(ZENIT News/ Vatican City, 05.02.2024).- From Tuesday, February 6, to Friday, February 9, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments will hold its Plenary Assembly in the General Curia of the Society of Jesus, on the theme “Euntes parate nobis Pascha (Luke 22:8) [“Go and Prepare the Passover for Us”]: Paths of Liturgical Formation for Ordained Ministers and Lay Faithful.”
Members of the Dicastery and some Consultants will take part in the meeting and will discuss the challenges and opportunities of liturgical formation in the Church today.
The intention is to reflect further on the subject of liturgical formation, 60 years after the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, tracing practical paths on the pointers contained in the Apostolic Letter “Desiderio Desideravi,” published in June 2022 , in which the Pope affirmed:
The non-acceptance of the reform, as well as a superficial understanding of the same, distracts us from the commitment to find the answers to the question that I repeat over and over: How can we grow in the capacity to live the liturgical action in its fulness? How can we continue to be amazed by what happens in the celebration before our eyes? We need a serious and vital liturgical formation” (n. 31).
The objective of the Plenary Assembly will be not only to stress the importance of liturgical formation, but also to offer Bishops practical suggestions to develop pastoral projects in their dioceses, in order to put into practice the reflections on the papal document.
The works will open with the greeting of the Dicastery’s Prefect, Cardinal Arthur Roche, and with the introduction of the Archbishop Secretary, Monsignor Vittorio Francesco Viola, O.F.M. The members’ discussion will focus on three Reports:
1st Liturgical Formation: From Sacrosanctum Concilium to Desiderio Desideravi.
2nd Mystagogues for the People of God: What Liturgical Formation for Ordained Ministers? An Experience: Theological Formation in the Mount Angel Seminary (Oregon).
3rd “The Liturgy Is the First and Indispensable Source from Which the Faithful Can Extract the Genuine Christian Spirit” (SC 14). Paths of Liturgical Formation for the People of God.
The Conferences will be followed by moments of reflection, prayer and discussion in general assembly and in groups (Minor Circles).
The Plenary Assembly will also be an occasion of communion in liturgical prayer, presided over by some members of the Dicastery. The Holy Father will receive in audience the participants in the Plenary Assembly.
