"The liturgy is not a battlefield, but the worship given to God."

So says Cardinal Arinze, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

Prelate seeks an end to liturgical abuses
Vatican, Apr. 02 (CWNews.com) - The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship has called for "an examination of conscience" regarding the liturgical reforms since Vatican II.

Cardinal Francis Arinze addressed a news conference in Rome on April 2, as he introduced a new book entitled Spiritus et Sponsa. The book, produced by the Congregation for Divine Worship, contains the proceedings of a special conference held on December 4 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Vatican II statement on the liturgy, Sacrosantum Concilium.

Cardinal Arinze said that the Church now needs a new impulse toward liturgical reform, in recognition of the fact that "the liturgy is the highest expression of the mysterious reality of the Church." He said that the December conference was called in order to "bear witness to the validity" of the Council document, but also to "face up to the abuses that have appeared, against the wishes of the Council and of the magisterium, in the course of those 40 years."

Cardinal Arinze was closely questioned by journalists who saw evidence of an internal dispute among Vatican officials regarding liturgical reform. When one reporter suggested that discussions of liturgy sometimes became battles, the cardinal replied with a smile that "the liturgy is not a battlefield, but the worship given to God." He went on to say that "one can't stop men from having opinions."

Prodded about a more concrete sign of disagreements within the Vatican, Cardinal Arinze admitted that he could not give a date for the publication of a long-awaited document on abuses in the Eucharistic liturgy. That document, originally promised by Pope John Paul II (bio - news) more than a year ago, has been seriously delayed by critics.
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