Friday, August 13, 2010

Combier-Donovan to head Office of Worship ~ Catholic Review

And WHY hasn't this news been given to us through the Catholic Virginian??? I am amazed! Or maybe I shouldn't be... Nothing was even hinted at that she was leaving.

You can read of Catherine Combier-Donovan's new position
here.

It begins:

Combier-Donovan to head Office of Worship

From the Catholic Review Staff
Archdiocese of Baltimore

Paulist Father John E. Hurley, executive director of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Department of Evangelization, announced the appointment of Catherine Combier-Donovan as the new director of the Office for Worship.

Combier-Donovan has held the same position in the Diocese of Richmond since 2006 and has over 10 years of liturgical experience, including parish positions in North and South Carolina and Virginia

Continued -


13 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's the same 1980's mush. "Eucharistic table"...blah...blah..blah....The most telling part of this article is how many of the bishops and priests are ignoring the Holy Father regarding terminology. It's called an altar. Her departure from the Richmond diocese will not change ANYTHING! The Richmond Diocese HATES Roman-style liturgies and no matter how scared of the new translation the folksy liturgical crowd is, NOTHING WILL CHANGE IN THE RICHMOND DIOCESE. The leadership of this diocese is too attached and and in love with the liturgy and music of the 1980's. That is why the leadership of this diocese will continue to thumb its nose at Gregorian Chant! The proof is in the pudding....look at how much Bishop Di'Lorenzo has addressed liturgy and the use of Chant. Can anybody site an instance where he has addressed the use of Gregorian Chant?

standing maryanna said...

BTW, thanks to Anonymous 9:01 on the previous article for the heads up about this info!

Anonymous said...

The people in the Diocese of Richmond should consider themselves blessed with the news of this departure......

Katie Beaumont said...

I long for the day when Gather Us In, is out. I long for the day when the faithful who desire private prayer-time before the Blessed Sacrament before Sunday Mass can find the tabernacle without being segregated from the rest of the community. I long for the day when ALL catholic parishes take the initiative to offer at least ONE Gregorian Chant Mass per week. We are fooling ourselves when we believe that diversity means anything but Chant! Although Gather Us In will never be out, it's time for the Richmond Diocese to address these other liturgical issues.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Katie. I can't understand the restrictions placed upon us by many parishes in regards to Gregorian Chant etc. It is as if this form of music is profane. Yet the music industry capitalizes upon chant and signs a record deal with cloistered contemplatives nuns obviously recognizing the popularity of this form of music. The only ones who don't get it is the people making the decisions in our Church. Its as if they are stuck in a time warp somewhere in the seventies. Parishes should offer chant as well as a kneeler for those who choose to kneel for communion. If the Church gives you these options they should not be frowned upon nor discouraged but readily offered to the faith community. If we are truly Catholic (universal) hence tolerant no one should object. Talk about restrictive, the very same people who scream they are progressive are the very ones who will carry on like spoiled children the moment changes are made contrary to their preference. I say offer everything the Catholic Church allows the faithful. Alternate styles if you must remaining cautious to stay within the guideline of the rubrics and the g.i.r.m.of the Church. Chant should be allowed and tolerated. Tradition combined with the authentic changes of Vatican II should be infused. The Church is one from its inception until now. I celebrate its richness,its tradition and it beauty, always being mindful that it is Jesus' Church guided by the Holy Spirit.

Anonymous said...

I just can't help myself but I'm going to have to lecture all of you about liturgy. I know some of you will claim I'm a phony...yadadayada...so I'll come out right now and admit I'm a phony, I'm a fake etc....to get it out of the way so I can get to my point. My point is....
We are a faith-community of gathered believers. Those of you who keep whining about chant, tabernacles and other distractions need to realize that it's not about privitizing community worship. We are Church. As the Table Song sings: "We are the body of Christ, broken and poured out,
promise of life from death, we are the body of Christ.
Is not the bread of life we break a sharing in the life of God?
Is not the cup of peace outpoured the blood of Christ?
Come taste and see the goodness, the wonders of the risen one!
Come bless our God, in all things, let praise be our song!" This is why we need to be open to celebrating as a gathered assembly.
We Celebrate! We Believe!

Anonymous said...

I know how the Bishops can get even with the Vatican in these liturgy wars. They can allow the music samples of the new translation to the piano instead of the instrument that is to be given "pride of place" in the liturgy.

Katie Beaumont said...

No offense intended, but I'm having a hard time following the celebrate and believe gal's logic. Anyway, I wonder why the Baltimore Archdiocese is more open with communicating with its community than the Richmond Diocese. Is anyone else beginning to see a pattern here? The Richmond Diocese avoids communicating with the faithful of this diocese on any issues pertaining liturgy (except for what is minimally required regarding the new translation of the Roman Missal or to downplay the Pope's reform of the reform initiative). Does anyone know if the diocesan cathedral even offers a weekly Gregorian Chant Mass on Sundays? If not, what's the hold up? Is it that the Bishop is not having success in his leadership, or is it that the bishop is not on the same page as the Holy Father when it comes to liturgy? And we never did get our promised answer about the tabernacle before Ms. CCD's departure. From my perspective, this is inexcusable and unacceptable. When is the leadership of our diocese going to abandon their old habits and evangelize in a 21st century manner? The best way for them to start is to begin regular communication with interested Catholics of the diocese.

Anonymous said...

Miss Beaumont,

I would like to convey some thoughts to you in private. If interested, you can reach me at:

uvchesapeakeva@gmail.com

Kneeling Nick said...

The Diocesan Chancery is little more than a rddled corpse people leave it's employ within a few years of joining. No one can stand it for longer than that save the few powerful "collars" whohave no where else to go.

Mark said...

None of us knows what the inner workings of our Diocese are, but from one objective point of view, we differ markedly from our neighbours to the north and south.

One of the indicators of our "difference" is the number of Traditional Latin Masses offered on a regular basis(source: Ecclesia Dei website):

Diocese of Arlington: 13
Dioceses of Raleigh and Charlotte:
8
Us: 3.

There it is, in simple numbers. Let's continue praying for our Bishop and for our Diocese.

Anonymous said...

And that's not even taking into account the square miles of this diocese! How many miles would a Catholic at any given area of this diocese have to travel to go to a Gregorian Chant Mass in the ordinary form? It's time for the diocese to exercise some leadership and begin to take steps to offer at least one Gregorian Chant Mass a week in EVERY parish in the diocese. This can be done!

Mark said...

August 19, 2010 6:29 PM Anonymous:

You're absolutely right, Gregorian Chant belongs in every parish.

The differences between our Diocese and those next to us are growing - they are moving ahead with the Pope, while we remain frozen in a very dated zeitgeist.

The easy way to deal with such criticism is to convince oneself that these are small groups unable to accept the new vision.

Thus we move forward into a glorious new church by remaining stuck in the past.