Catholic Masses

  • Search for Mass Times
  • Catholic Faith Articles
    • News Briefs
    • Catholic Church
    • Vatican News
    • Catholic Gift Ideas
  • Online Masses
    • Daily Catholic Mass Online
      • Daily TV Mass from Toronto
      • EWTN Daily Mass
      • CTVN Daily Mass
      • Sunday Mass by the Passionists
      • Daily Mass (In Spanish)
  • Pray with Us
Home Test page Sunday Mass should be the culmination of all parish activities, Cardinal Parolin says

Sunday Mass should be the culmination of all parish activities, Cardinal Parolin says

Pope Francis says Mass at the chapel of Santa Marta in the Vatican, Sept. 11, 2018. / Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Aug 23, 2021 / 10:37 am (CNA).

After pandemic lockdowns led to the suspension of Catholic liturgies in many parts of the world, the Sunday Mass must be reaffirmed as the source and summit of parish life, the Vatican Secretary of State said in a message sent Monday on behalf of the pope.

“The suspension of liturgies during the long period of lockdown and the difficulties of the subsequent recovery confirmed what had already been observed in the Sunday assemblies on the Italian peninsula: an alarming indication of … the change of epoch,” Pietro Cardinal Parolin wrote in an Aug. 23 message for Italy’s National Liturgical Week.

The cardinal said that attendance at Sunday Masses in Italy is unbalanced in terms of the generations and cultures represented.

He said that parishes face difficulties in reestablishing the Mass “in being the true summit of all its activities and the source of missionary dynamism to bring the Gospel of mercy to the geographical and existential peripheries.”

“The Holy Father hopes that the National Liturgical Week, with its proposals for reflection and moments of celebration … may identify and suggest some lines of liturgical pastoral care to be offered to parishes, so that Sunday, the Eucharistic assembly, the ministries and the rite may emerge from the marginality towards which they seem inexorably to precipitate, and to recover their centrality in the faith and spirituality of believers,” he said.

All public liturgies were suspended in Italy for ten weeks in 2020 when the country faced the highest mortality rates of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The sad experience of last year’s liturgical ‘fast’ highlighted the goodness of the long journey that has been made since the Second Vatican Council, along the path mapped out by the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium,” Cardinal Parolin asserted.

“The time of privation made it possible to perceive ‘the importance of the divine liturgy for the life of Christians, who find therein that objective mediation required by the fact that Jesus Christ is not an idea or a sentiment, but a living Person, and his Mystery a historical event. The prayer of Christians passes through tangible mediations: Sacred Scripture, the Sacraments, liturgical rites, the community.’”

The 71st National Liturgical Week is taking place in Cremona Aug. 23-26 after it was postponed last year due to the pandemic. Cremona is located in Lombardy, the region in Italy hit hardest by COVID-19.

“The weekly gathering in the ‘name of the Lord’, which from the very beginning has been perceived by Christians as indispensable and indissolubly linked to their identity, was severely affected during the most acute phase of the spread of the pandemic,” Cardinal Parolin said.

“But love for the Lord and pastoral creativity pushed pastors and lay faithful to explore other ways of nourishing the communion of faith and love with the Lord and with their brothers and sisters, while waiting to be able to return to the fullness of the Eucharistic celebration in peace and security.”

“It was a difficult and painful wait, illuminated by the mystery of the Lord’s Cross and fruitful in many works of care, fraternal love and service to the people who suffered most from the consequences of the health emergency,” he said.


If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.


Catholic World Report

Aug 23, 2021CatholicMasses

Share this post:

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on PinterestShare on EmailShare on LinkedIn
Cardinal Burke off ventilator and moving out of intensive care, still hospitalized with Covid-19Seek God through a relationship with Christ, others, pope says at Angelus
You Might Also Like
 
Ireland highlighted in State Department human trafficking report
 
Survey: Americans more likely to say that pandemic strengthened their faith

You must be logged in to post a comment. - Log in

CatholicMasses
10 months ago Catholic News, liturgy, News Briefs, Pietro Cardinal Parolin, VaticanCatholic Church, Catholic News, liturgy, News Briefs, Pietro Cardinal Parolin, Vatican10
Find Mass Schedules Near You

CatholicMasses.org allows you to search for Catholic Churches to find Mass times near you!

This unique feature helps while traveling.  Now along with Mass times, schedules and Catholic news you can also watch daily Catholic Mass online with your friends.

Try our free resource to “find Roman Catholic Churches near me” today!

St Alphonsus Liguori praised the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as the best way to Honor God.  Join us as we celebrate Mass daily from various parishes around the world, online and offline, and please visit daily to pray with us as we recite the Rosary, offer daily scripture, readings, devotions and Catholic focused news. We bring you daily Catholic Mass from various parishes around the world and Catholic news.

Today’s Mass
Daily Mass Videos
  • Catholic Chicago
  • CatholicTVNetwork Daily Mass
  • Daily Mass from Toronto Canada
  • ETWN Daily Mass
  • Eucaristia en Vivo – Spanish Daily Mass
  • General Catholic Videos
  • Live video from Lourdes France
  • Masses from the Ascension Priests
  • Misa Hoy (en español)
  • National Shrine
  • News from a Catholic Perspective
  • News from CFN
  • Pope Francis and Vatican News
  • Rosary
  • Sunday Mass by the Passionists
What’s New
  • Southern Arabia’s new Apostolic Vicar calls for diversity in unity
  • Crossing the Mediterranean: risking one’s life in exchange for hope
  • Save the Children calls for global response to stop famine
  • Pope Francis reflects on his personal life in a podcast
  • Holy See at “Ukraine Recovery” conference in Lugano
About

Providing up to date online access to information exclusively about Catholicism.

Visit our site map | Privacy Policy | About Us Page.

Streaming Catholic Mass Online

Watch Catholic Mass Online Today.

Find Churches Nearby
Email-Subscription

Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest news and event postings.

2019 © Catholic Mass Search - Search Catholic Churches and find Mass times while traveling.
Privacy Policy | About Us Page.
Truemag theme by StrictThemes
Change Location
Find awesome listings near you!