Cardinal Robert Sarah, known for his traditionalist stance and often considered a possible future pope, delivered a passionate address in Dakar on Monday, denouncing what he perceives as a concerning trend in the Western world regarding the Catholic Mass. His remarks were made during a Mass he presided over at Dakar Cathedral while attending a liturgy conference in the suburbs of Dakar, scheduled until December 8.
Expressing dismay over what he sees as the erosion of faith-based values and the alteration of the Mass, Cardinal Sarah emphasized his concern about adapting Catholic worship to local customs in Africa and Asia. He lamented what he called a “destruction of the forms of the Mass” and criticized efforts to integrate African and Asian cultural elements into the liturgy, suggesting that this risks distorting the essence of the Paschal mystery celebrated in the Mass.
In his address, he pointed out that these attem犀利士 pts to incorporate cultural elements sometimes lead to excessively long ceremonies, lasting up to six hours, and he criticized the liturgies as being “banal,” “noisy,” and, in his view, more reflective of African cultural expressions than Christian traditions.
Despite Cardinal Sarah’s criticism, his message was received with reverence during the Monday evening celebration, which was marked by the presence of an organist, a choir, and around forty bishops and priests at the altar. Notably, the event attracted only a modest number of attendees, with the majority being faithful and religious individuals, some of whom were participating in the liturgy congress.
Cardinal Sarah warned against reducing the liturgy to a matter of pastoral efficiency, cautioning that this approach risks turning it into a mere human endeavor rather than a sacred and profound expression of faith. He praised the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI, highlighting Benedict’s scholarly approach and referring to him as a guiding light amidst what he described as an opposition of “pseudo-liturgists.”
The article highlighted Cardinal Sarah’s concerns about the adaptation of Catholic worship in different cultural contexts and his call for a preservation of traditional forms of the Mass and liturgy, drawing attention to his remarks and their context in Dakar.