Proposed Position Statements 2008  

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The following position statements have been proposed by various regions of the FDLC for presentation to the delegates at the National Meeting. They have not been adopted formally by the Federation. Until a position statement is presented to the delegates during a business session, it belongs to the region proposing it. During the National Meeting, position statements may be amended or even withdrawn. These statements, therefore, are presented here in order to stimulate discussion in preparation for the business sessions of the National Meeting. Those statements receiving a passing vote at the meeting are thereby adopted formally by the Federation and will be published after the conclusion of the National Meeting.

Position Statement 2008/1

RATIONALE:
In recent years the Board of Directors of the FDLC has engaged in discussions of its concerns regarding the finances of the Federation, membership statistics (including the reality that the number of dioceses having Offices of Worship and/or Liturgical Commissions is diminishing) and attendance at national meetings.

According to the records of the Board, there is a diminishing return in numbers of active Offices and Commissions.  This is reflected in the ability to pay dues by some dioceses and also by the smaller number of dioceses able to attend the National Meetings. 

One of the significant sources of income for the FDLC is the Annual National Meeting. The potential for revenue from that meeting is dependent upon the participation of member dioceses, the travel costs incurred by attendees, and the efforts of the hosting region to obtain grants from within the region and to provide for the needs of the meeting with good financial stewardship. The board has questioned whether we might increase attendance at National Meetings by changing the way that we determine its location each year. We have better attendance when the location is accessible and affordable. The board raised the possibility of determining the location of the National Meeting according to geography rather than regions.  It would stand to reason that regions with larger membership might be able to mount a National Meeting with greater ease and monetary return.

In January 2005, with a concern for the Federation’s ability to fulfill its mission, the Board of the Federation devoted itself to evaluating and reforming its strategic goals and the means for achieving those goals. Among the goals are, “To achieve a balanced budget and increase revenue.” and “To enhance and strengthen opportunities for networking among membership.”

In its current regional structure the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions comprises 12 regions. The regions range from the smallest having 8 dioceses and the largest having 27 dioceses. The Catholic population represented by each region is similarly unequal. The ratio of the number of board representatives to the number of dioceses in each region is also uneven.

Chart showing the number of member dioceses in each region

The annual National Meeting is expected to be a major revenue source for the FDLC. Each region is expected to take its turn as host of the National Meeting with all of the dioceses in that region sharing in the work of preparing for that meeting. A hosting region is expected to solicit grant money from the Bishop of each diocese in the hosting region. Some regions have far more member dioceses than others. A region with a large number of member dioceses can potentially solicit grant money from more sources than a region with fewer member dioceses. Thus, a smaller region does not have an equitable potential for funding sources. Further, a region with few dioceses is comparatively limited in its resources for doing the work of planning a National Meeting. There are fewer people to share in the work. The required efforts and potential for funding is inequitable. Some regions may be too small to equally share in the regional obligations owed to the FDLC. This includes the effort to plan a National Meeting.

Throughout the country, dioceses are re-examining their structure and distribution of resources. This is usually a realistic response to shifting populations, diminishment of personnel and limited revenue sources. Many of our dioceses are re-structuring in response to the reality of the times. The USCCB, to which the FDLC has a particular connection through the Bishops’ Committee of Divine Worship, has also engaged in some necessary restructuring in order to better fulfill its missions and goals in light of current conditions.

Some regions may be too large to work effectively together and distances may inhibit their chances to work collaboratively.  Some regions are so large that they may welcome a re-alignment so that all of their diocesan voices may be equally heard.

It is possible that the imbalance of the regions may have an effect on voting results at National Meetings.  In the ideal situation, a region with average of 15 dioceses casts 30 votes.  A region with 27 dioceses casts 54 votes while a small region of 8 dioceses will cast only 16 votes.  Since regions meet in caucus and often join in a united front, the voting is unfairly skewed.  Some may argue that the representatives from each diocese vote independently but the caucus may influence each diocese to conform to the consensus of the region.  The larger regions, therefore, have a stronger effect on the outcome of the Federation’s business meetings.  Given that some of the FDLC’s Position Statements are addresses to the Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, the larger regions carry more influence in the conference than smaller regions.

Over the last few years the Board of Directors of the FDLC has put effort into identifying the strategic goals of the Federation. A restructuring of the regional boundaries of the Federation may help to achieve some of those strategic goals.

The establishment of diocesan liturgical commissions finds its genesis in paragraph #45 of The Constitution on the Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council. In speaking of his plans to call that council, Pope John XXIII repeated certain phrases that identified the need for calling that council. He said that we must look at “the signs of the times.” He also said that the Church needed to “let a little light in.” To maintain the intrinsic identity of the Church he also called for a “return to the sources,” and called upon the Church to find a way to bring those roots of the Church into the light of the modern day. Today, we might re-state these ideas as, “let’s think outside the box.” Also, let us re-capture our identifying purposes, values and goals.  The raison d’etre of the FDLC is to provide a grass roots organization that can serve the needs of our member dioceses.

