiar with a few. I might have sung/heard a couple of the others, but I just don't recall.
I am really glad to see “All Are Welcome” on the hit list. Beyond the deficiency cited for it, it's such an insipid and over-used hymn. I've had to sing and - shudder - play it too many times. Ugh.
“The Lord of the Dance” is a very dated song, but when it was one of the cool songs for "folk Masses" I admit I did enjoy it. I see their point about the incorrect view of the Jewish people, though.
With the “Canticle of the Sun,” I do feel sad. After all, it is based on St. Francis's words. And I enjoyed playing and singing it. Again, I get the Bishops' point (the issue of viewing death properly), but I wonder if we can save it by reworking the offending verse.
Now I have to look at some of the other hymns we do as Rock of Faith show any of these deficiencies.
I am grateful that they did prepare this document - and that our Bishop chose to disseminate it.
The Memorandum Bishop Matano sent out is included below. Read the document to get fuller explanations of what to consider when evaluating hymns.
MEMORANDUM
To: All Priests, Deacons and Administrators
From: The Most Reverend Salvatore R. Matano, Bishop of Rochester
CC: Office of Evangelization and Catechesis Office
Office of Catholic Schools
Date: December 10, 2020, Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto
Re: USCCB Committee on Doctrine - Resource for Evaluating Hymn Lyrics
During the Presbyteral Council Meeting on December 3, 2020, I shared with the Council that the
Fall Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops included a proposal for a
Eucharistic revival in the Church in the United States. Noting its’ importance, the full body of
bishops approved the inclusion of “Created Anew by the Body and Blood of Christ: Source of
Our Healing and Hope,” in the Revised Strategic Priorities for the 2021-2024 USCCB Strategic
Plan. As the December 3, 2020 Presbyteral Council Meeting Minutes reflect, this proposal
“cited the Pew Research statistics of 2019, the restrictions upon attendance in churches during
Coronavirus, and a loss of robust Eucharistic belief from which life comes and to which all life is
ordered. All of this was part of a larger presentation of what plans are being made and what
efforts are being made when the pandemic subsides.”
To assist bishops in their oversight of liturgical celebrations, today, December 10, 2020, the
USCCB Committee on Doctrine released a very helpful “Resource for Evaluating Hymn Lyrics,”
which is attached to this Memorandum. I ask that you review the Resource and use it to evaluate
the suitability of hymns used in your parish. In addition to those who assist you in planning for
parish Masses, the Resource should also be shared with those involved in Catholic Schools and
Catechetical programs so that, in conformity with the Second Vatican Council, “The texts
intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine; indeed they should be
drawn chiefly from holy scripture and from liturgical sources.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no.
121).
I know you appreciate that renewed attention is needed in promoting Eucharistic belief and
devotion among our people, which is why the sesquicentennial anniversary of our Diocese was
celebrated as a Year of the Eucharist. I ask that you also review my pastoral letter, which is
available on the diocesan website and a link is provided here (Note: I did not include in this post the link Bishop Matano cited).
CATHOLIC HYMNODY AT THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH:
An Aid for Evaluating Hymn Lyrics
Committee on Doctrine
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
September 2020
Preface
The beauty of Catholic hymnody is constitutively related to the truth of the mystery
of faith it proposes for our wonder and praise. In the living Tradition of Catholicism, beauty
and truth are convertible terms, and thus there can be no competition, much less
contradiction, between the two. The truth of the faith need not be -- and indeed must not be
-- compromised or subordinated to the canons of compositional style or the needs of musical
or poetic form. At the same time, the beauty of the faith cannot be neglected -- indeed it must
be reverenced and highlighted -- in the desire to communicate effectively the truth of what
has been revealed. Catholic hymn-writers and composers necessarily inhabit a realm of
creative interplay: they have the privilege and vocation of honoring and communicating the
mystery of faith in word and music, and this requires genuine artistry, industry, and fidelity.
While there are a number of factors that affect the suitability of hymns for use in Catholic
liturgy, such as singability, beauty of language, poetry, etc., in this resource we are concerned
with their doctrinal content.
