It was encouraging to hear the authentic introit chant and sacred choral music (Kyrie, Agnus Dei) sung in a cathedral, and to see the devoted faithful attending Mass in what appears to be a cold church! I was impressed with the server who (narrowly) caught the bishop's crosier in a risky hand-off before the homily.
The substitute pieces for the Credo and Sanctus are a German tradition.
The videography for the Mass was often quite good, and it's impressive to see a Sunday service presented every week on national television (alternating between Catholic and Protestant, apparently). The little excursus on St. Ansgar during the Communion was interesting, and the invitation for viewers to look up information online (or even call) was a good idea.
By the way, let's pray for the Church in Germany, which is going through its own 2002 right now, with the exposure of hundreds of abuse cases.
The Archbishop's "confession" during the sermon was about as frank as it could be without legal exposure. The Church in Germany is in a very different position from the Church in the U.S. because they receive "Kirchensteuer" collected by the government. Such an arrangement would be unthinkable here. But over there, in my opinion, it puts the Church (and the Lutheran church) in a peculiar way parallel to the government.
I'm glad to hear the Archbishop come out with it like that and not equivocate.
But why did he keep talking about Taters? (sorry - German joke)
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