Back to: FDLC Liturgical Catechesis Project:
Back to: Liturgy and Social Justice 
 
 

Peace, Justice and the Liturgy
 

by John L. Allen Jr.
May 27, 2005, National Catholic Reporter
 

The idea was to promote research interest in the connection between the liturgical life of the Catholic church and its action on behalf of peace and justice.

Cardinal Renato Martino, the president of the Council for Justice and Peace, opened the seminar by invoking the words of Pope John Paul II in his last apostolic letter, Mane Nobiscum, Domine, devoted to the Eucharist: "The lacerated image of our world, which began the new millennium with the specter of terrorism and the tragedy of war, calls Christians more than ever to live the Eucharist as a great school of peace, where men and women are formed who become weavers of dialogue and communion."

Peace, according to participants in the seminar, must be seen as both a prerequisite of the church's liturgical life, as well as one of its fruits.

In addition to Martino, Cardinal Francis Arinze, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, and Archbishop Piero Marini, the pope's top liturgist, were also present.

Martino insisted that liturgy, especially the Eucharist, should propel Catholics towards engagement on issues such as "conflicts, war and peace, and all the subordinate causes of poverty, exploitation, oppression, and ethnic and racial hatreds." Martino announced that the Council for Justice and Peace intends to prepare a pastoral note on the liturgy as a "grand school of peace."

Jesuit Fr. Keith Pecklers, a liturgist who teaches at the Gregorian University, delivered a keynote address on the dangers of liturgical celebrations divorced from concern for the broader world. He warned against "liturgical isolationism," in which the exchange of peace, for example, is understood simply with reference to members of the parish community or one's neighbors. The result, he argued, is an anemic celebration that leaves the Body of Christ divided.

Pecklers went on to offer some hard-hitting examples. He noted that some officers of the Nazi SS attended Mass each morning during the Second World War, and then went about implementing the Holocaust. Similarly, he noted that some military officials in Chile during the Pinochet regime were faithful Mass-going Catholics and yet were involved in the torture of dissidents. How, Pecklers asked, could the two things go together?

Professor Enrico Mazza of the Catholic University of Milan provided a historical overview of the development of liturgical rites within the Catholic church, noting that in its origins, Catholic liturgy was understood as a sacrament of unity and peace. Both the Alexandrian rite, Mazza argued, and the Roman canon point to peace as a specific fruit of the Eucharist, a point, he said, which should provide important direction for the church of today.

Professor Paul De Clerck of the Catholic Institute of Paris examined the history of liturgical texts regarding prayers for peace from the third century to today, noting the strong commitment of the ancient church to pray for its persecutors. De Clerck called for a creative revival, and not merely a repetition, of some of these ancient texts. Benedictine Fr. Thomas Pott argued that part of the unfinished business of liturgical reform is not additional changes in the rites, but changes in the worshippers who are "liturgical subjects," so that the church's liturgical life becomes evermore a foretaste of the Reign of God.

These analyses generated some discussion about the Exchange of Peace in the Mass, and whether it would make sense to place it before the Eucharistic prayers, so that it becomes a prelude, almost a necessary pre-condition, for what follows. In the early church, Pecklers noted, there is precedent for having the Exchange of Peace in this position, and the Ambrosian Rite in Milan currently offers it as an option. The Exchange of Peace thus comes at the end of the Liturgy of the Word, as a "seal" to what has been said, and a "bridge" to what comes next.

Pecklers said that no immediate consensus came out of this discussion, but there seemed to be interest in the topic.

Professor Simona Beretta of the Catholic University of Milan insisted that Catholics must measure themselves "without shortcuts" against the aims of development and the eradication of poverty, "which is the other name of peace." The grace that flows from liturgical life, she suggested, is the Christian alternative to the cynicism that the difficulties of social change can sometimes generate.

A footnote to this report.

The connection between liturgy and justice is a long-time passion for Pecklers, who, among other things, is one of the co-founders of an English-language worshipping community in Rome at the Oratory of St. Francis Xavier del Caravita. In his 2003 book Worship, Pecklers devotes a chapter to the history of Catholic reflection on this subject. (He cites, for example, a 1991 essay in Worship magazine by Robert Hovda, who wrote that, "Individuals are incapable of worship."). Anyone interested in pursuing the subject would do well to consult Pecklers' book.

Copyright 2005 National Catholic Reporter