“It is entirely possible that, with the approval of the Holy See, new forms of liturgical experimentation will be in use within the year,” Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan said on his return from the meeting of the U.S. bishops in Washington.

“Word of the proposals made by the Liturgical Committee, the vote and outcome will not released until Rome has acted upon them,” Archbishop Hallinan, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee of on the Liturgy, said.

The archbishop is now in Rome meeting with members of the consilium, the liturgical body of the Holy See. He is expected to return to Atlanta Dec. 2.

“There is no question,” the archbishop stated. “There was evidence among the bishops plus the increased desires of priests and laymen for authorized experimentation according to paragraphs 37-40 of the Constitution on the Liturgy.’

The archbishop outlined the issues that go deeper than just changes:

1. Unless the bishop opens and encourages channels of experimentation, much harmony and cooperation with priests and others can be strained and even broken. What is now merely an undergrowth of undisciplined ways of saying Mass will rapidly become an underworld of discontented and disobedient priests.
2. 2) The fear that “small group Masses “ will lead to chaos and fragmentation must be seen in a better light. What is really hoped for is that the close spirit of community so evident (on testimony of bishops like Bishop Warren Bourdreaux and Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin) in the small groups will be carried over to the Sunday parish Mass, a sort of leaven to work against the lump of the faceless church-goers lost in their anonymity.

Archbishop Hallinan said designation of liturgical experimental centers at a few highly competent universities or seminaries was discussed at press panel. “This move was, of course, part of the mandate of Vatican II. Some kind of institute for pastoral liturgy should aid the commission. It should include persona eminent in liturgy and laymen.

“Since our nation is so large, it is hoped that three or four such centers can be established. Only those universities and seminaries with plenty of resources and highly qualified liturgists, theologians, Scripture men, musicians and experts in other allied fields will be considered if the permission is granted.

“This is not to be confused in any way with wild and individualistic campus liturgies, done without study, planning or authority. There are a rather obvious fad, satisfying to whims and personal choices, but lacking in the reverence due God and the awareness of the need of the ordinary man.

“A poem by Eliot, a sculpture by Michaelangelo, a symphony by Bartok can be creative and spontaneous, but also disciplined.

“Liturgy too can be creative and spontaneous without being ludicrous. It is our attempt to create channels where prayerful men and women can express themselves in the worship of God,” Archbishop Hallinan commented.

Bishop Gerald McDevitt of Philadelphia said, “This would be a sort of answer to the idea of an underground church. Experimentation is going on illegitimately, so it would be an answer to that.”

Bishop James Shannon of St. Paul added that he thought most prelates favored experimentation but they also wanted some firm guidelines or “every man would try to be his own pope.”

In his final comment on the liturgy, Archbishop Hallinan said, “We need unity achieved by all those responsible—Rome, the bishops, priests, religious and laymen to bring together the substance of the liturgy with the contemporary needs of society. It is not uniformity imposed, as we did with Latin, from above.”