When One Sees How the Holy Father Celebrates Mass Today, One can Barely Notice Any Difference Between That and His Ordination Mass

The Meal Table Is Frequently Little More than a Night Table in Front of a Magnificent Altar

A German Bishop has sharply criticized the post-conciliar liturgical reform. One wanted to tear out the altar --- and horribly degraded it.


[kreuz.net] The Liturgy must be recovered as the "holy life's blood" of the Church.

Bishop Emeritus Klaus Dick (82) of Cologne explained most recently in a lecture in Cologne. On Friday the Cologne 'Domradio' (Cathedral Radio) recording of the presentation. It consists most substantially from citations -- predominantly from Pope Benedict XVI.


A Break with Tradition

The effect of the post-conciliar Liturgical reform called for-- said Msgr Dick -- "the virtual self-destruction of the Liturgy".

More precisely he criticized so-called "creativity" in the Ligurgy.

He warned about that attitude, "that even the new form of the Liturgy is an obligation".

In the post-conciliar period Msgr Dick perceived with a citation from Cardinal Joseph Höffner (+1987) of Cologne that there was a cataclysmic "break with Tradition".


Porous Texts with an arbitrary Interpretation

In his lecture Msgr Dick criticized the Mass in the vernacular as well as the Eucharistic Celebration on the "Supper Table"

After the pastoral council it was known, that the Latin was suppressed (disestablished). The prelate corrected this, "The opposite is the case."

More accurately the Council deleted the value of the altar.

Indeed after that the Altar "had been so horribly degraded as never before."

In many churches there is placed before a high altar a "post-conciliar thing" -- lamented the Auxiliary Bishop the Furniture Industry.

In the concept "People's Altar" the Auxiliary Bishop said, that every altar must serve as a celebration with the people.

Even the term "celebrations-altar" Msgr Dick indicated was false: "Are there any altars where we don't celebrate?"

Already in these examples Msgr Dick sees, that the Liturgical Reform "is crooked".


Considerable Shortcomings only in the New Mass

In his lecture the Auxiliary Bishop tore the cheap polemics against the Mass of All Ages to pieces: "The Old Liturgy had considerable shortcomings."

He could not find any evidence of these.

In the entire lecture he mentioned only -- at another point --. that in the Old Mass on Sunday that [only] the preface of the Trinity was used.

Against that he found the New Missal used numerous prefaces for Sunday.

The Auxiliary Bishop found these to be "a great honor" for the Old Mass.

He desires practical changes in the Old Mass. So that the Rite would be, which is directed by Peter, supposedly "improved".

For that, he argued for the Pope's wish, that both Masses should enrich one another side by side.

Eucharistic Celebration Without Holiness

Bishop Dick submits, that in the New Eucharistic Celebration it loses sacrality.

Indeed this is a natural part of that Liturgy.

One gets the false intonation of the character of a meal applied to the liturgy: "It must be a successful meal."

Finally, Msgr Dick indirectly points out, that he doesn't understand the difference between the Old and the New Mass:

"When one sees how the Holy Father celebrates, one can barely notice any difference between that and his ordination Mass."

Link to original..