Peter A Kwasniewski, Janet E Smith, Gregory Dipippo
Description
Between September and November 2022, Church Life Journal published a lengthy series of articles on liturgical reform, coauthored by Drs. John Cavadini
...
, Mary Healy, and Thomas Weinandy. With its roseate view of the Liturgical Movement, its caricature of the Catholic faithful prior to Vatican II, its forensically questionable affirmation of Sacrosanctum Concilium's paternity of the Novus Ordo (and its solemn chrismation of both by the Holy Spirit), and its severe rejection of the "Tridentine movement," the series sparked ample criticism of the authors' perplexingly inadequate scholarship, grandiose generalizations, and pastoral callousness.Since the innovationist and anti-traditionalist arguments of Cavadini, Healy, and Weinandy are precisely the ones lazily regurgitated in seminaries and liturgical degree programs around the world-the "commonplaces" that doggedly hold on in newspapers, bulletins, homilies, blogs, and workshops-the appearance of their series offers a providential opportunity to present Catholic counterarguments. This book makes a handy and persuasive case in favor of immemorial tradition against yesterday's novelties at a time when a growing number of priests and faithful are longing for the sacred and the authentic.After an initial careful summary of the Cavadini, Healy, and Weinandy series, Illusions of Reform gathers the critiques of nine authors: Dr. Janet Smith, whose own comprehensive five-part response sets the record straight; Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, who exposes key weak points in history, Trinitarian and Eucharistic theology, pneumatology, and linguistics; Alexander Battista, who represents the point of view of Eastern-rite Catholic; Fr. Samuel Keyes, a convert from Anglicanism and a priest of the Anglican Ordinariate; Roland Millare, an expert on the liturgical theology of Joseph Ratzinger; Fr. Peter Miller, a Benedictine monk well-equipped to tackle the subject of the lectionaries; Dom Alcuin Reid, one of the greatest living scholars on liturgical matters; and Dr. Joseph Shaw, President of the International Una Voce Federation and Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. A mordantly humorous Epilogue by Gregory DiPippo rounds out the volume. The Select Bibliography recommends the finest resources for those who wish to delve deeper into the issues involved in these discussions.
Read more