As I reported last week, my Pastor informed us that at the request of Bishop Murphy (Diocese of Rockville Centre) that the church would be moving the tabernacle back to the center of the church. I wasn’t sure at the time if this was a general request or something limited to my parish. If it was limited to my parish, what provoked this request? Well now I know. The Bishop visited at confirmation time and was not pleased with what he saw. My Pastor, Father Joe, printed the request of the Bishop this week in the bulletin for all to read along with his response. I will print the Bishop’s letter here along with my recap of Father Joe’s response. My emphases and [comments].
Dear Father Coschignano:
Recently I had the pleasure and the privilege of confirming young men and women in your parish. It was a beautiful moment and one that I very much appreciated. I thank you for the warm welcome that you gave to me and also for the way that you and all those who work with you strive so much to make the experience of worshiping the Lord such a fulfilling and fruitful one.As I mentioned to you during that day, I am very concerned about the comportment of the faithful in your parish church prior to the celebration of the Eucharist. I am not blaming anyone. I am not trying to say that anyone is at fault. I am simply saying that the comportment is not compatible with proper preparation for the celebration of Mass. This interferes with the ability of the people to enter into the liturgy and have the kind of active participation that the Second Vatican Council calls for.
In my judgment, a major reason for this is the fact that the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in a separate chapel that is so removed from the main body of the church that no one knows where the Blessed Sacrament is. I don’t mean that literally but I mean that conscious awareness of’ the presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is lacking to those who enter the main body of your parish church. This is further hampered by the fact that the music ministry is set up in front of the doors into that chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. That means that anyone who wishes to go and pray needs to go through the paraphernalia of those who provide music. I find this problematic. [Yes! Yes! Problematic is a very diplomatic understatement.]
In the document of the United States Bishops “Built of Living Stones – Art, Architecture, and Worship” [Irony! Built of Living Stones being used as a defense of common sense. That made me laugh!] which is the normative document of the Bishops Conference in the United States on liturgical matters § 74 §, it is clear that the Blessed Sacrament is to be placed in such a way in the body of the Church that whether it is in the chapel or not, it must be visible to those who come to worship. This is consistent with the documents of the Second Vatican Council as well as with the most recent documents of the Holy See including Redemptionis Sacramentum. Therefore, I am directing you to begin a process of locating the tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament in the main body of the ‘church. The most simple thing would be to place it in the center of the reredos in the place which clearly set up to have a tabernacle, and where at the last liturgy I celebrated there was a bouquet flowers. [I loved this line.
Courtesy of Leticia at
Causa Nostrae LaetitiaeThe Church has a beautiful reredos. the flowers there in place of the tabernacle has always annoyed me. I am glad to know that I am not alone.] However you do this, I would like to have you give me by September of this your plan for the relocation of the tabernacle. Relocating the tabernacle in and of itself will not be sufficient. Therefore, I am asking to begin a process of educating your people about the reverence that is due to the Blessed Sacrament when they enter church and so long as they are in church. [Father Joe has started this. More on that in a bit.] If over summertime and into the Fall you can do a series of articles in the bulletin announcements from the pulpit or a combination of these and other things, I believe you would do a great service to the People of God in Saint John the Evangelist Parish you would have a parish that would become ever more closely united to the Lord and bear much fruit not only in terms of the spiritual life of your parishioners but also in other important elements for the life of the Church such as vocations to the priesthood. [Amen!]
Please do net see this as anything but an act of support for you and for the good work you do as pastor. You and I share the pastoral responsibility for Center Moriches. I would be remiss if I did not say this to you. I say it to you as my brother and as my collaborator with full confidence that you have both the love of your people and the pastoral skills good and holy priest to bring this about for the present and future good of the Body Christ in Center Moriches.
Please know that The Office Worship is at your disposal to help you in this process. If I can be of any help, you know that wish so to be.
