From Inside the Vatican: "Adoration Is Awakening"

A cardinal attending this month's Synod of Bishops in Rome to reflect on the Eucharist, gives his view of the gathering. He found the exposure to traditions of the Oriental-rite Churches "very enriching."

By Andrew Rabel

VATICAN CITY, October 20, 2005 -- Canadian Cardinal Marc Oulette has been the archbishop of Quebec City, Canada since 2002. A member of the Order of St. Sulpice, he is an accomplished theologian who has been a professor at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage & the Family. He was made a cardinal by John Paul II in 2003.

His Eminence spoke today to Inside the Vatican about this month's Bishops' Synod of the Eucharist.

Some at this month's Synod, discussing liturgical abuses, have lamented a general forgetfulness of the supernatural dimension of the Eucharist?

CARDINAL MARC OULETTE: Something very enriching was the experience of the Oriental Churches. They have different liturgies and they have a different sense of the liturgy and so to hear them speak about the Holy Eucharist was very defining for us. At the same time, I think we became more aware of the abuses here and there in the way the liturgical reform has been implemented.

The Oriental Christians exploit the architecture of their churches to be respectful of the Church herself and of the Holy Eucharist which is the heart of the temple. They have a deep sense of the sacredness and so to hear them speak about the Holy Eucharist was very edifying for me. At the same time I think we became more aware of some abuses here and there in the way the liturgical reform has been implemented.

Many have spoken on that and I think there will be a follow-up in the congregations and in the different countries. I hope that the sacredness of the holy liturgy will be more conscious in the future. We need that in the West, to recover the sacredness of the liturgy. But what I have observed is that the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is awakening and developing all over the world and this will help to restore the sacredness of the liturgical celebration of the Mass.
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Do you feel more devotion to the Eucharist among our clergy, would have the same effect on the laity?

OULETTE: I think the renewal of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, for example, comes from the laity. And that is a sign of the times, and a great sign of encouragement.
At the same time, I think that the Synod has a message of encouragement for the priest. They are in many parts of the world asked to cover long distances and give many Masses on Sundays, so it is a hard job. So they need encouragement; and so they need to be sustained by the people of God, by their prayer and sacrifices.


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More later here.