Thomas Edwards. Sep. 9, 2026
The Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship has warned 49 newly appointed bishops against unnecessary liturgical innovation, syncretism and turning the liturgy into a “permanent laboratory”
The Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship has warned 49 newly appointed bishops against turning liturgical inculturation into either a rejection of tradition or a constant search for novelty.
Bishop Aurelio García Macías, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, told the bishops last week that they must avoid both extremes as they seek to bring the liturgy into the cultures of the peoples they serve.
“We must not be afraid of cultures, neither must we idealize them,” Bishop García said. “We must not be afraid of diversity, neither must we sacrifice communion. We must not stifle the authentic creativity of the Spirit, neither must we confuse it with arbitrariness. We must not turn the liturgy into a museum of immutable forms, neither must we turn it into a permanent laboratory.”
The Spanish prelate was speaking during the formation course for new bishops organised by the Dicastery for Evangelization’s Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches. This year’s course is dedicated to the theme “Servants of Communion in the Church” and brought together 49 newly appointed bishops at the Pontifical Missionary College St Peter the Apostle.
Bishop García, Titular Bishop of Rotdon, gave a presentation entitled “The Liturgy in the Episcopal Ministry. Continuity and Newness in the Liturgy in the Context of First Evangelization”, addressing the bishops on the place of worship within their episcopal ministry.
He recalled the opening words of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, which says that the Council sought “to impart an ever increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful” and “to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change”.
He also recalled the Council’s teaching that “the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows”.
“The liturgy does not belong to the priest who celebrates it, to the group that prepares it, or to the particular community that takes part in it,” Bishop García said. “The liturgy belongs to Christ and to the Church.”
The question of inculturation formed the centre of his presentation, with Bishop García noting that for many of the Churches entrusted to the new bishops it is “not a theoretical problem, but a daily pastoral concern”. The Bishop cautioned against reducing inculturation to the visible addition of cultural practices to Catholic worship. It “does not simply mean introducing elements of local culture into the liturgy”, he said. It is not sufficient merely to “add a traditional song, introduce a dance, use a local musical instrument or translate a text”.
“No culture is the Gospel,” Bishop García said.
“Every culture needs to be evangelized…Every culture contains the semina Verbi, but every culture also bears the wounds of sin,” the Prelate said.
The Gospel therefore “welcomes and purifies, embraces and transforms, confirms and corrects, elevates and, when necessary, calls for a break”.
Bishop García warned the new bishops particularly against three dangers: unnecessary innovation, syncretism and folklore. On innovation, he referred to Sacrosanctum Concilium, which states that no changes should be introduced “unless a genuine and proven benefit to the Church requires it”.
Syncretism, meanwhile, was identified as a “particularly sensitive issue in areas where traditional religions remain culturally very much alive”. The warning is especially relevant to missionary territories where Christian worship exists alongside longstanding religious traditions.
The Bishop also cautioned against folklore, insisting that “the liturgy is not a cultural performance”. A cultural practice should enter the liturgy not because it is visually striking or distinctive, but because “it can serve the mystery being celebrated”.
Bishop García also referred to the 1994 instruction Varietates legitimae, which states that “the first significant measure of inculturation is the translation of liturgical books into the language of the people”. At the same time, he stressed that every translation “must be faithful to the original text”. Such developments, Bishop García told the bishops, cannot be rushed. Inculturation “cannot be improvised; it cannot be decided on the basis of a single successful celebration, nor can it depend on the enthusiasm of a bishop/priest or a group”.
More: https://x.com/realadvaticanum/status/2097608144755335586?s=46&t=IydJ-X8H6c0NM044nYKQ0w
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