A Mexican archdiocese has distanced itself from a “Coldplay Mass” celebrated at a Jesuit university.
The advertisement for the Mass at Mexico City’s Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla promised that worshippers would be able to “listen and reflect on the songs of the British group”, and “see how their messages interweave” with the liturgy.
A video uploaded to Facebook shows a priest celebrating Mass while the song Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall plays in the background. The song contains lyrics such as: “I turn the music up, I got my records on/I shut the world outside until the lights come on/Maybe the streets alight, maybe the trees are gone/I feel my heart start beating to my favourite song.”
The Archdiocese of Puebla issued a statement on Twitter, saying it did not “organise or promote” the Mass. It attached a message describing the Eucharist as “the Church’s greatest treasure”.
The message called on priests to “avoid, under the pretext of experimentation, doing things in church that detract from the holiness of the place, the dignity of liturgical action and the piety of the faithful”.
Songs sung in church, it added, should have words that are “in keeping with Catholic doctrine. Better still, they should be based on Holy Scripture and liturgical sources.”
Coldplay’s songs are not explicitly religious. However, lead singer Chris Martin told the Independent in 2008 when asked about God: “I’m always trying to work out what ‘he’ or ‘she’ or ‘it’ is. I’m not sure who’s right. I don’t know if it’s Allah or Jesus or Mohammed or Zeus. I’d maybe go for Zeus.”
Mr Martin claimed he was “the only person in the world who still believes in Zeus”.
Pope expands territory of India’s Syro-Malabar Church
Pope Francis has created two new eparchies, or dioceses, for the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and extended the boundaries of two others, the Vatican announced last week.
The Pope wrote a letter to the country’s bishops explaining the move.
Catholics in India express their faith through three different rites. For decades, bishops of the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Catholic churches were found only in Kerala state, where most of their faithful lived. Any faithful who moved north or east of Kerala were cared for under the direction of Latin-rite bishops. Bishops worried that having two or three dioceses covering the same territory would splinter the Catholic community.
But Pope Francis said it was time for all Catholics, no matter where they lived in the country, to have their own bishops.
He prayed that the changes would not be seen in terms of “power and domination,” but recognised them as “a call to deeper communion, which should never be perceived as uniformity”. Close to 20 million Catholics live in India; the Syro-Malabar Church has about 4.2 million members and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church has about 450,000 faithful.
Tallest Virgin Mary statue planned
A state in Mexico is planning to build the world’s tallest statue of the Virgin Mary.
Officials in the north-central state of Zacatecas are hoping that a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the national patroness, will boost tourism. The landmark would stand at 154 feet, slightly taller than the Virgin of Peace monument in Venezuela, which is currently the world’s tallest statue of Mary. Most of the £3 million cost is expected to be raised from private sources.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.