Abstract
Ceremonial customs — whether religious or secular — play an important role in every culture. The liberation of the classical Roman liturgy, with its detailed ceremonial rubrics, by Pope Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum, is therefore an event of great significance for the Church. Christianity, as a religion of incarnation, values human talent and can always employ it to the greater glory of God. The most perfect expression of this truth is to be found in the sacred mysteries of the liturgy, developed in tradition by a continual process of refinement and enrichment. It is in relationships — hospitality, friendship, and love — that details take on their most profound significance. Wilful ignorance of the details of a social ritual, or of an art, can lead to cultural impoverishment. It is wrong, then, to dismiss as trivial the detailed rubrics of the traditional Roman Rite, since these are aspects of the culture of the faith which should be observed with loving fidelity.
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R Michael Schmitz
Msgr R. Michael Schmitz (born Eitorf, Germany, 1957) was ordained to the priesthood in 1982 by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. He studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, and has taught at both these universities. Msgr Schmitz was Cultural Attaché at the Apostolic Nunciature in Kyrgyzstan and Professor of Theology at the Russian-Kirghiz University. In 2000 he was incardinated in the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and appointed Vicar General and Provincial Superior for the Institute in the USA. Msgr Schmitz was appointed a member of the Academy of Theology in Rome in 1988.
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