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The Jurist 70 (2010) 114–130 114 * Saint John’s Abbey, Collegeville, MN 1 This presentation was the second lecture in the Frederick R. Mc Manus Memorial Lecture Series and was given at the Catholic University of America on October 30, 2008. LITURGY AND ECCLESIASTICAL LAW: SOME CANONICAL AND PASTORAL CHALLENGES1 R. Kevin Seasoltz, O.S.B.* Introduction I am indeed very pleased to give this memorial lecture in honor of Monsignor Frederick McManus, for I was in fact one of his earliest doctoral students. While I was a novice at St. Anselm’s Abbey here in Washington , he visited me and asked me about finishing my doctorate in canon law by writing a dissertation on the legislation on church architecture and art. Monsignor McManus was a kind but meticulous Doktor Vater. He not only had a clear grasp of canonical legislation but also the theological foundations for ecclesiastical law. He was able to situate laws in their broad historical context and was never hesitant to point out the strengths and the limitations of the Church’s legal system. Above all he had a sound pastoral sense.As a splendid administrator for many years in this university—as dean of the School of Canon Law, as vice provost and dean of graduate studies, and as academic vice president of the university , he proved himself to be amazingly efficient but was never officious. He was also the editor of The Jurist for many years. Monsignor McManus initiated the graduate program here in liturgical studies. I was very pleased to be part of his inaugural efforts while serving on the university faculty. He participated in ecumenical dialogues at both national and international levels. As a peritus at the Second Vatican Council he was deeply involved in the postconciliar implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and was a key figure in the establishment of ICEL, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. For many years he was an officer in the Liturgical Conference and served as a wise advisor to the United States Bishops’Committee on the Liturgy. Above all Monsignor McManus was a Christian gentleman. He was also a dear friend of my confrere at St. John’s in Collegeville, Father Godfrey Diekmann. Their efforts at liturgical reform and renewal did not always meet with success; they would both be saddened by con- 2 A recent document that is in fact evangelical, theological, juridical, and pastoral is the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy. For a sound commentary on that document , see Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines, ed. Peter C. Phan (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2005). liturgy and ecclesiastical law 115 temporary developments in the liturgical life of our Church. I hope that now that they have finished life’s journey, they are in fact both actively participating in a heavenly liturgy that measures up to their fondest ideals. Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy is a document that is evangelical, theological, juridical, and pastoral. It is evangelical in the sense that it has been framed in the spirit of the New Testament, as the words of the Constitution are often the very words of the Gospel. It is theological in that it elaborates at length the theological foundations for the way in which the Church is sanctified and worships: in Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is juridical in the sense that it proposes definite practical lines of action in matters of the liturgy. Finally, it is pastoral in that its objective is, as the first paragraph of the document states, “to impart an ever-increasing vigor to the Christian lives of the faithful; to adapt more closely to the needs of our age those institutions which are subject to change; to encourage whatever can promote the union of all who believe in Christ; and to strengthen whatever serves to call all of humanity into the Church’s fold” (SC, no 1). Post-Conciliar Liturgical Documents in Context Some, but not all of the major liturgical documents issued since Vatican II, have also been evangelical, theological, juridical, and...

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