Controversies Surrounding This Music
Contemporary music aims to enable the entire congregation to take part in song, a goal its proponents claim agrees with the Second Vatican Council’s attempt to engender a more inclusive liturgy. What its advocates call a direct and accessible style of music places the participation of the gathered assembly higher in priority than the aesthetic values characterized by earlier sacred music, although many traditional Protestant congregations demonstrate that group singing and aesthetics can co-exist.
Music for worship, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is to be judged by three sets of criteria: pastoral, liturgical, and musical, with the place of honor accorded to Gregorian chant and the organ. Coming from this foundation, it has been argued that the adoption of the more popular musical styles is alien to the Roman Rite, and weakens the distinctiveness of Catholic worship. Certain songs in this genre, for example, put the singer in the position of God, singing His part in the first person. Suzanne Toolan's "I Am the Bread of Life", was composed in this manner. Due to "inclusive language" becoming an issue by the 1980s, this was one of many songs that was edited in newer hymnals.
Dan Schutte's "Here I Am, Lord", (based on a Scripture text) was composed with the intent that the cantor would sing God's part but over time, people in the pews began to sing both parts." This style contrasts with the traditional form where the congregation sings to God.
In 1990, Thomas Day wrote Why Catholics Can't Sing, assailing the then-current style of music in the American Church.
Catholic Worship Online is a site that's dedicated to encouraging music ministers to gain a better understanding o the USCCB's three criteria and how to appropriate Contemporary Catholic Music to other settings of worship in the Church such as Para-liturgy (Time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament) and Private Devotion (small prayer groups).
Read more about this topic: Contemporary Catholic Liturgical Music
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