Wednesday, April 7, 2010

ARCHDIOCESE — Father Kyle Schnippel, director of the Vocations Office for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, attended one of the Worship Office sessions on the new Roman Missal held earlier this year at St. John Parish in West Chester.
 
As a priest, he felt relatively well informed about the process leading up to the introduction of the new missal and was looking for more specific information than is currently available.

But “an important aspect of what was stressed and which bears much fruit in the way that this is received among the faithful, is that those ‘in charge’ must be positive in regards to this upcoming shift,” he said.
 
Carolyn Stucke, assistant director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, attended a session at St. Charles Center in Mercer County, where the group was a mix of people in the pews, parish staff and active and retired priests. The evening was a good start in the process of introducing people to the change, she said.

“I expected to hear the reasons for the changes in the Roman Missal and the process that has been happening to come to the changes,” Stucke said. “I also expected to hear words that would calm fears about those upcoming changes, and Karen Kane and Father Steve Walter did those things.
 
“I saw parishioners who were very concerned relax by the end of the session. I heard people ask questions that were really on their minds and come away with answers that were not so bad.”

“There had been a lot of speculations going around among the laity. This presentation dispelled some untruths and told which aspects of the Mass were to be changed and which will remain the same.”

She also spoke positively about the video prepared by Archbishops Dennis M. Schnurr and Daniel E. Pilarczyk that speaks to area Catholics about the change. That, and a preliminary PowerPoint presentation by the Worship Office, can both be found at http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=898&Itemid=1470.

Father Schnippel said he hopes that “we will have a comprehensive approach to catechizing the faithful when the time comes, including an elucidation of the connections between the texts of the Mass with their Scriptural roots.”

It will be vital for Catholics from all walks of life whether they are educators, clergy, parish staff, to “put aside our own biases and viewpoints and help our people embrace this as a sense of collegiality with the whole church, that the Catholic Church is bigger than America,” he said.

See related story — Change is coming: The Roman Missal