Finally, the fake archaeologist feature favored by Archbishop Piero Marini in the beginning of Pope Benedict's pontificate - the pseudo-ancient pallium - is to be retired. A new papal pallium (pictured above and very similar to the one used for most of the past centuries, up to Pope John Paul II) is to be used for the first time in the celebrations for Saints Peter and Paul.
This is the main point of the interview granted by the Master of Papal Liturgical Ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini, to L'Osservatore Romano (permanent link) which also includes some very interesting answers, especially on the mode of distribution of Holy Communion:
This is the main point of the interview granted by the Master of Papal Liturgical Ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini, to L'Osservatore Romano (permanent link) which also includes some very interesting answers, especially on the mode of distribution of Holy Communion:
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In the recent visit to Santa Maria di Leuca and Brindisi, the Pope has distributed communion to the kneeling faithful in the mouth. Is it a practice destined to become usual in papal celebrations?
I think so. Regarding it, it should not be forgotten that the distribution of communion in the hand still remains, from a juridical viewpoint, an indult from the universal law, granted by the Holy See to those Episcopal Conferences which have made a request for it. The mode adopted by Benedict XVI tends to underline the force of the norm valid for the entire Church. In addition, a preference could perhaps be seen for the use of this mode of distribution, which, without eliminating anything from the other, puts into light better the truth of the real presence in the Eucharist, aids the devotion of the faithful, introduces with greater ease the sense of mystery. Aspects which, in our age, pastorally speaking, it is urgent to underline and recover.
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Still today the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, on the use of the Roman Liturgy from before the reform effected in 1970, seems to give rise to contrasting interpretations. Celebrations presided by the Pope according to the extraordinary form, that is, the ancient one, are predictable?
It is a question which I do not know how to answer. Regarding the mentioned motu proprio, considering it with serene attention and without ideological views, together with the letter addressed by the Pope to the Bishops of the whole world to present it, a double precise understanding is brought forth. First of all, that of favoring the accomplishment of "a reconciliation in the interior of the Church"; and, in this sense, as it has been said, the motu proprio is a most beautiful act of love for the unity of the Church. In second place - and that is a datum not to be forgotten - its purpose is to favor a reciprocal enrichment between both forms of the Roman Rite: in such a way, for example, that in the celebrations according to the Missal of Paul VI (which is the ordinary form of the Roman Rite) "will be able to demonstrate more powerfully than has been the case hitherto, the sacrality which attracts many people to the former usage".