The Church’s Liturgy is the milieu in which the Word of God lives. The Sacred Scriptures, in particular, provide the normative idiom for the expression of the mystery. The
Scriptures themselves, inspired and authoritative, are the fruit of the Church at prayer; the
liturgical or doxological matrix intrinsic to the Church’s life is the locus in which and from
which the texts privileged as canonical arose. There is a necessary and direct relationship
between the living Word of God and the Church’s worship. Thus, the sacred texts, and the
liturgical sources which draw on the living Word, provide something of a “norm” for
expression when communicating the mystery of faith in liturgical poetics, or hymnody.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it this way, following the texts of
Sacrosanctum Concilium:
The harmony of signs (song, music, words, and actions) is all the more expressive and
fruitful when expressed in the cultural richness of the People of God who
celebrate. Hence "religious singing by the faithful is to be intelligently fostered so that
in devotions and sacred exercises as well as in liturgical services," in conformity with
the Church's norms, "the voices of the faithful may be heard." But "the texts intended
to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine. Indeed they should
be drawn chiefly from the Sacred Scripture and from liturgical sources." (no. 1158)
Christian tradition, both Eastern and Western, has from antiquity been acutely aware that hymns and other songs* are among the most significant forces in shaping – or
misshaping – the religious and theological sensibility of the faithful.† It is all the more
important, then, that hymnody selected for the liturgical life of the Church successfully draw
out the beauty of the Christian mysteries themselves.‡ This cannot be done if language is
used that is out of keeping with the sensibility created by scriptural texts and universal
liturgical usage.
Two General Guidelines
Based on the text quoted above, we can derive two general guidelines for determining
whether a hymn is doctrinally suitable for liturgical use:
1. Is the hymn in conformity with Catholic doctrine?
2. Is the hymn expressed in image and vocabulary appropriately reflective of the usage
of Scripture and the public liturgical prayer of the Church?
With regard to Guideline 1: An accurate assessment of conformity with Catholic
doctrine requires a familiarity with Catholic doctrine itself, and the Catechism of the Catholic
Church is the best resource available. Hymns do not have to be composed of doctrinal
*
(The guidelines offered in this document apply to lyrics composed for any music intended for use in the
Sacred Liturgy or in public devotions, such as the Stations of the Cross. † The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the liturgy as “the privileged place for catechizing the People
of God” (no. 1074).
‡ The 23 July 2019 report by the Pew Research Center, “What Americans Know about Religion,” presents a
sobering account the extent of the lack of understanding of basic points of Catholic faith on the part of many
American Catholics (https://www.pewforum.org/2019/07/23/what-americans-know-about-religion/). For
example, the researchers found that only half of Catholics were able to answer correctly “a question about
official church teachings on transubstantiation – that during Communion, the bread and wine actually become
the body and blood of Christ. The other half of Catholics incorrectly say the church teaches that the bread and
wine used in Communion are just symbols of the body and blood of Christ (45%) or say they are not sure
(4%)” (p. 22).
formulae (though hymns have used doctrinal formulas to good poetic effect, for example, the
last verse of Pange lingua). It is important to avoid language that could be easily
misconstrued in a way that is contrary to Catholic doctrine. The poet always has a certain
“license” for language chosen to serve an aesthetic purpose. But in assessing whether a
paraphrase or restatement is an appropriate use of poetic license or an inappropriate
distortion, Guideline 2 can provide assistance.
These Guidelines can also be helpful in assessing a grouping of hymns and other
songs, such as those commonly used in a given parish for the Communion Hymn (for
example). Different hymns may legitimately express or reflect different aspects of one
doctrine, but if all of the hymns relevant to a particular doctrine express only one dimension
of the doctrine to the exclusion of others, then the catechesis offered by the hymnody would,
as a whole, not be in conformity with Catholic doctrine. For example, a collection of hymns
that emphasized the Eucharist as table fellowship to the exclusion of the vocabulary of
sacrifice, altar, and priesthood, would not represent the fullness of Catholic teaching and
therefore would catechize those singing such hymns every Sunday with a deficient
sacramental theology.
Examples of Application of the Guidelines
In 1997, Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, speaking for the newly-formed Ad Hoc
Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism, identified a consistent trend of
incompleteness and imprecision in catechetical texts being published at that time in the
United States. He summarized this trend in a list of ten categories (see Appendix One below).
