Irish Independent
Malcolm Moore
Tuesday June 27th 2006


THE Pope has called for an end to electric guitars and modern music being played in Church and demanded a return to traditional choirs and Gregorian chants.

The Catholic Church has been experimenting with new ways of holding Mass to try to attract more people. The recital of Mass set to guitars has grown in popularity in Italy.

In Spain Mass has been set to flamenco music and in the United States the Electric Prunes produced a "psychedelic" album called Mass in F Minor.

However, the use of guitars and tambourines has irked Pope Benedict, who loves classical music.

"It is possible to modernise holy music," the Pope said, at a concert conducted by Domenico Bartolucci, the director of music at the Sistine Chapel. "But it should not happen outside the traditional path of Gregorian chants or sacred polyphonic choral music."

His comments prompted the newspaper La Stampa to compare him with Pope Pius X, who denounced faddish classical and baroque compositions and reinstated Gregorian chants.

Benedict XVI's supporters argue that the music played during Mass is a vital part of the communion between worshippers and God and that medieval church music, with the liturgy, creates the correct ambience for perceiving God's mystery.


However, Cardinal Carlo Furno, the grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, said it was "better to have guitars on the altar and rock and roll Masses than empty churches".

He said the use of modern music was a "sign of the vitality of the faith".

The argument about modern or traditional music is part of a wider debate over whether to return to a Latin Mass. If Latin Masses are not reintroduced into common practice, few Catholics will know the words to the Latin Gregorian chants which the Pope advocates.

SR: What a difference from the last Pope...

53605797 a8faa77ab2

BONO in an audience with the late John Paul II


SR: Hey uh Pope Benny, you may want to check that little used book called THE BIBLE in your sanctuary for the following...

Psalm 149: vs1 .. Sing to the Lord a New song...
Psalm 149: vs3 .. Let them praise His name with the dance, Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
Psalm 150: 1-6 Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary, Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts, Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet, Praise Him with the lute and harp, Praise Him with the timbrel and dance, Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes, Praise Him with Loud Cymbals, Praise Him with high sounding cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord... Praise the Lord!