What is problematic about the songs that the Jefferson Diocese prohibited?

Question

I just heard on the loopCast that the Jefferson diocese banned the following hymns from use at churches:

• All Are Welcome
• Ashes
• Bread of Life
• Celtic Alleluia
• Covenant Hymn
• For the Healing of the Nations
• God Has Chosen Me
• Haleluya! We Sing Your Praises
• Led By the Spirit
• Many and Great
• Table of Plenty
• Three Days

https://diojeffcity.org/blog/2024/10/28/decree-prohibiting-certain-hymns-and-listing-suggested-mass-settings/

I understand the banned composers are under suspicion of some sort of malfeasance, but what was the reason for banning these songs? I don't love many of them, but I do love "Table of Plenty" - especially the John Michael Talbot version. Are these songs just bad for liturgy or are they bad in general? And what in particular is bad about each of these songs?

Answer 1

The list uses titles rather than first lines, so it's not as easy as it might be to find the material in question.

For All are welcome, ("Let us build a house where love can dwell"), one particularly problematic part is

Let us build a house where love is found
in water, wine and wheat:
a banquet hall on holy ground,
where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus,
is revealed in time and space;
as we share in Christ the feast that feeds us:
all are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

This reduces the Sacrifice of the Mass to a mere meal — a feast, a banquet, yes, but a mere meal.

[This is quite apart from gaslighting, where the songs and visions of some Catholics in particular are definitely not loved and treasured, taught and claimed as "words within the Word". It is obvious that despite ancient prayers of faith and songs of grace, many places definitely do not welcome devotees of the Traditional Latin Mass.]

A similar protestant slant may be discerned in Table of Plenty ("Come to the feast of heaven and earth"):

My feast of gladness will feed your spirit...

My bread will ever sustain you
through days of sorrow and woe.
My wine will flow like a sea of gladness
to flood the depths of your soul.

Tom Conry's Ashes ("We rise again from ashes") appears to minimise if not deny the salvific power of Christ (despite the last verse):

We rise again from ashes to create ourselves anew.

I can't find everything on the list (perhaps that's good!) but I suspect that similar accusations can be levelled against the songs identified. It's perhaps notable that all the writers are of the twentieth century and one [Fred Kaan, whom I've met] was a minister of the Congregational Church.

Answer 2

These are banned because the bishop has determined that their lyrical content is contrary to Catholic faith in some regard, either explicitly or implicitly. I will list where I think the biggest issue lies in each, since to my knowledge the bishop has not given explicit explanations for each one. Some people jump immediately to Eucharistic heresy as the explanation, but I don't think that's the case for all of these. It's not a heresy to call the Eucharist bread and wine or wheat or anything like that. Jesus calls Himself the "living bread" in John 6. If the hymn denies the real presence, that would be heresy, but saying that it reduces the Eucharist to mere food just because it calls the Eucharist by the names of bread and wine is a silly thing to think.

A few years ago, the USCCB published a document on liturgical music where they essentially said hymns can't contain heretical lyrics. The bishop of this diocese has just taken some action on that guidance.

All Are Welcome

Let us build a house where prophets speak/And words are strong and true/Where all God's children dare to seek/To dream God's reign anew

"To dream God's reign anew" seems to suggest that the members of this house where all are welcome are meant to recreate God, or at least the activity of God in the world, in their own image, since they "dream [Him] anew." Apparently, the use of "water, wine, and wheat" instead of just wine and wheat in this song also indicates that the Eucharist is just a meal of ordinary elements, since water is not as important as an element of the sacrament as are wine and wheat (made into bread).

Ashes

We rise again from ashes to create ourselves anew.

Of course, we do not create ourselves anew. God does. This is blatant heresy. In the OCP publications, this line was changed to remove blatant heresy a few years ago when the USCCB published the document mentioned above, meaning the publishers must have been fully aware of this issues. I mean, this is the most blatant case I've seen in a Catholic hymnal.

Bread of Life (the Bernadette Farrell one)

We eat this living bread,/we drink this saving cup:/sign of hope in our broken world,/source of lasting love.

Although I still don't think this is necessarily a problem, I imagine that the bishop took issue with the use of the word "sign" here, which may indicate that the Eucharist is a mere symbol of Christ's presence. I don't think it has to mean that, but I don't fault the bishop for being concerned that this word might communicate that idea to the faithful. It would be a reasonable concern, if that were his motivation.

Celtic Alleluia

The Word of the Lord lasts for ever./What is the Word that is living?/It is brought to us/through his Son Jesus Christ.

The living Word is Christ. Saying that it is brought to us through Christ seems to indicate that Christ is not the Word.

Covenant Hymn

This whole hymn makes no sense. You can read the full text here. It has some vague biblical imagery, but doesn't really teach us anything about God. It's unclear who the speaker even is, and I could imagine this being a song a man sings to his wife on their wedding night. It also seems to say things about accepting whatever we do, when God doesn't do that. If we deny Him, He will deny us. That's what Scripture says.

For the Healing of the Nations

All that kills abundant living,/let it from the earth be banned;/pride of status, race, or schooling,/dogmas that obscure your plan./In our common quest for justice/may we hallow life's brief span,/may we hallow life's brief span.

To me, this smacks of religious indifferentism, especially as it seem to denigrate "dogma." It pretends that correct dogma is unimportant. It reminds me of that line in one "translation" of Ubi Caritas that says "No race nor creed can love exclude/if honored be God's name." No idea why the bishop did not also ban this version of Where Charity and Love Prevail, since it contains blatant heresy. Love will exclude any false creed. Dogma matters, and it's a good thing.

God Has Chosen Me

I'm gonna stop you right there. God has chosen you? How do you know? Many are called, but few are chosen.