Contemporary hymnody seems to have fared better than the catechetical texts Archbishop
Buechlein’s committee examined, and in some cases (such as #2) dramatically better. But,
since contemporary hymnody and contemporary catechetical texts evolved, to some extent,
together, it can be useful to use this list of ten imprecisions to alert a bishop, pastor, or
liturgical music minister to deficiencies they may find in hymns, or in a collection of hymns
as a whole. From our own reading of approximately 1000 hymns composed and published
mostly in the period 1980-2015, we would advise pastors and liturgical music ministers to
be especially attentive to the following categories of potential deficiencies:
1. Deficiencies in the Presentation of Eucharistic Doctrine
a. This deficiency, by far the most common and the most serious, corresponds to #7 in Archbishop Buechlein’s list, “inadequate presentation of the
sacraments.” Since the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian
life” (Lumen Gentium, no. 11), deficiencies in Eucharistic doctrine affect other
teachings, such as the Church (because “the Eucharist makes the Church,” CCC,
no. 1396) and the priesthood (because the priest effects the sacramental
presence of the sacrifice of Christ the High Priest). Catholics nurtured on a
steady diet of certain hymns will learn from them that at Mass we come
together to share bread and wine, which remain bread and wine, a common
meal, even if under special circumstances. They will learn that the bread and
wine signify in some vague way the presence of Jesus, but they will not be
given a basis to understand the Catholic belief that the Eucharistic elements
can be worshipped because under their appearance is a wholly unique,
substantial presence of Christ. These hymns correspondingly also downplay
or eliminate entirely reference to the sacrifice of Christ, his priesthood, and his
status as both priest and victim, as well as to the role of the ministerial
priesthood in the Church. A steady diet of these hymns would erode Catholic
sensibility regarding the fullness of Eucharistic teaching, on the Mass as
sacrifice, and eventually on the Church, as formed by that sacrifice.
b. Catholic teaching on the Eucharist is summed up in the CCC, nos. 1322-1419;
Appendix Two provides a summary account useful for assessing hymn lyrics
with regard to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, a distinctive and
unique presence.
c. Eucharistic doctrine has developed, and depends upon, a high degree of
precision of language. For example, Christ is not present “in” bread and wine,
but rather the substance of bread and wine ceases to exist as such and Christ
is substantially present under the appearance of bread and wine. Hymn lyrics
5
do not have to reproduce technical language, but they should be guided by the
customary usage of Scripture and liturgical Tradition. This would mean:
i. Language that implies that the elements are still bread and wine after
consecration should be avoided;
ii. Language that implies the bread and wine, still bread and wine, are
merely symbols of another reality or person, should be avoided;
iii. Poetic license should conform to customary usage of Scripture and
liturgical Tradition. “Bread,” “Bread of Life,” etc., are scriptural
synecdoches for the Eucharist itself, and so are permitted; however,
“wine” is not used in the same way, and to call the consecrated element
“wine” gives the impression that it is still wine. This, in turn, has an
impact on the way the word “bread” is heard, so that legitimate uses of
the word “bread” are heard differently, not as a synecdoche for the
Eucharist as a whole, but as a reference to the element which remains
bread. Scripture speaks of the “cup,” not of “wine” (see 1 Cor: 10.16-
17).
d. Examples:
i. “God is Here! As We His People”1--This hymn speaks of “symbols to
remind us of our lifelong need of grace.” We hear that, “as bread and
wine are taken, Christ sustains us as of old.” Bread and wine are still
bread and wine.
ii. “Now in This Banquet.”2 “Now in this banquet, Christ is our bread; Here
shall all hunger be fed. Bread that is broken, wine that is poured, Love
is the sign of our Lord.” “Bread that is broken” is scriptural but, when
this phrase is paired with “wine that is poured,” both become
indications of simple bread and wine. There is no scriptural language
that calls the Eucharist, outright, “wine.” The hymn singer receives the
impression that the wine is still wine, and that this is a banquet where
“love” is the sign, and Christ, in some spiritual sense, is our bread.
