As The Irish Times and others pick out what they wish from the Irish Synod Synthesis Report in order to magnify the apparent desire for the church to become more radically liberal, a number of statements within the document actually state a wish for the opposite.
One such piece of evidence is that related to the liturgy.
In the section on the Liturgy, it is reported:
Some feel the Church’s liturgies are boring, monotonous, jaded and flat; that they no longer speak to people’s lives.
This criticism of the liturgy was a common thread throughout almost all of the Synod reports from across the country.
The Synod Synthesis goes on to say:
A minority view seeks a return of the Latin Mass and pre-Vatican II celebrations.
The only other thing that is described as a minority view comes later in the document, when we are told:
There are other minority, yet strong, voices that believe the Church, rooted in the Catholic Tradition, should not conform to secular standards when it comes to questions regarding gender, sexuality, and relationships.
Why were these the only two views that are designated as being those of a ‘minority’?
This is a contradiction of the Vatican’s own guidelines on Synod Synthesis reports, which lend no weight to the numbers who replied to something, expressing the wish that a minority does not mean that something should be discounted. Those guidelines state:
Accurate syntheses that truly captures the range of critical and appreciative perspectives of all responses, including views that are expressed only by a minority of participants
Most importantly:
The synthesis should pay special attention to the voices of those who are not often heard and integrate what we could call the “minority report.”
And again:
Views should not be excluded simply because they were expressed by a small minority of participants. Indeed, sometimes the perspective of what we could call the “minority report” can be a prophetic witness to what God wants to say to the Church
Therefore, we must give extra attention to these calls for a return to the Latin Mass and pre Vatican II liturgies, as there is potentially something ‘prophetic’ about the call to bring them back (in the Synod’s own words).
There was also a call for Ireland to return to celebrating Traditional Feast Days.
Homilies were frequently described as being too long, ill prepared, irrelevant, monotonous and not always connected to life. Church language in the Liturgy is seen as archaic, non-inclusive and hard to understand, particularly the language in the Old Testament readings and liturgical prayers. There was a clear call for simpler, user-friendly, inclusive vocabulary. The power of prayer was very much valued, as well as the presence of music and song. Some participants felt a great sense of love for our devotional practices and others talked about the power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Some participants long for the return of House Masses, Station Masses and particular feasts.