Adoremus: Interview with Father Dennis Gill, organizer of Philadelphia papal liturgies; Creed will be sung in Latin!

When Pope Francis comes to Philadelphia, Sept. 25-27, he will meet with families from around the world at the conclusion of the World Meeting of Families. He will also be celebrating two Masses. The first will be celebrated on Sept. 26 at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia, and the second on Sept. 27 on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The Mass on Saturday will be a commemoration of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, while the Sunday Mass will be the Mass celebrated on the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

Organizing the liturgy for these two celebrations of the Mass has been the work of archdiocesan liturgist Father Dennis Gill – who has accomplished what some might consider a superhuman feat.

Father Gill is rector and pastor of the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul, the Mother Church of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and Director of the Office for Divine Worship, for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He was ordained a priest on May 21, 1983 for the archdiocese and served as parochial vicar at Nativity of Our Lord Parish, Warminster, Penn., and Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Southampton, Penn. Completing graduate studies in Sacred Liturgy at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of St. Anselmo, Rome, Father Gill served as Director of Liturgy at the Pontifical North American College, Rome. He is a professor of Sacred Liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, and lectures regularly around the country on sacred liturgy. He is the author of the book Music in Catholic Liturgy: A Pastoral and Theological Companion to Sing to the Lord, and is working on his next book, Ars Celebrandi: An Artful and Careful Celebration of the Eucharist, for Hillenbrand Books.
continue at Adoremus Bulletin

Get this!
AB: Besides the “universal language” of music present at the Mass, what other languages will be used?

FG: What’s interesting is that the Creed will be sung in Latin at the Sunday Mass on the Parkway. It’s an international occasion and Latin is the international language of the Church; it just seems right….The Eucharistic Prayer will also be prayed in Latin, while the two largest groups of people coming beside English speaking people are Spanish and Vietnamese. So one scriptural reading will be in Spanish and one will be in Vietnamese.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

interesting----- the "Badger Catholic" coverage of Pope Francis' visit to Cuba and USA is limited to two items--the language in which the Creed will be professed and the pilgrimage of some from the area.

Badger Catholic said...

More than happy to have more bloggers contributing if you are interested. :) I'm also following on Twitter.

Terrence Berres said...

Now up to three!

Dan said...

I was there on the Parkway for Mass. I was pleasantly shocked by such a beautiful and reverent Mass with 800,000 other Catholics. People all around us were attentive and respectful. The Gloria, Creed, and Eucharistic prayer in Latin were so prayerful and beautiful! The Introit in Latin set the tone for the entire Mass. It was most beautiful when thousands of people silently knelt on the asphalt for the Consecration. Communion was distributed in a very respectful way (unlike in the Philippines). I felt like I was at a B16 Mass!