6
Catholic usage has bread and wine as the “signs” under whose
appearance Christ’s sacrificial love is substantially present. Love is not
the “sign” but the reality. Again, the image is that of the Eucharist as a
spiritual banquet with ordinary food, bread and wine. The words offer
no hint that the Mass is the sacrifice of Christ re-presented.
iii. “All Are Welcome.”3--“Let us build a house where love is found in water,
wine and wheat; A banquet hall on holy ground where peace and justice
meet …” The image of the Eucharist is of an ordinary banquet where
one drinks water and wine and eats wheat bread. Further, water is not
on the same level as bread and wine as matter for the Eucharist, and to
list them in sequence therefore only increases the implication that we
are at a banquet eating ordinary food together. There is nothing else in
the hymn to mitigate this impression. Someone who sings this song
frequently would have a hard time imagining that the Eucharist can be
and is worshipped or is in any sense a “sacrifice.” The hymn is also
objectionable throughout on ecclesiological grounds as well, since it
repeats the phrase “Let us build a house …” as though our actions make
the Church. This hymn shows the relationship between faulty
Eucharistic theology and faulty ecclesiology. As the Catechism says (see
above), “The Eucharist makes the Church,” and this idea is intimately
connected with the Eucharist as re-presenting the sacrifice of the Cross
which makes the Church. This song therefore exhibits deficiencies nos.
3, 5, and 7 from Archbishop Buechlein’s list.
iv. “Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees”4 Verse 2: “Let us drink
wine together on our knees …” Here, too, the reference to “wine” is
used in a way that indicates only the presence of ordinary wine.
v. Some Eucharistic hymns, both new and old, without these deficiencies:
“Ave Verum Corpus,” “Taste and See,” “You Satisfy the Hungry Heart,”
“Seed Scattered and Sown,” “I am the Bread of Life,” “One Bread One
Body,” “Eat This Bread,” “Look Beyond,” “At That First Eucharist,” “O
7
Sacrament Most Holy,” “O Salutaris Hostia,” “Adoro Te,” “At the Lamb’s
High Feast” (uses the word “wine” but in a way that makes it clear that
it is not wine but Christ’s Blood), etc.
2. Deficiencies in the Presentation of Trinitarian Doctrine
a. These deficiencies correspond to tendency no. 1 on Archbishop Buechlein’s
list, especially as he explains that these deficiencies often result from “a
reluctance to use ‘Father’ for the First Person of the Trinity.”
b. Use of the Guidelines here would involve:
i. Avoiding language that implies God has “parts” (since the substance of
God is undivided);
ii. Avoiding doxologies or Trinitarian invocations that mix words that
designate relations (i.e., that designate the Persons, who are distinct in
relation and relation only) with other kinds of predication that can
apply to all three persons equally. For example, “Creator” can apply to
all three Persons, while “Father” and “Son” apply uniquely to the two
Persons designated by these relational names.
iii. Adherence to the language of the Baptismal Formula as the “default”
mode, since departing from it frequently implies that the formula is
arbitrary and optional, whereas this language is essential for the valid
administration of Baptism.
iv. Use of masculine pronouns for God and for each Person of the Trinity,
in accordance with Liturgiam Authenticam, no 31.
v. Substituting “Lord” for the name “Yahweh” (the sacred
Tetragrammaton), in accordance with Liturgiam Authenticam, no 41.
c. Examples of Application:
i. “The Play of the Godhead”5 Verse 1: “With God the Creator, and Christ
the true Son, Entwined with the Spirit, a web daily spun.” Because of
8
reluctance to use the word “Father,” this is an example of the use of a
word (“Creator) that can apply to all three Persons mixed with words
(“Son” and “Spirit”) that designate unique relations. It implies,
therefore, that the First Person is God, and the others are not. This is
Arianism, however unintentionally. According to Catholic doctrine, the
Son and the Spirit are equally “God the Creator.”
ii. Other instances are relatively commonplace; for example, one
contemporary setting of both the Magnificat and the Benedictus ends
with the doxology, “All Glory be to God, Creator blest, To Jesus Christ,
God’s love made manifest, And to the Holy Spirit, gentle Comforter, All
Glory be both now and evermore.” This doxology looks even more
Arian than the first, because “God, Creator blest” stands in an
ambiguous relationship at best with “Jesus Christ” and “Holy Spirit.” In
fact, both could be called, “God, Creator blest,” but this doxology makes
it look as if they are less than “God, Creator blest.”6
iii. “Led by the Spirit,”7 Verse 4: “Led by the Spirit, now sing praise to God
the Trinity: The Source of Life, the living Word made flesh to set us free,
The Spirit blowing where it will to make us friends of God …”: “Source
of Life” is applicable to all Three Persons, and in particular to the Holy
Spirit, who is confessed in Catholic usage as “Lord and Giver of Life.”
