Which Way Are The Winds Blowing?
Which Way Are the Winds Blowing? In his most recent article, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois made it known that he was going to return to the practice of saying the mass ad orientem i.e.,facing the altar, with his back to the assembly (the folks in the pews). His initial reasoning was that he didn't want to disrespect the grave of Bishop James A. Griffin by standing upon it, given how it is directly behind the altar following the great renovation of the Cathedral in 2010. While this seems to be a notable reason, the truth is that bishops, priests and even saints are laid to rest beneath the floors of many cathedrals throughout the world. As such, it's inevitable that people are going to step upon them in the course of a liturgy. Bishop Paprocki then went on to offer some theological and liturgical reasoning to legitimize his action. Most curious and somewhat disconcerting was how he created a dichotomy between facing one dir...