An E-mail To Lifeteen

[Sinner]

A nice piece of work.

[dUSt]

A response! See below...

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[color=black]Dear Dustin:

Thanks so much for your email. I would like to say that LIFE TEEN has always done what is expected of us and has always taught all attending our training programs to be obedient to their pastor, their bishop and the Holy Father.

What LIFE TEEN had been doing liturgically was in accord with church law. Canon 846 had given a right to adaptation. We had followed what the Canon Law Society of American had discussed in detail at its 1999 convention on the question of adaptation as a right of the laity. We also followed the church's law that the diocesan bishop is the chief liturgists in his diocese. Thus what we did in Phoenix was with the bishop's approval, and thus we always told others to be sure that they had their bishop's approval. As you can see this clarifies some of the misconceptions that were given by EWTN that you quoted. Fr. Levis and Fr. Echart are not bishops and so have no right to say what a bishop can and cannot do.

Even you quote about the recognitio for the national conference begs a clarification. You will note that the new GIRM has required that nationally all kneel after communion. But in many dioceses this is not done, and the local bishop has made the decision and there was no recognitio obtained from Rome.

Finally we have been asked to make some liturgical changes by Cardinal Arinze and this we have already informed all of the pastor's of LIFE TEEN to implement with regard to them. Again you can see that we are doing all we are asked to do to be faithful to the Church.

Hope this information helps.

God bless you ministry.

Fr. Fred R. Gaglia, Ph.D.
Priest Liaison
LIFE TEEN INC.[/color]

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What do y'all think?

Oh, and I'd just like to add that Arinze rocks. I gotta make that into a t-shirt.

[Ash Wednesday]

I thought the jab at Fr. Levis and Fr. Echart was a bit snippy. "The bishop approved it" doesn't always make something necessarily right.

But I give them credit in their effort to follow Arinze's requests and be faithful in that respect. Arinze truly does rock.

Me, personally, I'm not really big on LifeTeen. I have mixed feelings about it.

[Mateo el Feo]

[quote name='dUSt' date='Jul 30 2004, 03:00 AM'] What LIFE TEEN had been doing liturgically was in accord with church law. Canon 846 had given a right to adaptation. We had followed what the Canon Law Society of American had discussed in detail at its 1999 convention on the question of adaptation as a right of the laity. We also followed the church's law that the diocesan bishop is the chief liturgists in his diocese. [/quote]
Here's the Canon that "gives a right to adaptation":

[quote]Can. 846 §1 The liturgical books, approved by the competent authority, are to be faithfully followed in the celebration of the sacraments. Accordingly, no one may on a personal initiative add to or omit or alter anything in those books.

§2 The ministers are to celebrate the sacraments according to their own rite. [/quote]

Just a point of reference. Back in 1999, someone sent a similar letter and received the same response. There are plenty of responses to his letter:

[url="http://www.cin.org/archives/cinapol/199908/0157.html"]http://www.cin.org/archives/cinapol/199908/0157.html[/url]

Enjoy!

[Madonna]

His response did not make me feel any better.

Thanks for mailing them though, Dustin. I'm on staff over at onerock.com, and lifeteen is a very big controversey there as well. Do you mind if I post your letter and their response over there as well? I'm sure everyone will be super interested.

[p0lar_bear]

The bishop, as the regulator of the liturgy in his diocese, can make or allow a number of adaptations to the liturgy (there are, of course, limitations on this). If the bishop had approved these things, then the responsibility lies with him, not with LifeTeen who, apparently, went through the proper channels. If they said "can we do xyz?" and their bishop said yes, we should not attack them for accepting the decision of their bishop. I'm not saying I agree with those adaptations, I'm just saying that it appears they were trusting the discretion of their bishop. (If local LifeTeen groups were instructed to contact their bishops, as the letter indicates, and did not, then the local group is responsible, not the organization itself.)

Given the amount of flak they've probably gotten from various sources, their defensiveness is understandable. Most people who talk about (and bash) LifeTeen don't bother to contact them about these things and ask them why they do them.

Now they have a new bishop who has asked them not to do these things, and they are obeying. We need to give them some credit instead of assuming they were intentionally disrespecting or disobeying the Church.

[HomeTeamFamily]

why is this still an issue.....hasnt it been established that changes are forthcoming?

[MagiDragon]

[quote name='dUSt' date='Jul 30 2004, 03:00 AM'] Fr. Levis and Fr. Echart are not bishops and so have no right to say what a bishop can and cannot do. [/quote]
hmmm . . . i don't like this: it implies that no one below a bishop can spot a flaw in that bishop's practice. We know better than this! How many saints have corrected popes?!

[quote]Oh, and I'd just like to add that Arinze rocks. I gotta make that into a t-shirt. [/quote]

Yes, and when you do, I want one!

Peace

[ilovechrist]

[quote name='dUSt' date='Jul 30 2004, 03:00 AM'] Finally we have been asked to make some liturgical changes by Cardinal Arinze and this we have already informed all of the pastor's of LIFE TEEN to implement with regard to them. Again you can see that we are doing all we are asked to do to be faithful to the Church. [/quote]
i've noticed this....

i'm arguing this over @ OneRock too. though i'm not too fond of Fr. Gaglia's response, he is stating truth that LifeTeen is [i]now[/i] following everything they're told by Cardinal Arinze and the others.

did they before? i'm not quite sure... it is quite questionable.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote]Oh, and I'd just like to add that Arinze rocks. I gotta make that into a t-shirt.[/quote]

I'll take one! w00t!

Another idea for a shirt:

Front Side:

Image of Pope John Paul II with the words "be not afraid."

Back Side:

"Phatmass: We shall not fear though the earth should [b]ROCK![/b]" -Psalm 46:2

I stole the use of the psalm referencing music from a friend of mine from seminary. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind, though...lol...

[traichuoi]

[quote name='p0lar_bear' date='Jul 30 2004, 08:04 AM'] The bishop, as the regulator of the liturgy in his diocese, can make or allow a number of adaptations to the liturgy (there are, of course, limitations on this). If the bishop had approved these things, then the responsibility lies with him, not with LifeTeen who, apparently, went through the proper channels. If they said "can we do xyz?" and their bishop said yes, we should not attack them for accepting the decision of their bishop. I'm not saying I agree with those adaptations, I'm just saying that it appears they were trusting the discretion of their bishop. (If local LifeTeen groups were instructed to contact their bishops, as the letter indicates, and did not, then the local group is responsible, not the organization itself.)

Given the amount of flak they've probably gotten from various sources, their defensiveness is understandable. Most people who talk about (and bash) LifeTeen don't bother to contact them about these things and ask them why they do them.

Now they have a new bishop who has asked them not to do these things, and they are obeying. We need to give them some credit instead of assuming they were intentionally disrespecting or disobeying the Church. [/quote]
i agree here. there really is no discussion on the topic anymore seeing as they are responding to the Bishop's and Cardinal Arinze's guidelines.

i want to further clarify some things. Letters were sent out to every LIFE TEEN parish outlining what needs to take place in mass. Furthermore, LIFE TEEN did seek out the wisdom of Cardinal Arinze and our local Bishop. I'm sure people have assumed that the Cardinal and Bishop attacked LIFE TEEN but just to assure you, LT sought out the Cardinal to find out what they need to change or do.

LT is really taking an obedient stance on this. They will be sending out videos to all LT parishes to address these liturgical abuses.

again, there really is no reason to discuss these abuses seeing as they are in process of being fully conformed to the GIRM.

(p.s. i have been to those LT trainings and i can attest to Msgr. Dale always saying be obedient to your local parish and diocese.)