This doxology is therefore most ambiguous. Is the Word God? What
relation does He have to “Source of Life”? This doxology, in trying to
avoid both “Father” and “Son” language, in effect deconstructs the
Trinity into three names whose status, except for the first, is ambiguous
at best and who seem unrelated. We are very far from the baptismal
formula here.
3. Hymns with Deficiencies in the Doctrine of God and His Relation to Humans
a. Catholic doctrine regarding God is that “He transcends the world and history”
(CCC, no. 212), and yet has revealed his name in an act of self-emptying love,
9
“handing himself over” by making his name known, though it is a name as
mysterious as God is (see CCC, nos. 203, 206). Although God transcends all
creatures, nevertheless language drawn from the perfections of creatures,
while always falling short of the reality, “really does attain to God himself”
(CCC, no. 43, see no. 42).
b. This means that language which makes it seem that God is “beyond all names”
is misleading, and language that makes God seem in any way dependent upon
human beings or any creature is incorrect.
c. Examples:
i. “God Beyond All Names,”8 “God Beyond All Names … All around us we
have known you / All creation lives to hold you/ In our living and our
dying/ we are bringing you to birth.” This fails to respect God’s
transcendence. God is not dependent upon human actions to bring him
into being. Furthermore, God is not “beyond all names,” either in the
sense of his revelation of his name, or in the sense of analogical
language. In the public liturgy of the Church, God is not nameless, but is
addressed as “Lord,” “Father,” etc.
4. Hymns with a View of the Church That Sees Her as Essentially a Human
Construction.
a. Catholic teaching about the Church is summed up in CCC, no. 766, where it is
explained that the Church is born primarily from Christ’s total self-gift,
anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the Cross, and
that as such she is the new Eve born from the side of the new Adam. “Because
she is united to Christ as to her bridegroom, she becomes a mystery in her
turn” (CCC, no. 772), and thus “is in history, but at the same time transcends
it” (CCC, no. 770).
b. Hymns should avoid giving the impression that it is primarily our work that
builds or makes the Church or the Kingdom of God. Tendencies nos. 5 and 10,
10
and to a lesser extent no. 3, from Archbishop Buechlein’s list, are what is at
stake here.
c. Examples:
i. “Sing a New Church”9-- Refrain: “Sing a new Church into being, one in
faith and love and praise.” This implies or even states outright that the
Church is essentially our creation. It also leaves open the possibility
that there could be a new Church replacing the old one.
ii. “As a Fire is Meant for Burning,”10 Verse 1: “As a fire is meant for
burning, With a bright and warming flame, So the Church is meant for
mission, Giving glory to God’s name. Not to preach our creeds or
customs, but to build a bridge of care, We join hands across the nations,
finding neighbors everywhere.” This seems a seriously deficient
account of the evangelizing mission of the Church, particularly, the
rejection of preaching “our creeds and customs.”
5. Hymns with Doctrinally Incorrect Views of the Jewish People
a. See Appendix Four for a summary of Catholic doctrine on the Jews and their
relationship to the death of Christ. To blame the Jews indiscriminately for
Christ’s Passion is to ignore the doctrine that all sinners are responsible for
Christ’s Passion. The Second Vatican Council made it clear that “what
happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without
distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today” (Nostra Aetate, no. 4).
