 | "Peuple à genoux" à la messe ! |
 Imprimer |
| Auteur : Matthias Trevirensis |
| Sujet : "Peuple à genoux" à la messe ! |
| Date : 2003-06-23 09:24:39 |
Youngstown diocese issues order about proper posture during Mass Bringing them to their knees Complying may strain coffers of churches without kneelers By Colette M. Jenkins Beacon Journal religion writer Kneeling has its price, and churches in Stark and Portage counties soon may have to pay it. Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, who leads the six-county Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, has sent a letter to the 116 parishes he supervises making it clear that kneeling is required while parts of the Mass are being celebrated. That's created a problem in the pews at churches such as Holy Spirit in Uniontown. When it was built in 1986, the Catholic church had been rumored to be moving away from the practice of kneeling during the Mass. And since standing was recognized by the church as a sacred position, it seemed reasonable to cut costs by building a sanctuary without kneelers. Now, the parish of more than 500 families is faced with the challenge of installing kneelers to comply with Tobin's directive. It's a challenge that could cost tens of thousands of dollars. ``My people have a history of standing,'' said the Rev. John Zapp, Holy Spirit's pastor, ``but they want to do what the bishop says. We have written a letter to the bishop requesting permission to continue the standing posture for an interim period and informing him that we will be purchasing kneelers within his timeline.'' Tobin has told parishes that by June 29 they must comply with the New General Instruction of the Roman Missal, a document that provides specific instructions on the proper celebration of the Catholic Mass. He gives parishes without kneelers in the church two years to begin kneeling. About 15 Youngstown diocese parishes, including Holy Spirit, Our Lady of Peace in Canton and St. Michael the Archangel in Canton, have been standing during the Mass' Eucharistic Prayer. Some of those churches have kneelers. In the eight-county Diocese of Cleveland, which includes Medina, Summit and Wayne counties, parishes with churches that lack kneelers have been directed to install them as part of renovation or new construction projects. Church leaders in the Cleveland diocese will come together in August to discuss the impact of the new general instructions. At St. Joseph's in Mantua, there are kneelers on some pews and not on others. When kneelers fell into disrepair, they were removed and never replaced. The Rev. Thomas McCarthy, St. Joseph's pastor, said his parishioners have followed the practice of standing since before he was assigned to the church nine years ago. Because he is leaving on Aug. 1 to lead a church in Salem, he has asked the bishop to allow the 1,000-family parish to continue standing until his successor can deal with the problem. The pastor at St. Michael's in Canton, the Rev. Bradford Helman, said parishes that built churches without kneelers thought they were getting ahead of the game. When St. Michael's new $5.5 million church was built three years ago, kneelers were installed, though the congregation continued the practice of standing during the Eucharistic Prayer. ``For us, it's just a matter of informing the parishioners that we will now kneel during the Eucharistic Prayer,'' said Helman, a former diocesan director of liturgy. ``With so much going on in the church and in the world, these new rules are just housekeeping items.'' In the Catholic church, liturgical practices vary around the world. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved an English translation of the New General Instruction of the Roman Missal last November. The Rev. Joseph Fata, pastor of St. Luke's in Boardman, said his congregation has been standing rather than kneeling for decades. When parishioners built a new church six years ago, they decided not to invest the $40,000 it would have cost to install kneelers. Instead they carpeted the floors between the pews, which have lowered backs, to allow for kneeling. ``Kneeling, at best, is a custom,'' Fata said. ``It is not a tradition.'' While he plans to follow Tobin's instructions, he thinks the church has bigger issues to deal with than whether to kneel or stand during Mass. ``'We have a crisis of confidence in the leadership because of the sex abuse scandal,'' Fata said. ``The American bishops were not as bold as they should have been about the war with Iraq. We have major social justice problems, like racism, and we have an ordination problem. ``If the church won't dialogue about the serious things, it makes people question why we are dealing with this. If it weren't so pathetic, it would be humorous. It's like arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.'' source: http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/local/states/ohio/counties/portage_county/6139072.htm |
