Pope encourages new reflections on liturgical music

Vatican, Dec. 05 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI encouraged reflection on the relationship between sacred music and Church liturgy, in a message to a conference on that topic, organized by the Congregation for Divine Worship.

In his brief message, the Holy Father recalled that his predecessor, John Paul II, called for greater attention to liturgical music, in marking the 100th anniversary of Tra le Sollecitudini the encyclical on sacred music released in 1903 by Pope Pius X.

The conference to which the Pope's message was addressed had been organized by the Congregation for Divine Worship, under the direction of Cardinal Francis Arinze (bio - news), to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the Vatican II document Sacrosanctum Concilium, on the renewal of the liturgy. On the 40th anniversary of that same document, in 2003, Pope John Paul had observed: "Sacred music is a privilege means of facilitating the active participation of the faithful" in the liturgy.