John Romeri and Abp. Chaput
  • jim19130
    Posts: 12
    http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/06/04/pope-philly-music-schism/

    The latest. And it just scratches the surface of how this forced resignation has affected choir morale for the upcoming papal Mass and generally.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    More from a local paper:

    "The Choirs of St. Paul’s Church will join those of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia (Andrew Senn director), First United Methodist Church of Germantown (Kevin O’Malia director) and the Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (John Romeri director) in a concert of sacred choral music entitled “Praise!” Wednesday, June 10, 8 p.m., in the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall.

    The concert will be one of the last times to hear Romeri leading his choirs. He was unceremoniously, ungraciously and unfairly forced to resign his posts as director of the office of liturgy & music for the Archdiocese and music director for the Cathedral Basilica by Archbishop Charles Chaput as of June 30 and the end of the Summer, respectively.

    His crime? Attempting to return the Cathedral to its proper place as the leading church in the Archdiocese, both musically and liturgically, after it had fallen on tragically hard times prior to his coming to Philadelphia when Justin Cardinal Rigali was its archbishop. Romeri may not have been able to challenge the supreme standard established by Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral in London, England, but he struggled manfully and successfully to raise that standard well beyond that which he had inherited."
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,916
    "While Chaput is often described as a doctrinal and cultural conservative, in the Catholic Church, that does not necessarily equate with liturgical traditionalism, which is its own distinct — and proud — brand."


    David Gibson's use of this adjective in the Religion News Service article bugs me. Does he mean "haughty" or "worthy of distinction"? Because it's debatable which one 'liturgical traditionalism' tends towards. (All depending on which side of the bed you get up on in the morning, I suppose.)
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,217
    after it had fallen on tragically hard times prior to his coming to Philadelphia when Justin Cardinal Rigali was its archbishop


    Cdl. Rigali was a member of Paul Salamunovich's boys-choir in Los Angeles. That early training should have told the Cardinal which way was "up" in music for worship.
  • SamuelDorlaque
    Posts: 318
    To be fair to Justin Cardinal Rigali, from what I understand, it was Cardinal Rigali who was instrumental in bringing John to Philadelphia for the express purpose of building a better sacred music program not just at the Cathedral but throughout the diocese.
    Thanked by 1BruceL
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,296
    That's my understanding as well, SamuelDorlaque.
    Thanked by 1SamuelDorlaque
  • Liam
    Posts: 4,950
    As I've noted before, it's interesting that the timing of this was very close on the heels of Cdl Rigali ceasing to be a cardinal-elector.
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