With my prayers and best wishes, I am
Fraternally yours in Christ,
William Murphy
Bishop of Rockville Centre
This is wonderful! Trust me when I tell you the St. John’s is by no means the poster child for irreverence. I have been to many other parishes that are much more in need of a similar loving correction.
With that said, I am so glad that Bishop Murphy took notice of the problem, keenly identified the root cause, and followed up. This is excellent pastoral leadership. Equally good has been Father Joe’s response. He quickly and happily complied with the Bishop by printing a series of articles in the bulletin about proper deportment in Church and then spoke at all the masses last week on the topic. He also indicated that he will be moving a number of activities out of the church itself so as to foster an environment of prayer.
He has also announced that he is preparing for a ceremony to move the tabernacle. I cannot wait for this. My great thanks and appreciation for their wonderful leadership and pastoral care in helping making the Eucharist, source and summit of our faith, once again front and center.
October 2, 2007 at 11:49 am
“It is silly – given all the parishes that have the tabernacle in the sanctuary or slightly off to one side or the other – to imply it will magically change issues of lack of reverence or increase vocations.”
Well then, it goes to show you how faithful the Faithful are if they know of the tabernacle’s presence and still act as they do. If it turned off the bishop, then yes, it will have a “magical” effect. As you pray, so do you believe…
October 2, 2007 at 12:30 pm
It is NOT the tabernacle that is important.
Bottomline – it is a storage area.
October 2, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Our Lord said to a privileged soul
recently. My tabernacle is being removed from the center of the altars. Why? I am not the center of your Lives?
October 2, 2007 at 1:13 pm
We have the bishop’s chair covering our tabernacle! God Bless your Bishop.
October 2, 2007 at 1:16 pm
The tabernacle is NOT just a “storage area”. It is the Ark of the Covenant! It is the place where our Eucharistic Jesus lives…Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity!
Thanks be to God for this wonderful bishop and may God bless us with many more!
October 2, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Major error —-
the tabernacle is NOT the ‘ark of the covenant’ – never was, never will be.
Who teaches that error? Who can document it as official church teaching???
It is NOT where Jesus ‘lives’ either.
It is the place to store the reserved sacrament IF there is any to be kept.
October 2, 2007 at 1:53 pm
It is not a major error.
The reserved sacrement is JESUS.
It is not just a storage place.
Anybody who claims it is not were Jesus lives, has no clue.
Moronic statements like this are why the church is a mess.
This is from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Title: CCC Search Result – Paragraph # 1183
Keywords: -None-
Description: -None-
Body: 3 The tabernacle is to be situated “in churches in a most worthy place with the greatest honor.” The dignity, placing, and security of the Eucharistic tabernacle should foster adoration before the Lord really present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
The sacred chrism (myron), used in anointings as the sacramental sign of the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, is traditionally reserved and venerated in a secure place in the sanctuary. The oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick may also be placed there
October 2, 2007 at 2:01 pm
This Bishop you can take with a “grain of salt”. Many of the parishoners in the Diocese know this too. Many of the Priests feel the same way. The tabernacle needs to be in a separate place where people can sit and pay respect. Many healings and miracles have taken place by the tabernacle while people have been in prayer.
October 2, 2007 at 2:06 pm
NO ONE said the reserved sacrament was other than Jesus.
The tabernacle is not the same as the reserved sacrament – just as it is not the ‘ark of the Covenant’ or the place where Jesus ‘lives’.
The CCC citation speaks of location of the tabernacle – it does not back up the claim of it being the ‘ark’ or where Jesus ‘lives’.
October 2, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Hurray for the Bishop
Interior decorators always point at in a home for a focal point. Out focal point in the church is the Altar, not the choir or the priest sitting high on a throne. It is our Lord that is the main attraction and it is because of Him that makes us Catholic different than any other religion. People of other faiths come to the Catholic church in time of distress, I know, for I have had the occation of such events. They felt comfortable even though they did not know why or understand that we have a Crucifix. We need more Bishops who will stand up and recognize what is important.
