Rome: More Latin, Please

Noted in the December issue of the Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission:

"The Year of the Eucharist: Suggestions and Proposals", a document issued on October 13 by the Holy See's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, gives several recommendations to make Pope John Paul II's Year of the Eucharist a success. Among these, according to an October 14 Catholic News Service report, is one that encourages "familiarity of Latin, indicating its necessity, especially in houses of formation and in seminaries, for prayer and singing in Latin, particularly Gregorian chant." Among other proposals, the document suggests the promotion of Eucharistic adoration, reflections by priests on such problems as the priest shortage, low Sunday Mass attendance, and teaching the faithful how to behave properly in church.

Fond as I am of Latin (and I note the use of the word "necessity", not just "desirability" or "appropriateness") but I think in this year of Our Lord 2004, I would nudge "teaching the faithful how to behave properly in church" a bit further up toward the top of the list.