Author: Hugh Somerville Knapman

Blessed are the Administrators

— Posted inChurch life — 4 min read

The grime-blackened blocks of stone of which Hinsley Hall in Leeds is built make it a forbidding, even grim, place to approach for the first time. Once through the door, however, it is a place of warmth and cheer, with a well-attended morning Mass. […]

I saved my pennies and…

— Posted inLiturgy — 2 min read

…bought this lovely piece of liturgical bookmanship. This altar missal for the Extraordinary Form is so nicely produced, and at a price cheaper than the equivalent for the Ordinary Form available here, that I felt it needed a brief review. In part this is […]

Vale Vatican II: Moving On

— Posted inChurch life — 6 min read

Two documents, both episcopal but both quite different, have captured my attention these last few weeks. The first was the motu proprio of Pope Francis, Magnum principium, devolving primary responsibility for the liturgical translations to bishops’ conferences. It has already been dealt with on […]

The Motu Proprio – where it will bite

— Posted inLiturgy — 5 min read

On social media there are clergy and others who are worried, as I am, about the extra burden of expense new missals would bring to parishes, and many an individual, already struggling to make ends meet. However, it would be a brave anglophone bishops’ […]

In defence of bishops

— Posted inChurch life — 8 min read

The recent flurry of words and concern over the motu proprio has involved reflection on the curia, bishops’ conferences and collegiality. To no one’s surprise, I have some strong views about them all. So, in order that the wrong impression is not gleaned by […]

Motu proprio-gate: the upside

— Posted inLiturgy — 4 min read

Let’s compare the old and the newly-decreed forms of canon 838. The old: Can. 838 – §1 The ordering and guidance of the sacred liturgy depends solely upon the authority of the Church, namely, that of the Apostolic See and, as provided by law, that of the diocesan Bishop. §2. It is the prerogative of the Apostolic See to regulate the sacred liturgy of the universal Church, to publish liturgical books and review their vernacular translations, and to […]

Magnum Principium: Why the Fuss?

— Posted inLiturgy — 8 min read

Not unreasonably, some people in social media are at a loss as to why there is such a fuss about the change to canon law, and so liturgical law, in the pope’s just-released motu proprio, Magnum Principium. After all, it is just a change […]

Motu proprio “Magnum Principium”—a translation

— Posted inLiturgy — 7 min read

Herewith my hasty and rough translation of the pope’s new motu proprio, Magnum Principium. Comments to follow in due course. The great principle, confirmed by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, according to which liturgical prayer, as adapted to their comprehension, should be understood by […]

Moto proprio “Magnum Principium”

— Posted inLiturgy — 1 min read

It has dropped. Not in L”Osservatore Romano as expected, but on the Vatican website. As yet it is only in Latin and Italian, so it will take some time for those slow in those languages (like me) to read it properly. Attached herewith is […]