What to keep and what to cut: Vatican doesn't list all Mass abuses

Published: 2004-04-23

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In more than 60 pages of text, the Vatican's new document on liturgical abuses deals with a myriad of topics -- but not flowers. At the April 23 Vatican press conference releasing the liturgical instruction, "Redemptionis Sacramentum" ("The Sacrament of Redemption"), a reporter said she was concerned about the omission. If the Eucharist is a sacrifice more than a "fraternal banquet," she asked, why should some parishes be allowed to fill the altar with flowers as if it were a dining table set for an elegant meal? "Flowers were created by God and do not impede us from worshipping God," replied Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, which wrote the new document. The cardinal said flowers should not be placed on the altar, but if there were one bouquet on the right and one on the left it would not be a huge problem. The decision on which practices to mention and which to leave to local bishops to handle was made after widespread consultation, he said.

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