This deficiency reflects deficiency #8 on Archbishop Buechlein’s list, an
inadequate appreciation of the doctrine of original sin.
b. Application of the Guidelines here will rule out hymn verses that imply that
the Jews as a people are collectively responsible for the death of Christ.
c. Examples:
i. “The Lord of the Dance”11: Verse 3: “I danced on the Sabbath and I cured
the lame/ The Holy People said it was a shame/ They whipped and they
11
stripped and they hung me high/ And they left me there on a Cross to
die.” The phrase “Holy People,” referring to the Jews, is used
sarcastically. And the whole Holy People did not reject Jesus, nor
crucify him. Some Jews and some Romans did it. (NB: The classical
“Reproaches” should not be placed in this category, because the phrase
“my people” can and does refer equally well to the pilgrim People of
God, the Church.)
ii. “O Crucified Messiah,”12 Verse 1: “Scorned, denied and beaten, mocked
and defiled, forsaken by his people, given up to die,” is simply untrue
and therefore unorthodox. Jesus was not forsaken and left to die by his
people as a whole. Again, Archbishop Buechlein’s no. 8, on original sin,
is relevant, because “all sinners are the authors of Christ’s passion”
(CCC #598) means that all sinners need redemption because of original
sin.
6. Hymns with Incorrect Christian Anthropology
a. This category intersects with some of the above categories, but in other cases
stands alone. One or more of Archbishop Buechlein’s categories 4 and/or 8,
and perhaps also 5, apply.
b. Example: “Canticle of the Sun,”13--Verse 6: “Praise for our death that makes
our life real, The knowledge of loss that helps us to feel.” Death is the
punishment of original sin. Far from making our life real, it makes our life less
“real” than it was in Adam. This verse teaches that death is natural and
necessary for our life to have something at stake and thus be “real.” In fact, it
is the Resurrection of Christ that makes our life “real,” restoring what we had
lost in Adam, and it is the Passion of Christ, not death per se, that “helps us to
feel.” Death is not a necessary part of human nature (see CCC ##400, 402, 405).
12
Conclusion
The Second Vatican Council was quite emphatic about the importance of sacred music
in the Church’s liturgical worship: “The musical tradition of the universal Church is a
treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art” (Sacrosanctum
Concilium, no. 112). The Council also made it clear that this great value derives precisely
from the union of music and words: “The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred
song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy” (no.
112). When the Council exhorts composers to “produce compositions which have the
qualities proper to genuine sacred music” (no. 121), chief among these qualities must be the
use of words that are appropriate for liturgical worship.
In this document we have endeavored to identify and to reflect on the role that these
words--the lyrics—have in music intended for use in the liturgy. It is our hope that this
guidance will help insure that all the sacred music employed in liturgical celebrations will
achieve its purpose, “which is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful”(no. 112).
13
Appendix One:
Archbishop Buechlein’s Report on Ten Common Deficiencies in
Catechetical Materials
1. There is insufficient attention to the Trinity and the Trinitarian structure of
Catholic beliefs and teachings
Catechetical texts fail at times to present the Trinity as the central mystery of the
Christian faith. The language used in referring to the Persons of the Trinity contributes
at times to a lack of clarity. This is most evident in the reluctance to use "Father" for the
first person of the Trinity and, at times, to substitute "Parent God" for God the Father.
Particularly, the relationship between Jesus and the Father is often weak. There are
times where the word "God" is placed in a sentence where one would expect to find
"Father" or "God the Father" since the reference is precisely to the relationship between
the first and second persons of the Trinity.
2. There is an obscured presentation of the centrality of Christ in salvation history
and an insufficient emphasis on the divinity of Christ
Texts fall short, at times, in presenting Jesus as the culmination of the Old Testament and
the fulfillment of God's plan for our salvation. The indispensable place of the Incarnation
in the plan of salvation is not always sufficiently presented. Jesus the Savior is often
overshadowed by Jesus the teacher, model, friend and brother. It is a question of
imbalance.
Some texts do not present the mystery of the Incarnation in its fullness. Often there
appears to be an imbalance in the instruction on the divinity and humanity of Jesus
Christ. At times, we detect a negative undertone in speaking of the divine nature of
Christ, as if divinity is equated with being "distant and unreal."
3. Another trend is an indistinct treatment of the ecclesial context of Catholic beliefs
and magisterial teachings
Catechetical materials do not always clearly present the Church as established by Christ
to continue both his presence and his mission in the world. The teaching function of the
Church and its apostolic nature, as well as the role of the hierarchy and the concept of
the leadership of bishops and priests in teaching the Word of God are often undertreated. The mark of unity in the Church is at times eclipsed by an emphasis on the Church's catholicity and diversity.
