Pope and change

A friend sent me a link to this story about how Pope Benedict XVI has worked to improve the music in the Catholic Church.

We have explored the Pope's efforts in this department on this Web log before. Remember, when Riccardo Muti spoke up about how the Catholic Church's music fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down? (My college-era roommate Daryle used to use that expression and I love it.)

I am sighing now reading what I wrote back then about how I pray for the pope's health every day and that I hope we can keep him for a long time. Alas. I mean, I am glad he is still alive and not dead. But I wish we could keep him.

The story up above, which appeared in Crisis magazine (crisis is right!) is interesting because it gives a history of how the music began sliding and what popes have done to try to stop it.

It says Paul VI regretted it and tried to help reverse the trend toward ugly by distributing a book of chants called "Jubilate Deo." Funny, I ran across that little book in the organ loft at church and was wondering about it. There were these Latin chants and yet the cover was in this '70s typeface. So this is the story behind it!

The author of the story is more optimistic than I am. He writes things like: "We started seeing chant workshops fill up. Groups began to form a the parish level ... A real fire had been lit in the Catholic music world..." I have not personally seen that.

Well, with luck the fire this guy is talking about won't die out anyway. Maybe it will continue to smolder. I am not sure I can hope for more than that.

I still cling to my hope that Benedict XVI will continue operating from behind the scenes.

And that he stays tuned in!