Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, is still at the same time Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Toledo. There, during Holy Week, he reinstated the communion rail in the Cathedral and encouraged the faithful to receive Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue (cf. report in Spanish
here; kneelers for receiving Holy Communion kneeling have also been recently introduced at two other Spanish Cathedrals, that of Málaga, beginning with the Chrism Mass, and that of the Diocese of the Armed Forces in Madrid, cf. report in Spanish
here). After his successor, Msgr. Braulio Rodríguez, until now Archbishop of Valladolid, has been named last week, Cardinal Cañizares before leaving the Archdiocese has granted
an interview to the Spanish newspaper ABC. Here is the question concerning the reception of Holy Communion in an NLM translation:
ABC: A few days ago you prompted the faithful to receive Holy Communion kneeling. Does the Church by reforming the liturgy in this way come closer to man?
Cardinal Cañizares: Communion kneeling signifies respect for God, it is the heart of man which prostrates itself before the One Who loves him unto the end. These are signs, it is not about change for change's sake, it is about looking for the whole meaning and overcoming the secularisation of our world. One of the objectives of our congregations is to realise in these years a great campaign of liturgical formation.
Speaking of Cardinal Cañizares, just a brief reminder that
as mentioned in February, tomorrow His Eminence will pontificate in the Extraordinary Form in the Lateran Basilica. The NLM will try to provide you some images as soon as possible.
