Pope Leo: Vatican II reformed the liturgy to promote active participation

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV has described the liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council as necessary to encourage active participation by the faithful.

“Since the gestures and words of the sacred liturgy are critical to realizing this experience, the participation of the faithful cannot be passive,” Leo said. “The liturgical reform promoted by the Second Vatican Council is thus firmly rooted in the living tradition of the Church.”

During his general audience at the Vatican on Aug. 26, the pontiff concluded his summer catechesis on the Second Vatican Council’s constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium . The audience was held in St. Peter’s Basilica because of Rome’s high summer temperatures.

The faithful cannot be passive during the liturgy Leo defended the Council Fathers’ decision at the Second Vatican Council to reform the liturgy, citing a letter St. Paul VI wrote as Archbishop of Milan to encourage the faithful’s participation.

“Motivated by these convictions, the future Pope Saint Paul VI affirmed that the faithful ‘cannot and must no longer remain silent and passive. Their physical presence cannot be reconciled with their spiritual absence,’”…