The comments have been strongly rejected by organisers.
Msgr Andrew Wadsworth, head of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) - the group that advises bishops in the English-speaking world about liturgy - described the closing Mass of the congress as having “a sort of eighties feel to it”.
He told a gathering in the United States that “the improvements in liturgical culture and particularly the improvements in liturgical music, that have become increasingly evident throughout this Papacy, particularly in large-scale celebrations were sadly almost entirely absent from this occasion.
“If I were given to conspiracy theories, I would almost feel persuaded that this was a deliberately calculated attempt to broadcast a different message and to oppose the better liturgical spirit of recent times,” Msgr Wadsworth said.
He criticised what he described as a ‘celebrity spot’ during the distribution of Holy Communion where ‘The Priests’ sang “the impossibly sentimental song ‘May the road rise up to meet you’.”
However, Fr Paddy Jones, Director of the National Centre for Liturgy at Maynooth strongly rejected the criticism insisting that Msgr Wadsworth “may not know what these liturgies meant to the thousands who celebrated them at the Congress held at this time of renewal and healing in the Church in Ireland.”
Fr Jones said “there’s lots of loose language in his criticism of the closing Mass”.
Fr Kevin Doran, Secretary General for the IEC told The Irish Catholic he felt that Msgr Wadsworth’s “concerns have more to do with the Second Vatican Council than with the Eucharistic Congress.
“The Congress simply happens to be a convenient target for him,” Fr Doran said.
Englishman Msgr Wadsworth also criticised the fact that there was not more Latin used during the Mass, a criticism rejected by Fr Doran: “while Latin is the ‘official’ language of the liturgy, most people pray the Mass in the vernacular”.
Msgr Wadsworth said “the entire liturgy had a ‘performance' quality to it, with the assembly as the principal focus. This was borne out by the fact that musical items were frequently greeted with applause”.
However, Fr Jones rejected this caricature pointing out that “there was applause, loudest during the Papal Legate’s homily, at the end of Pope Benedict’s message and at the end of the Mass, not an indication of ‘performance,’ but the congregation’s sincere response to what was taking place in their midst”.
Fr Jones described the criticism as “unhelpful and unfair and not reflecting what those who were there are saying”.