4. There is an inadequate sense of a distinctively Christian anthropology
By and large the catechetical texts do not seem to integrate the fundamental notions that
human persons are by nature religious, that the desire for God is written in the human
heart and that the human person is inherently spiritual and not reducible to the merely
material. Neither are the texts generally clear that it is precisely in Christ that we have
been created in the image and likeness of God. Nor do they emphasize that Christ has
14
restored to us the divine image of God, an image disfigured by sin. Rather, too often the
impression is left that the human person is the first principle and final end of his/her
own existence.
5. There is a trend that gives insufficient emphasis on God 's initiative in the world
with a corresponding overemphasis on human action
Texts do not adequately emphasize that human action is intended to follow upon God's
action and initiative in the world. When the methodological starting point is
predominately human experience, the texts leave the impression that our human
initiative is the prerequisite for divine action. God's initiative at times appears
subordinate to human experience and human action.
6. We have detected an insufficient recognition of the transforming effects of grace
The catechetical texts tend to present an inadequate understanding of grace. Rather
often it is described as God's love, then not much more is said about it. That the
preparation of the human person for the reception of grace is already a work of grace is
not clearly presented. Grace is not generally treated as God's initiative which introduces
humanity into the intimacy of Trinitarian life and makes us his adopted children and
participants in his life. The texts are generally weak in treating the particular efficacy of
the grace proper to the respective sacraments.
7. We have found a pattern of inadequate presentation of the sacraments
Catechetical texts often do not treat the sacraments within the Paschal Mystery, that is,
the sacraments are not explicitly presented as the means by which we share in the new
life of Christ through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Sacraments are often presented
as important events in human life of which God becomes a part, rather than as effective
signs of divine life in which humans participate. Consequently, this leads to a deficient
understanding of the divine action and the graced transformation that is at the heart of
each of the sacraments. Particularly, the sacraments of the Eucharist and Holy Orders
evidence deficiency because the texts usually do not present the character and role of
the ordained minister in the life of the ecclesial community.
8. We have seen a pattern of deficiency in the teaching on original sin and sin in
general
In general, the texts do not clearly teach that original sin is the loss of original holiness
and justice, transmitted by our first parents, and that it wounds human nature in all
people. Too often the texts do not address how the doctrine of original sin informs other
doctrines, for example, grace, baptism, sin, and redemption.
9. We have found a meager exposition of Christian moral life
At times an over-emphasis on personal identity and self-respect gives the impression
that these are the primary "sources" of morality. Too often the source of morality found
in God's revealed law, as taught by the Church and grounded in natural law, are not
adequately treated. Where texts could present the binding force of the Church's moral
15
teaching in certain areas, often they do not. In addition, instruction on what is necessary
for the formation of a correct conscience is either inadequately or even mistakenly
presented.
10. Finally, we have found an inadequate presentation of eschatology
The eschatological aspect of Catholic doctrine is often underemphasized. The
transcendent, trans-temporal and trans-historical nature of the Kingdom is not always
present. The general judgment, the concept of hell and the eschatological dimensions of
the Beatitudes as well as the moral and sacramental orders are not always adequately
taught.
Oral Report to the General Assembly of Bishops
Archbishop Daniel Buechlein
June 19, 1997
http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/archbishopdaniel-buechlein-report-june-1997.cfm
See also Schroeder, C. J. (2015). “The USCCB Curriculum Framework: Origins, Questions,
And A Call For Research.” Journal of Catholic Education, 19 (1).
http://dx.doi.org/10.15365/joce.1901022015
16
Appendix Two:
Summary of Catholic Teaching on the Eucharistic Presence
(Selections from the Catechism of the Catholic Church)
1. 1324 The Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian Life (LG 11). “The other
sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are
bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist
is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch”
(Presbyterorum Ordinis 5).
2. 1366 The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the
sacrifice of the Cross …; 1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist
are one single sacrifice [emphasis original].
3. 1374 The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises
the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual life and the
end to which all the sacraments tend." In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist
"the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and,
therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained." "This
presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of
presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest
sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes
himself wholly and entirely present."
4. 1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because
Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the
species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy
Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there
takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the
body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of
his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called
transubstantiation."