Haleluya! We Sing Your Praises

This one isn't even associated with a composer. If I found the right one, it has Jesus saying "I am bread I am bread" and "I am wine I am wine." This is not correct. It is fine for Jesus to say something like "I am the Bread of Life." The phrase bread of life refers specifically to the Body of the Lord in the Eucharist. Or "this bread" referring to the bread of the Eucharist is a fine phrase. Jesus would not say "I am bread." He's not. He's the Son of God.

Led by the Spirit

The document from the USCCB critiques this one as follows:

“Led by the Spirit,”10 Verse 4: “Led by the Spirit, now sing praise to God the Trinity: The Source of Life, the living Word made flesh to set us free, The Spirit blowing where it will to make us friends of God …”: “Source of Life” is applicable to all Three Persons, and in particular to the Holy Spirit, who is confessed in Catholic usage as “Lord and Giver of Life.” This doxology is therefore most ambiguous. Is the Word God? What relation does He have to “Source of Life”? This doxology, in trying to avoid both “Father” and “Son” language, in effect deconstructs the Trinity into three names whose status, except for the first, is ambiguous at best and who seem unrelated. We are very far from the baptismal formula here.

Many and Great

Overall, the lyrics seem to create a sense that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are ordinary, when all four verses are taken together. They can be read here. Verses 2 and 3 are about wheat and wine, and verse 4 parallels them with imagery about... pebbles. Not a very great way to speak about the Eucharist.

Table of Plenty

O come and sit at my table/where saints and sinners are friends./I wait to welcome the lost and lonely/to share the cup of my love.

This line seems to indicate that one who has not repented of sin may "come to the feast," as it were. But mortal sin must be confessed before one may partake of the Eucharist.

Three Days

The third verse says that Christ is still pierced and still suffers every day. This is a heresy, and actually one that Protestants often wrongly accuse Catholics of holding. The Mass is a representation of Christ's sacrifice. He is not sacrificed again and again each day. Scripture says that Christ made one sacrifice for all.

Answer 3

What is problematic about the songs that the Jefferson Diocese prohibited?

Many dioceses are taking a closer look at hymns that are in use at Catholic masses to make sure they are in conformity with the guidelines that the Church has laid down When evaluating Hymns intended to be used in Catholic masses and in liturgical celebrations.

Hymns must be in conformity with Catholic doctrine and express the imagery and vocabulary appropriately reflective of the usage of Scripture and the public liturgical prayer of the Church. To these points, the Bishop of the Diocese of Jefferson City has decided that the above hymns were lacking in some of the elements of Catholic doctrine and sacred imagery in these hymns.

Two General Guidelines

Based on the text quoted above, we can derive two general guidelines for determining whether a hymn is doctrinally suitable for liturgical use:

1. Is the hymn in conformity with Catholic doctrine?

2. Is the hymn expressed in image and vocabulary appropriately reflective of the usage of Scripture and the public liturgical prayer of the Church?

With regard to Guideline 1: An accurate assessment of conformity with Catholic doctrine requires a familiarity with Catholic doctrine itself, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church is the best resource available. Hymns do not have to be composed of doctrinal formulae (though hymns have used doctrinal formulas to good poetic effect, for example, the last verse of Pange lingua). It is important to avoid language that could be easily miscon- strued in a way that is contrary to Catholic doctrine. The poet always has a certain “license” for language chosen to serve an aesthetic purpose. But in assessing whether a paraphrase or restatement is an appropriate use of poetic license or an inappropriate distortion, Guideline 2 can provide assistance.

These Guidelines can also be helpful in assessing a grouping of hymns and other songs, such as those commonly used in a given parish for the Communion Hymn (for example). Different hymns may legitimately express or reflect different aspects of one doctrine, but if all of the hymns relevant to a particular doctrine express only one dimension of the doctrine to the exclusion of others, then the catechesis offered by the hymnody would, as a whole, not be in conformity with Catholic doctrine. For example, a collection of hymns that emphasized the Eucharist as table fellowship to the exclusion of the vocabulary of sacrifice, altar, and priesthood, would not represent the fullness of Catholic teaching and therefore would catechize those singing such hymns every Sunday with a deficient sacramental theology. - Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church: An Aid for Evaluating Hymn Lyrics

Hymns with language implying that the elements are still bread and wine after consecration must be avoided, and that poetic license should conform to customary usage of Scripture and liturgical Tradition.

The US bishops have written that hymns “that imply that the Jews as a people are collectively responsible for the death of Christ” would be ruled out, naming in particular The Lord of the Dance and O Crucified Messiah.

The hymn All Are Welcome is not welcome at Catholic masses.

The doctrine committee of the US bishops’ conference (USCCB) earlier this year produced a guide to evaluating the lyrics of hymns on the basis of their doctrinal content, noting that Vatican II declared sacred music’s purpose to be “the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful.”

“Christian tradition, both Eastern and Western, has from antiquity been acutely aware that hymns and other songs are among the most significant forces in shaping – or misshaping – the religious and theological sensibility of the faithful,” the committee wrote in “Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church,” which bears the date September 2020.

“It is all the more important, then, that hymnody selected for the liturgical life of the Church successfully draw out the beauty of the Christian mysteries themselves. This cannot be done if language is used that is out of keeping with the sensibility created by scriptural texts and universal liturgical usage.” - USCCB Committee: ‘All Are Welcome’ Not a Welcome Hymn at Mass

In Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Vatican II in the 1963 constitution on the sacred liturgy, noted that “The texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine; indeed they should be drawn chiefly from holy scripture and from liturgical sources.” The hymns above simply do not fulfill this ecclesiastical obligation.