The abuse of sacred space within a church is a topic that I have blogged on a number of times. I will continue to do so when the need arises. The most shocking abuse mentioned on this blog was the strange case of the "cabaret" concert held at St. Michael's Cathedral. Shocking as the images and songs were - they do not compare to the clergy (?) and/or staff (yet for insurance purposes, staff could not have granted approval) at the Cathedral who approved of this; nor, for that matter (so it would seem) a complete "could not care less" attitude on the part of the audience (presumably amongst them were Catholics). How could Catholic clergy allow such profanation?
The more recent case of a young girl, Mags Wang, performing in a cabaret style in a Catholic church has brought to the fore again the needed criticism and exposure of such abuse of the sacred space of a church. We cannot forget: a church is a consecrated temple to the glory of God for worship. There is Catholic music and there is profane music: this was profane. The Church has strict laws as to what and what cannot transpire in a church. The St. Michael's incident, as well as this incident were two flagrant violations of church law. As I mentioned in my earlier post vis-a-vis St. Michael's: the Sanctuary was desolated.
In recent days Kitchener Waterloo Traditional Catholic having done some excellent investigative journalism has determined the facts of the matter with regards to the young girl singing at the piano. Vox Cantoris has accurately and consistently presented the situation. Critics attacked Vox and others - and yet, with a little patience - and a lot of thanks to KWTC - Vox's analysis has been proven - once again - to be spot on.
Damian Goddard deserves our greatest respect for his post on the situation and its removal from IgniteTV. David Wang, on the other hand needs to answer some questions: Why was the pastor not consulted? And so on.... it is time that this video be removed from Youtube. Its constant presence is an affront to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
Damian Goddard deserves our greatest respect for his post on the situation and its removal from IgniteTV. David Wang, on the other hand needs to answer some questions: Why was the pastor not consulted? And so on.... it is time that this video be removed from Youtube. Its constant presence is an affront to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
6 comments:
The sanctuary could not have been desolated for that would mean there was no one there... it may have been desecrated, defiled, dishonoured or disrespected.
Desolation in a spiritual sense as the result of the abomination that took place. Ironically there was Someone there - but, He was treated as if He were not.
You are referring to the "abomination that makes desolate" of Daniel. The archetype is the statue of Zeus set up in the temple by Antiochus IV. According to Canon 1211
Sacred places are desecrated by acts done in them which are gravely injurious and give scandal to the faithful when, in the judgement of the local Ordinary, these acts are so serious and so contrary to the sacred character of the place that worship may not be held there until the harm is repaired by means of the penitential rite which is prescribed in the liturgical books.
In any case, the ordinary gets to make that call...
Actually, the Church has already made the call - the Local Ordinary is to enforce it. That is the problem. We seem to have a law for every bishop. The Church has explicit laws for the use of a church within the context of performance of music (even within the liturgy). We do not have to wait for the local Ordinary to make a "call" when we see grave scandal taking place in a church. We need to call it what it is, and inform the Local Ordinary of same. The Ordinary was informed of various scandalous performances taking place within the Toronto Archdiocese. And so on...
The Archdiocese of Toronto has not only the universal recommendations, but also Cardinal Ambrozic's Note on the enforcement of same. In each of the cases cited - and many more that we could think of - the late Cardinal's law is being disregarded. This is disobedience. The law was never abrogated by the Archdiocese. In fact, a few months ago the late Cardinal's Note was sent to parish priests. It was to be published on the Archdiocesan website, but was not. This is not the place to guess as to why....
What exactly do you think "in the judgement of the local ordinary" means? He gets to decide whether a church has been desecrated, not you. Using apocalyptic language to refer to a foolish, poorly catechized girl performing an inappropriate jazz piece in a church might be a little over the top.
Disrespect towards the Blessed Sacrament can never be played down. The Local Ordinary is not an independent agent: he is a bishop bounds by universal law, canon law, and Cardinal Ambrozic's Policy (unless he revokes the latter).
Further, if a watchman does not cry "fire" when one exists; the citizen should do so. Now, we would be entering into the bizarre if we waited for the watchman to define "fire". Catholicism is also common sense.
If I see a whore on the Altar of Notre Dame I don't need to wait for the bishop to tell be the church has been desecrated. You did not need to wait for the bishop to tell you that a "foolish, poorly catechized girl [performed] an inappropriate jazz piece: your Catholic upbringing, catechesis, and common sense told you so.
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