The Second Vatican Council's
renewal of the liturgy wasn't so much about changing texts or gestures
as it was about changing Catholics' attitude toward the Mass and helping
the liturgy change their lives, Pope Benedict XVI said.
"Unfortunately, the liturgy was seen, perhaps even by us pastors and
experts, more as an object to reform than as a subject capable of
renewing Christian life," the pope said May 6.
Addressing participants at a conference marking the 50th anniversary of
Rome's Pontifical Liturgical Institute, Pope Benedict said Blessed Pope
John XXIII asked the Benedictines to establish the institute to help the
church respond to the "urgency of a reform," which many bishops from
around the world were requesting before the Second Vatican Council.
A strong pastoral concern for Catholics around the world required the
encouragement of "a more active participation of the faithful in the
liturgical celebrations through the use of national languages" and an
appropriate "adaptation of the rites in the various cultures, especially
in mission lands," he said.
But the church's liturgy, the center of its existence, could not be
changed simply for the sake of change, he said. "From the beginning it
was clear that the theological foundation of the liturgy had to be
studied in order to avoid falling into ritualism and so that the reform
would be justifiable from the point of view of revelation and of
continuity with the tradition of the church," he said.
The pope said the aim of the Second Vatican Council's reform "was not
principally that of changing rites and texts, but of renewing
mentalities and placing the celebration of the paschal mystery of Christ
at the center of Christian life and pastoral activity."
The eucharistic celebration, he said, is the way "to reveal and make
present" Christ's saving work each day, so it must be done "in a correct
and constant relationship between healthy tradition and legitimate
progress."
Pope Benedict said too often Catholics try to set up an opposition
between "tradition and progress" in the liturgy, when "in reality, the
two concepts go together: In some way, tradition includes progress. It's
like saying the river of tradition carries its source with it as it
flows toward its outlet."