Indigenous prayers, dancing in San Bernardino CA Synod Mass . . .

. . . pick up rave review and defense from the diocese for their multiculturalism and helping people reflect on creation, a la the Pope’s “Laudato Si” encyclical.

A Denver liturgist thought otherwise.

“There is a danger,” said Fr. Daniel Cardó, Benedict XVI Chair of Liturgical Studies at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, that cultural expressions during the Mass can distract from the proper focus on the Eucharist,

“There are many occasions in the life of a diocese or a parish for cultural and self-expression, but the Mass is not the place for these,” Cardó wrote in an email to CNA.

“True and lasting ecclesial unity comes from the Eucharist, not from our well-intentioned human experiments,” he stated. “Celebrating the sacraments according to the rubrics and their spirit is the ordinary and simple path for genuine participation in the graces God offers through them.”