Vienna (www.kath.net)
KATH.NET: Your Eminence, in some parishes there are "customised" Masses
nowadays: the Eucharistic Prayer or the Credo is changed, the official
liturgical prayers are replaced by other prayers, bible readings are
replaced by other texts... What is your comment to this?
Cardinal Schönborn: As a matter of principle, liturgy is always the
liturgy of the Church, the liturgy of the whole people of God. The
faithful are entitled to participate in a celebration of the liturgy that
is valid in the community of the Church Universal. Even more, the
faithful, the parishes and the priests are obliged to celebrate the Divine
Service in community with the Church Universal. This right and this
obligation are not confining our freedom, but they are the necessary
pre-requisites for the faithful to participate in the service of the
Church and not in something that is the fruit of somebody's hobby or of
private liturgical ideas - however well-meant these might be. The deepest
reason for this liturgical order is the fact that this is a Divine
Service, i.e. in the Christian service it is God himself turning to
mankind first, Christ himself is the celebrant, who is addressing us in
his word and who leads us into his devotion to the Father for the
salvation of all mankind. Therefore it was always the primary concern of
the Church that Jesus Christ is the centre of the liturgy. He is the main
celebrant. To make this perceptible, it is good and right that there is an
ecclesiastical order of the liturgy that helps us to meet Christ in the
liturgy.
KATH.NET: Which elements of the Holy Mass are changeable. Is there any
room for creativity? Which elements shall never be changed, and why is
this the case?
Cardinal Schönborn: I cannot recommend often enough to read and to
meditate on the beautiful and rich General Instruction of the Roman
Missal. In the liturgy of the church there are quite some places which
allow for creativity. In this respect, I want to recall the big services
with the Holy Father on different continents, which have shown much of the
possibilities to allow for cultural and local elements. Furthermore, I
want to remind of the opportunities that are provided by the Order of the
Mass itself: in the Penitential Rite, in the Presentation of the Gifts and
in the Prayer of the Faithful, e.g. The church holds unambiguously to the
fact that the Eucharistic Prayer, which is the core of the Eucharist, is
not at disposal for private compositions. There are complaints again and
again that the participation of the faithful in the Eucharistic Prayer is
missing. This can only be due to a misunderstanding. Then not only is it
possible that the faithful pray and accompany the Eucharistic Prayer
inwardly, but this is explicitly desired. It is the prayer of the Church
spoken by the priest for the whole Church. But only the priest is assigned
and authorised to speak this prayer. The so-called acclamations leave some
room for allowed creativity in the Eucharistic Prayer, which is explicitly
arranged for after the consecration words of the Institution Narrative.
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KATH.NET: Nowadays, liturgy is often presented as an "event". Many people
experience the liturgy as a group experience, a cultural event, an
aesthetic add-on. Actually, what is the significance of the liturgy for
the Church?
Cardinal Schönborn: The liturgy is "an event", of course. It is at all the
most significant event one ever can imagine. For in liturgy happens
("event" signifies "something that happens") the secret of the faith.
Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are made present for us. Can there
be anything more magnificent than this event? And therefore the Eucharist
is of an incomparable topicality, it is more thrilling than any show and
more beautiful than all plays. Certainly this does provoke us to get
involved as much as possible in this event and to celebrate it with body
and soul, with all our being and with our full commitment. It is no
coincidence that the event "Holy Mass" is particularly impressive when the
celebrant is deeply moved by the secret that he is celebrating. Under
these circumstances the fold realises that this is the celebration of the
biggest event in history. I had an unforgettable experience of this with
Padre Pio, whose way to celebrate the Holy Mass was the same every day,
but all the same of an incomparable novelty every time, lively and of
fascinating intensity. The organisation of a service is a success, when
it is completely serving this "event", which is the core and the subject
of the Eucharist. In such a case there is never the danger of it to be
boring nor of wear and tear, unless we are bored and weared off
ourselves. This, however, is not the fault of the liturgy, but the result
of our lacking disposition and of our missing faith.
KATH.NET: What is the danger, if liturgy becomes an event that presents
novelties every now and then - where the faithful have to expect something
new again and again?
Cardinal Schönborn: My cherished and favourite poet, C. S. Lewis, writes
once in a letter to a friend what he as layman is expecting himself of the
celebrant. He says roughly the following: "What I desire as a layman is
just this one and only thing, that I am not forced to think all the time
during the service: What is is crossing the celebrant's mind now again,
for God's sake?" It is something magnificent, if a service is celebrated
faithfully according to the prescriptions of the Church, and with a
genuine intimateness, with serious involvement and with the joy that
presence of Christ in our midst is celebrated. I cannot imagine anything
more lively and more topical than "the plain and ordinary Holy Mass". I
reckon, even if I would live one hundred years, which God may hopefully
prevent, I would never desire anything else than this one and only thing:
In the daily Eucharist to penetrate every day deeper this marvellous
secret that is given to us and through which may live.
KATH.NET: Many people experience the "eternal monotony" of a Catholic Mass
to be boring. On the other hand, many people look for rituals in our
times, for an order midst in a world that is changing permanently and that
offers hardly anything stable. Wouldn't it be a chance for the church to
offer to the people such a stable point of reference by its liturgy?
Schönborn: My short answer to this: Precisely so!
Interview: Petra Biermeier
Translation by Reto Beeler | 
