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Evangelii Nuntiandi, Chapter IV
The Methods of Evangelization
no. 48 Popular Piety
In this number the Council Fathers took up a subject that has received much attention lately in our Church and in the world. Sociologists have written extensively about it. They have studied it mainly among the less advanced, poorer social groups, but no. 48 says it exists in all countries whether rich or poor, advanced or not. Popular religiosity or “popular piety,” as St. Pope Paul VI calls it, consists of all those practices which people perform to come in contact with God, the saints and the angels in their daily lives. It is simply the religion of the people.
This religion of the people is very good and useful, but it is very “vulnerable.” It can become distorted or superstitious. To help priests and those who have the care of souls, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published the “Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy” in 2001. It lays down the principles that should govern the relationship between the popular forms of piety and the Liturgy. The first one is that catechesis should see to it that “pious exercises are in harmony with the spirit, norms and rhythms of the Liturgy” (no. 7). A second goal is: “The verbal and gestural language of popular piety should be careful to ensure the transmission of the truth of the faith together with the greatness of the Christian mysteries” (no. 14).
No. 16 of the Directory brings a couple of more goals for the catechesis of popular piety: “Devotional prayers and formulae should be inspired by Sacred Scripture, the Liturgy, the Fathers of the Church and the magisterium. The established public prayers attached to pious devotions and the various acts associated with pious exercises must always be approved by the local
Ordinary.”
The Directory gives three reasons for the distortion of the correct relation between the Liturgy and popular piety: 1) A weakened awareness of the supremacy of the Paschal Mystery in the hierarchy of truths of our Faith. 2) A weakening of a sense of the universal priesthood in virtue of which the laity participate fully in the Church’s worship. If, in addition, the Liturgy is dominated by clerics, the laity will be tempted to have recourse to pious exercises through which they become active participants. 3) Lack of knowledge of the language and symbols of the Liturgy can lead to a feeling of being extraneous to the liturgical action. Then people go to pious exercises more in line with their cultural formation or because these devotions respond more obviously to daily life.
The Directory also admonishes priests and other pastoral workers not to neglect or disdain popular piety: “A realization of the primordial importance of the Liturgy should never lead to neglect of the reality of popular piety or to a lack of appreciation for it, nor any position that would regard it as superfluous to the Church’s worship” (no. 50).
Mary, mother of the Church, give our missionaries an appreciation of popular piety and the wisdom to know how to integrate it into the faith of their people. Amen.
The Methods of Evangelization
no. 48 Popular Piety
In this number the Council Fathers took up a subject that has received much attention lately in our Church and in the world. Sociologists have written extensively about it. They have studied it mainly among the less advanced, poorer social groups, but no. 48 says it exists in all countries whether rich or poor, advanced or not. Popular religiosity or “popular piety,” as St. Pope Paul VI calls it, consists of all those practices which people perform to come in contact with God, the saints and the angels in their daily lives. It is simply the religion of the people.
This religion of the people is very good and useful, but it is very “vulnerable.” It can become distorted or superstitious. To help priests and those who have the care of souls, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published the “Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy” in 2001. It lays down the principles that should govern the relationship between the popular forms of piety and the Liturgy. The first one is that catechesis should see to it that “pious exercises are in harmony with the spirit, norms and rhythms of the Liturgy” (no. 7). A second goal is: “The verbal and gestural language of popular piety should be careful to ensure the transmission of the truth of the faith together with the greatness of the Christian mysteries” (no. 14).
No. 16 of the Directory brings a couple of more goals for the catechesis of popular piety: “Devotional prayers and formulae should be inspired by Sacred Scripture, the Liturgy, the Fathers of the Church and the magisterium. The established public prayers attached to pious devotions and the various acts associated with pious exercises must always be approved by the local
Ordinary.”
The Directory gives three reasons for the distortion of the correct relation between the Liturgy and popular piety: 1) A weakened awareness of the supremacy of the Paschal Mystery in the hierarchy of truths of our Faith. 2) A weakening of a sense of the universal priesthood in virtue of which the laity participate fully in the Church’s worship. If, in addition, the Liturgy is dominated by clerics, the laity will be tempted to have recourse to pious exercises through which they become active participants. 3) Lack of knowledge of the language and symbols of the Liturgy can lead to a feeling of being extraneous to the liturgical action. Then people go to pious exercises more in line with their cultural formation or because these devotions respond more obviously to daily life.
The Directory also admonishes priests and other pastoral workers not to neglect or disdain popular piety: “A realization of the primordial importance of the Liturgy should never lead to neglect of the reality of popular piety or to a lack of appreciation for it, nor any position that would regard it as superfluous to the Church’s worship” (no. 50).
Mary, mother of the Church, give our missionaries an appreciation of popular piety and the wisdom to know how to integrate it into the faith of their people. Amen.