When I enter the church, I look for the tabernacle and sometimes you can not find it. The sanctuary light is also moved in some cases. I always look for the sanctuary light for I know I will find my Lord close by. A reminder why I am Catholic.
God Love you,
October 2, 2007 at 2:32 pm
The Bishop could always put up a sign that says” This way to the Tabernacle”. It is much cheaper than moving it and wasting the Parishoners money.
October 2, 2007 at 3:30 pm
The sanctuary light is a sign that there is reserved sacrament in the tabernacle and is located near the tabernacle.
It is not about Jesus being ‘nearby’.
If the light is not on the tabernacle is empty.
October 2, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Kudos to the Bishop, but keep in mind this bishop isn’t exactly a champion of orthodoxy and orthopraxis. He’s probably minding his ps and qs to avoid drawing more negative attention to himself since all of his scandals:
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/ny-rockvillecentre/parishes_at_risk.htm
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmurphyw.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_18_39/ai_99019840
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E0D81530F933A25750C0A9649C8B63
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_1_39/ai_94079322
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/06/22/placa/index_np.html
October 2, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Yes! Yes! Yes!!! I recently went to the Sunday afternoon Mass at your parish (sorry, but that was a big mistake! Drums and yucky music) and was absolutely dismayed at the lack of the presence of the Tabernacle. In fact, as I was reading this post, it was your parish that came to mind…and then I read further about the band blocking the doors…and I thought to myself “Coincidence?” and then I saw the picture of the beautiful reredo and I KNEW I was thinking of the right parish. For the life of me I could not understand why there was a plant in the place of the Tabernacle. Now, I am happy to hear the Tabernacle will be front and center.
Now if only they could get rid of that crappy “Lifeteen” music junk and bring back real hymns into the Mass. I understand that this Mass is geared towards teens, but they deserve better. Heck, I’ve exposed my second-grade catechism class to Latin hymns…no reason that teens should get any less! 🙂
October 2, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Another poster noted that the altar is the focal point of the church. It is where we celebrate the Mass. People forget that the tabernacle is not part of the altar.
October 2, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Most of what has taken place, the demise of the appearance of the church, lack of reverence, attendance, un catechised youth, etc-mostly if not all has to do with Vatican II though never mentioned by name because one does not want to throw stones at a valid council, which I could not help but notice Bishop Murphy continued to refer to. If you read into his letter, his main reasoning for putting the blessed sacrament back was due to the “participation” of the laity as mandated by the Second Vatican Council. Do the laity really feel such a need to do a reading, sing and clap along, and walk through the sacresty? Do they need the attention that bad?
What I wonder is there anyway that the church can reverse this council without admitting that she was wrong?
October 2, 2007 at 10:06 pm
There is no reason to ‘reverse’ Vatican II.
October 3, 2007 at 2:32 am
There is no reason to reverse Vatican II?
Well, by the fruits one shall know them!
I guess with the liturgy that is abused on down to clergy who abuse the youth, the liberalizing reforms have just done wonders for those who want to remain part of the church Christ established here on earth for one reason-Salvation of souls
When you have Shepherds such as those in Connecticut, Mahoney in LA, Law in Boston, on and on-responsible for the salvation of the souls of their flock but so willing to put them at risk, one has to look at the loopholes and liberal interpretation these 16 council documents have caused
The council of Trent was called for many reasons, much to do with the abuse of the liturgy.
One can only wait for such to take place probably not in my lifetime, but it will have to because the church can not go on the way it has where a gesture such as placing the blessed sacrament back in the center is cause for celebration!!
October 3, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Are these complaints truly the ‘fruits’ of Vatican II?
Or are they the ‘fruits’ of those who objected to it, who found ways to undermine how it was implemented?
October 3, 2007 at 11:52 pm
No, these are the fruits, as it is due to those who have fully embraced Vatican II and it penchant for vagueness, ambiguity, freedom of religion, and ecumenism that we have this problem today
Deny it would not be correct
But to embrace error would be to condone such