Pope Francis calls for renewal of sacred music tradition

Sistine Chapel Choir

Source: Vatican Radio

Pope Francis on Saturday received the participants in a major international conference on sacred music, a half-century after the promulgation of the Conciliar document, Musicam sacram on music in the sacred liturgy. More than 400 people taking part in the gathering organized by the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Pontifical Council for Culture around the theme: Music and the Church: cult and culture fifty years after Musicam sacram, met in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace to hear the Holy Father.

"Certainly the encounter with modernity and the introduction of vernacular tongues into the Liturgy stirred up many problems: of musical languages, forms and genres," the Pope said. "Sometimes a certain mediocrity, superficiality and banality have prevailed, to the detriment of the beauty and intensity of liturgical celebrations."

The Holy Father encouraged everyone involved in the field of liturgical music - from composers, conductors, musicians and choristers, to liturgical animators - to do their best to contribute to the renewal of sacred music and liturgical chant, especially as far as the quality of sacred music is concerned.

"To facilitate this process we need to promote proper musical education, especially for those who are preparing to become priests - in dialogue with the musical trends of our time, with the demands of the different cultural areas, and with an ecumenical attitude," he concluded.