 “Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, mandated by the Constitution on the Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium) [SC 44], worship offices (or comparable diocesan structures) shall be a means by which the FDLC remains grounded in the ‘grassroots’ of its constitutive dioceses.”

FDLC Bylaws Art. 2.2

PREAMBLE:

Whereas shifting populations and resources are affecting dioceses throughout the country;

Whereas important work is on the horizon in anticipation of the Missale Romanum tertcia edition typica that will have significant impact on pastoral liturgical ministries;

Whereas the 12 regions of the FDLC are unbalanced and unequal in the number of dioceses counted in each region;

Whereas the Board of Directors of the FDLC has already begun a re-examination of the way that the Federation identifies it strategic goals and the means by which it works to achieve those goals;

Whereas the FDLC was founded for the purpose of being a grassroots organization that represents all of the dioceses in the United States by hearing their voices, bringing them together as a unified voice, and providing information and services to each diocese;

Whereas it may now be necessary to adjust our regional structure in order to better serve the mission of the FDLC;

STATEMENT:

It is the position of the delegates to the 2008 National Meeting of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions that

1.  the Board of Directors of the FDLC establish an ad hoc committee of the Board

2.  to examine, evaluate and make recommendations concerning the current regional structure of the FDLC

3.  in line with the stated strategic goals of the Federation

4.  in order to evaluate the FDLC’s effectiveness

5.  and potential for maximum use of available regional and national resources

6.  by which we may better serve the liturgical apostolate of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions at the diocesan, regional and national levels.

We request that a time-line and procedure for implementation of this resolution be set by the FDLC Board of Directors by 31 January 2009.

SUBMITTED BY:     Region II

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Position Statement  2008/2

RATIONALE:

For many years, delegates to the national meeting and regional meetings of the FDLC have discussed multicultural issues.  The delegates of Region X of the FDLC believe that now is the time to bring this issue to the forefront.

The FDLC Multicultural Committee, upon the urging of various regions, has raised this concern to the FDLC Board of Directors and requested that a national meeting on this topic be held.

We are aware that Mark Francis, CSV has written two books about this topic and FDLC commissioned him to write more.  However, we know of no national forum, symposium or national liturgy meeting that has discussed multicultural issues in depth.

Catholic Christians are called to go out to all the nations and spread the Good News.  We believe that the inverse is also true – that when people of other nations come to our nation we are also to welcome them and spread the Good News.

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has raised the issue of multiculturalism in his addresses at the Vatican and in his recent travels in the United States.

The USCCB and its Migration Department have raised this issue as one of immediate pastoral concern for the next five years. 

The Pew Research Center has named immigration as the nation’s number one issue, especially with the nation’s 85% growth due to immigration.  In the next twenty years, the population is expected to swell due to immigration. This directly impacts the need for our parishes and the liturgy to delve more deeply into multi-culturalism.

Furthermore, in viewing the website of the Center for Immigration Studies, one is able to retrieve a snapshot of the growing trend of immigration and multicultural issues that arise from this trend.

Additionally, while Region X writes and offers this position statement, we request that this national meeting topic not be put on hold until Region X hosts the next national meeting.  In fact, we ask that this topic be addressed as soon as possible in another region of the country, since this is a national issue and not just a concern of Region X.

PREAMBLE:

Whereas recent papal liturgies at the Washington, DC and New York, NY stadiums exemplified the multicultural landscape of our country;

Whereas certain national Catholic media commentators were not supportive, and in fact, very critical of these multilingual celebrations;

Whereas dioceses as well as diocesan offices of worship are grappling with what it means to be a multicultural church;

Whereas all areas of the country are growing with immigrant populations from Mexico, Central & South American, Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia and the Caribbean;

Whereas the 2008 National Ministry Summit on Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership chose multicultural diversity as one of its five top issues;

Whereas multicultural issues are one of the five top issues of the USCCB;

Whereas the BCDW and FDLC have participated in and led multicultural forums in the past;

STATEMENT:

It is the position of the delegates to the 2008 National Meeting of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions that:

1.  the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors schedule

2.  “multicultural issues in parish life and liturgical celebration”

3.  as the theme of one of the Federation’s upcoming national meetings.

We request that the FDLC Board of Directors set a time-line and procedure for implementation of this resolution by 31 January 2009.

SUBMITTED BY:  Region X

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Position Statement 2008/3

RATIONALE:

The centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the Church is manifest from the very beginning as witnessed in the Acts of the Apostles, the writings of Paul and the early Church fathers. Most recently, Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia added another chapter onto the clear and unchanged teaching that the Eucharist is the greatest gift Jesus left us.