5. 1378 Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the
real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways,
genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. "The Catholic Church
has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of
adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts
with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and
carrying them in procession."
6. 1396: The Eucharist makes the Church. (Cf. 766).
17
Appendix Three:
Summary of Catholic Teaching on the Trinity
(Selections from the Catechism of the Catholic Church)
232 Christians are baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"
Before receieiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess
the Father, the Son and the Spirit: "I do." "The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity."
234 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It
is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith,
the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the
"hierarchy of the truths of faith". The whole history of salvation is identical with the history
of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals
himself to men "and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin".
255 The divine persons are relative to one another. Because it does not divide the divine
unity, the real distinction of the persons from one another resides solely in the relationships
which relate them to one another: "In the relational names of the persons the Father is
related to the Son, the Son to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both. While they are called
three persons in view of their relations, we believe in one nature or substance." Indeed
"everything (in them) is one where there is no opposition of relationship." "Because of that
unity the Father is wholly in the Son and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Son is wholly in the
Father and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is wholly in the Father and wholly in the
Son."
18
Appendix Four:
Summary of Catholic Doctrine on the Jews and Christ’s Death
(Selections from the Catechism of the Catholic Church)
Jews are not collectively responsible for Jesus’ death
597 The historical complexity of Jesus' trial is apparent in the Gospel accounts. the personal sin of the participants (Judas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate) is known to God alone. Hence we cannot
lay responsibility for the trial on the Jews in Jerusalem as a whole, despite the outcry of a
manipulated crowd and the global reproaches contained in the apostles' calls to conversion
after Pentecost. Jesus himself, in forgiving them on the cross, and Peter in following suit, both
accept "the ignorance" of the Jews of Jerusalem and even of their leaders. Still less can we
extend responsibility to other Jews of different times and places, based merely on the
crowd's cry: "His blood be on us and on our children!", a formula for ratifying a judicial
sentence. As the Church declared at the Second Vatican Council:
Neither all Jews indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the
crimes committed during his Passion. . . the Jews should not be spoken of as rejected
or accursed as if this followed from holy Scripture.
All sinners were the authors of Christ's Passion
598 In her Magisterial teaching of the faith and in the witness of her saints, the Church has
never forgotten that "[all]sinners were the authors and the ministers of all the sufferings that
the divine Redeemer endured." Taking into account the fact that our sins affect Christ
himself, The Church does not hesitate to impute to Christians the gravest responsibility for
the torments inflicted upon Jesus, a responsibility with which they have all too often
burdened the Jews alone:
We must regard as guilty all those who continue to relapse into their sins. Since our
sins made the Lord Christ suffer the torment of the cross, those who plunge
themselves into disorders and crimes crucify the Son of God anew in their hearts (for
he is in them) and hold him up to contempt. And it can be seen that our crime in this
case is greater in us than in the Jews. As for them, according to the witness of the
Apostle, "None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory." We, however, profess to know him. And when
we deny him by our deeds, we in some way seem to lay violent hands on him.
19
1© 1979 Hope Publishing Co.; see One in Faith, no. 809 (Franklin Park, Illinois: World Library Publications,
2014). 2 © 1986, GIA Publications, Inc.: see Gather, no. 833 (Chicago: GIA Publications, Third Edition). 3 © 1994, GIA Publications, Inc. 4 See One in Faith, no. 572 (Franklin Park, Illinois: World Library Publications, 2014). 5 © 2002, 2003 GIA Publications; see Worship, no. 552 (Chicago: GIA Publications, 2011, Fourth Edition). 6 See Breaking Bread 2008 (Portland: Oregon Catholic Press, 2007), nos. 832-33. 7 © 1996. Published by Oregon Catholic Press; see Breaking Bread 2008, #119. 8 © 1990. Published by Oregon Catholic Press. 9 © 1991, Sisters of St. Benedict. Published by Oregon Catholic Press. 10 © 1992, GIA publications.
11 © 1963, Stainer & Bell; see One in Faith, no. 631 (Franklin Park, Illinois: World Library Publications, 2014) 12 © 2003. Published by OCP. 13 © 1980, GIA Publications
No comments:
Post a Comment