dishonest church teaching QUESTION from Frank Lee August 31, 2001 Our priest and his lay liturgist refuse to accept the 1975 ban on dancing at Mass because they insist movement is allowed. They consistently misuse language and mis-quote church documents in order to do whatever they want in our liturgies. It is very hard to get help and creates a crisis of near schism in the church. Is there any hope that the Vatican will do more than is apparent in the new G.I.R.M. The bishops seem to allow almost any feminist, modernist, even heretical actions in our dioceses, and it is getting very hard to find a faithful Roman catholic Church. The St.Joseph Fdn simply says I can try writing to Rome but not to expect an answer. Any suggestions for support and help?
I am getting worn out writing letters to no avail. I understand Martin Luther a bit better now.
Sincerely, Frank Lee
ANSWER by Mr. Jacob Slavek on September 4, 2001
Dear Mrs. Lee,
In 1994 Rome stated that among some peoples, dance movements can take place in Liturgy. For these peoples, singing is instinctively accompanied by handclapping and swaying. These peoples CANNOT be western culture, because there already is an explicit ban on dancing in the west. (from 1975)
The 1975 ban is found in the document Religious Dance, An Expression of Spiritual Joy, published by Rome in its journal Notitiae, and described itself as AN AUTHORITATIVE POINT OF REFERENCE FOR EVERY DISCUSSION ON THE MATTER. Most of the document praises religious dance, yet becomes quite stern when forbidding dance to take place during Mass.
Despite how the documents are misused and abused, you can be confident that there exists now in the United States a ban on Liturgical Dancing. The truth can be misinterpreted and twisted backwards, but it still remains the truth.
If your pastor has a serious problem with this ban, then he needs to consider asking his bishop that he can transfer to another culture.
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