Subject: VISnews 110531   
   Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede   
   From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt    
      
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 102   
   ENGLISH   
   TUESDAY, 31 MAY 2011   
      
   SUMMARY:   
      
   - Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music Celebrates a Century   
   - Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for June   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   PONTIFICAL INSTITUTE OF SACRED MUSIC CELEBRATES A CENTURY   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 31 MAY 2011 (VIS) - On the occasion of the 100th anniversary   
   of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, the Holy Father sent a letter   
   to Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, chancellor of the institution. The letter,   
   which was published today, was read at the institute last Thursday, 26 May.   
      
     Benedict XVI recalled that Pope St. Pius X founded the Higher School of   
   Sacred Music, which two decades later was elevated by Pius XI to a   
   pontifical institute. The Holy Father stated that, in order to clearly   
   understand the identity and mission of that Institute, it was necessary to   
   know that St. Pius X founded it "eight years after having issued the Motu   
   Proprio 'Tra le sollecitudini' on 22 November 1903, with which he brought   
   about a profound reform in the area of sacred music, turning to the great   
   tradition of the Church against the influence exercised by profane music,   
   above all of the operatic type".   
      
     This magisterial intervention, in order to be implemented in the universal   
   Church, needed a center of studies and teaching that would faithfully and   
   appropriately transmit the directives indicated by the Supreme Pontiff   
   according to the authentic and glorious tradition that dates back to St.   
   Gregory the Great. In the span of the last 100 years, this Institution has   
   assimilated, developed, and expressed the doctrinal and pastoral teaching of   
   the pontifical documents, as well as those of Vatican Council II, concerning   
   sacred music, to illumine and guide the work of composers, chapel maestros,   
   liturgists, musicians, and all instructors in this field".   
      
     The Pope then emphasized how, since St. Pius X until today, "even though   
   evolving naturally, there has been a substantial continuity of the   
   Magisterium on sacred music". In particular he cited Paul VI and John Paul   
   II who "in light of the conciliar constitution 'Sacrosanctum Concilium',   
   reiterated the purpose of sacred music, that is to say, 'the glory of God   
   and the sanctification of the faithful' and the fundamental criteria of the   
   corresponding tradition...: a sense of prayer, dignity, and beauty; full   
   adherence to liturgical texts and expressions; the assembly's participation   
   and, therefore, the legitimate adaptation to local culture, at the same time   
   maintaining the universality of language; the primacy of Gregorian chant as   
   the supreme model of sacred music and the careful assessment of other   
   expressive forms that make up the historical-liturgical patrimony of the   
   Church, especially but not just polyphony; and the importance of the 'schola   
   cantorum', particularly in cathedral churches".   
      
     "However, we always have to ask ourselves: Who is the true subject of the   
   liturgy? The answer is simple: the Church. It is not the individual or the   
   group that celebrates the liturgy, but it is primarily God's action through   
   the Church with its history, its rich tradition, and its creativity. The   
   liturgy, and thus sacred music, 'lives from a correct and constant   
   relationship between healthy traditio and legitimate progressio', keeping   
   always in mind that these two concepts ... are interwoven because 'tradition   
   is a living reality that, therefore, encompasses within it the very   
   principle of development and progress'", the Pope concluded.   
   MESS/                                                   VIS 20110531 (500)   
      
   BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR JUNE   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 31 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention   
   for the month of June is: "That priests, united to the Heart of Christ, may   
   always be true witnesses of the caring and merciful love of God".   
      
     His missionary intention is: "That the Holy Spirit may bring forth from   
   our communities many missionaries who are ready to be fully consecrated to   
   spreading the Kingdom of God.".   
   BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/                         VIS 20110531 (50)   
      
   OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 31 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father appointed as members   
   of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura: Cardinal Leonardo   
   Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches; Cardinal   
   Paolo Sardi, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta; and His   
   Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai, O.M.M., Maronite Patriarch of Antioch,   
   Lebanon.   
   NA/                                                                     VIS   
   20110531 (50)   
   _____________________________________________   
      
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