As we read the Gospels we recall so many instances in which Jesus shows us that “doing this in memory of me” is the action and the activity par excellence by which Jesus gives himself to us and we in turn are called to act as he did, to do what he enjoined.

The story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus; the feeding miracles, the Last Supper itself: all these show us that it is in the action of the Eucharist that Christ manifests his presence. The shape of the Eucharist involves the four actions of taking (the Presentation of the Gifts), blessing (the Eucharistic Prayer), breaking (the fraction rite) and giving (Communion). To celebrate the Eucharist means to do what Christ did, namely, offering to God the Father these actions that together form the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

We read in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal #72: “For Christ took the bread and the chalice and gave thanks; he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take, eat, and drink: this is my Body; this is the cup of my Blood. Do this in memory of me.’ Accordingly, the Church has arranged the entire celebration of the Liturgy of the Eucharist in parts corresponding to precisely these words and actions of Christ…”

Thus when the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the action of the priest and community in union with the Holy Spirit brings about what is proclaimed and makes real what has been promised. The celebration of every Eucharist not only re-presents the one and unique sacrifice of the cross, it brings the Kingdom of Heaven into the world and joins us ever more deeply into the one body of Christ in union with the “cloud of witnesses,” Mary and the angels and the saints. Nothing we do can ever replace the celebration of the Eucharist. This is the heart of the community which makes real the gift of divine life that constitutes the Community of Faith which is the Body of Christ here on earth.

The one sacrifice of Christ’s death on the cross cannot be isolated from what went before it and after it. Christ’s whole life was a gift to the Father. Jesus’ whole life was totally given over to God in every way at every moment. His death on the cross was the culmination of that life; it was also the beginning of his exaltation. Insofar as death leads to new life, the resurrection is the “mirror image” of the cross. Thus, it’s all one basic movement, most powerfully manifest in the cross. This is what we mean by “the Paschal Mystery.” This mystery is the very life of God, since Jesus is the Son of God. The eternal life of God contains the sacrifice of Christ.

The reception of Holy Communion is never just passively “getting” or “receiving” Holy Communion. Instead, the reception of Holy Communion is the culmination of participating in the celebration (offering of the sacrifice). There is an inherent interconnection between sacrifice, Real Presence, and Communion. We should never sever the connection between receiving the Sacrament and celebrating the sacrifice; the two go hand-in-hand. Receiving the Sacrament is the culmination of participating in the sacrifice. In this sense, “receiving it” is a reciprocal reality: we receive Christ and in so doing, Christ receives us and presents us to the Father in the Spirit.

“For two thousand years the Church in her wisdom has, with a sense of her authority and responsibility, regulated the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments. Lex orandi, lex credendi is a profoundly important truth of our faith.^" [Most Reverend William F. Murphy. Pastoral Letter of the Bishop of Rockville Centre to the Priests of the Diocese Regarding the Proper Celebration of the Eucharist and the Distribution of Holy Communion May, 2008).]

PREAMBLE:

Whereas, the celebration of the Eucharist gives us our identity as well as our life;

Whereas, the Liturgy, particularly Sunday Eucharist, is formative of Catholic life and identity (lex orandi, lex credendi);

Whereas, the Sunday Eucharist is the celebration of the community and the body of Christ which we consecrate is the body of Christ which we become;

Whereas, the absence of Sunday Eucharist may weaken Catholic Identity;

Whereas, we must retain Eucharist as the source and summit of our Catholic sacramental life;

Whereas, we must keep Sunday as the day to assemble as a Eucharistic Community;

Whereas, we need to gather the assembly on Sunday even if we are unable to have Eucharist;

Whereas, unintended consequences of Sunday without Eucharist may result in replacement of Sunday as our primary day of worship, and/or Eucharist as our primary mode of celebration;

Whereas, in order to preserve Sunday as our primary day of worship and the celebration of Eucharist as the source and summit of our sacramental life on Sunday:

STATEMENT:

It is the position of the delegates to the 2008 National Meeting of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions that:

1.  FDLC Board of Directors appoint an ad hoc committee

2.  to initiate a dialogue with the Canon Law Society of America,

3.  the Catholic Theological Society of America, and the National Federation of Priest Councils

4.  to seek possible solutions to the present crisis in many Dioceses of having

5. parishes/missions without Sunday Eucharist.

6.  We further request the FDLC Board of Directors establish the above committee by February 2009

7.  and encourage them to have preliminary results of their study to the USCCB for their November 2010 meeting.

We request that a time-line and procedure for implementation of this resolution be set by the FDLC Board of Directors by 31 January 2009.

SUBMITTED BY: Region XII

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