What’s turning off young Catholics? Lousy music

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:02 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

What’s turning off young Catholics? Lousy music 2016-09-30T17:02:05-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

So says a leading lay Catholic in Scotland.

Details:

A leading Scots lay Catholic has claimed the music sung in churches is “lousy” and is the reason why young people have stopped going to Mass.

Joan Dillon, a Masters graduate of RSAMD (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), also claimed music at Mass was “more rooted in pop music than in sacred traditions” and was often “so bad it distracted people from the true purpose of worship”.

She said 25 pupils from state schools currently learning Latin through the study of sacred music were the future lifeblood of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

Speaking prior to the launch of Scotland’s first Academy of Sacred Music (AOSM) in Glasgow tonight, Ms Dillon, its founder, told The Herald: “There has been some pretty lousy music sung in Catholic churches and that is where things have gone wrong, why congregations are shrinking.

“It need not be so. As a parent myself it seems to me young people are being brought up immersed in the negative messages of modern music via MTV, a lot of which is demeaning.

“They need the transformative power of sacred music to balance that, but instead they are getting banal, happy-clappy stuff at Mass. Sacred music can lift young people up and help them embrace more noble ideas, yet it is not sung in many Catholic churches in Scotland.”

Ms Dillon said the poor standard of church music stemmed from Vatican II, the Second Vatican Council convened in 1962 by Pope John XXIII which led to Mass being said in English rather than Latin. Her support for sacred music echoes that of leading Scots composer James MacMillan, who Ms Dillon has invited to be patron of the new academy.

Mr MacMillan was commissioned to write new sacred music for masses in Glasgow and Birmingham during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britian in 2010 and caused controversy within the Catholic church when he claimed, in a letter to The Herald, the trend for “touchy-feely-smiley-dancey folk” worship had “repulsed” young people and “put them off going to church in their droves”.

In his address tonight at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow, Mr MacMillan will repeat Pope Benedict’s message that “the world needs beauty in order not to sink into despair” and that music is the most spiritual of the arts.

Read more.

My two cents: I’ve lost track of the number of children’s Masses I’ve attended that include guitars, tambourines and trilling choruses of saccharine folk hymns that you never hear during any other liturgy. Why do we have to condescend to children? Why do we “sing down” to them and give them cheap, simple-minded songs instead of beautiful hymns? Do we think they’ll be bored? The only thing this does is re-enforce the idea that church music is blandly indifferent from anything else they might hear on a long car trip to the beach.

God knows, I’ve got mixed feelings about the new translation of the Roman Missal, but it does achieve one important objective: it tells us We are in Church now. We’re praying. We are worshiping Almighty God. We aren’t just talking. It seems to me our music should achieve the same end. It needs to take us to another place– spiritually, emotionally, psychologically. As they wander outside into the world after Mass, people should feel like something has happened. The world is a little bit different. The people within, putting on their coats and streaming toward the parking lot, are all a little bit different. They should feel it.

They should feel like they’ve been to Church.

Previous Post

November 22, 2012

Best. Thanksgiving episode. Ever.

Next Post

November 23, 2012 From Catholic to Buddhist and back again

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism Education education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution politics Politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized VATICAN Vatican vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the "WCC," an international Christian organization founded in 1948?

Select your answer to see how you score.

World Council of Churches World College of Catholics World Christian Crusade World Clergy Conference

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »