Diocese bans ‘All Are Welcome,’ other hymns from Catholic Masses

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CNA Staff, Oct 31, 2024 / 15:40 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri, will implement a formal ban this week on the singing of certain contemporary hymns at Mass because of doctrinal inaccuracies in their lyrics as well as a blanket ban on music by three Catholic composers who have been accused of misconduct.

Jefferson City appears to be the first U.S. diocese to formally align its music practices with guidelines issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 2020, which laid out a list of problematic hymns, faulting many of them for falling short in their presentation of the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist.

In a decree dated Oct. 24, Bishop W. Shawn McKnight listed a dozen commonly used but “doctrinally problematic” Catholic songs that will be “absolutely forbidden” in the diocese after Nov. 1.

Most of the hymns were written in the 1980s or 1990s, with the oldest dating to the 1960s.

The list includes such songs as “All Are Welcome” by Marty Haugen; “God Has Chosen Me” by Bernadette Farrell; “Led By the Spirit” by Bob Hurd; and “Table of Plenty” by Dan Schutte.

The decree also forbids the use of any music composed by David Haas, Cesaréo Gabarain, and Ed Conlin due to credible accusations of abuse against them.

Haas’ music, in particular, has already been dropped by a number of publishers and banned in his longtime Archdiocese of Los Angeles since sexual harassment allegations against him surfaced in 2020. Gabarain, a deceased Spanish priest, has been accused of sexual abuse of minors.

According to the Catholic Missourian, McKnight issued the decree following a “thorough process of study and review” by the Diocesan Liturgical Commission as well as consultation with the diocesan Presbyteral Council, made up of priests who are ministering throughout the diocese. McKnight said his goal is to encourage “full, conscious, and active participation in the liturgy” through a common musical repertoire.

Father Daniel Merz, pastor of two Columbia, Missouri, parishes and chairman of the diocesan liturgical commission, told the Catholic Missourian that some hymns tend to overemphasize certain aspects of the Eucharist, such as its communal and social dimensions, while neglecting other crucial elements like the sacrifice, Real Presence, and need for personal conversion.

Merz underscored the importance of sacred music that elevates and inspires, calling people to a deeper relationship with God and a higher moral standard of living.

“[This decree] is all about providing good direction and guidance. We want to foster good music for our liturgies because we recognize that music is such an important part of how we worship God and pass along the faith,” Merz said.

In addition to laying out the banned hymns and composers, the decree lays out four Mass settings approved for use in the diocese and with which every parish should “become familiar,” though they are not explicitly obliged to use them.

They include the “Chant Mass”; the “Mass of St. Frances Cabrini” by Kevin Keil; the “Revised Mass of Creation” by Marty Haugen; and for Spanish-speaking congregations, the bilingual “Misa del Pueblo Inmigrante” (“Mass of the Immigrant People”) by Bob Hurd.

The Jefferson City Diocese’s liturgical commission is also in the process of compiling a list of approximately 130 approved hymns for parishes to regularly incorporate into their Masses, aiming to provide a diverse and theologically sound collection of hymns for common use, the Catholic Missourian said.

‘Concerns have been raised’

A set of 2020 guidelines from the U.S. bishops, “Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church,” lays out criteria for evaluating whether hymns sung at Mass are accurately conveying the truths that Catholics believe.

Emphasizing the formative power of music and its influence on Catholics’ understanding and practice of the faith, the document warns that hymns with inaccurate or incomplete theology can lead to a distorted understanding of key doctrines. The document notes that “over the years, concerns have been raised regarding the lyrics of hymns and songs used in the liturgy that may be misleading or lacking in substance.”

It gives examples of hymns that convey Catholic belief accurately as well as ones that convey it inaccurately. For example, hymns that imply that the Eucharist is merely bread and wine, rather than the true body and blood of Jesus, have no place in a Catholic Mass, the bishops said.

On this point, instead of hymns like “Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees” and “All Are Welcome,” the document recommends hymns such as “Ave Verum Corpus” and “I Am the Bread of Life.”

Another key target was hymns that convey an inaccurate view of the Jewish people. In particular, the document singles out hymns that “imply that the Jews as a people are collectively responsible for the death of Christ.” The document highlighted “The Lord of the Dance” as particularly problematic in this category.

The document also emphasized the importance of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, criticizing hymns that seemed to show a “reluctance to use the word ‘Father.’”

Music serving Scripture

Adam Bartlett, a liturgical music expert and founder of the sacred music resource Source and Summit, directed the music for parts of the recent National Eucharistic Congress, including two of the four main Masses. 

Bartlett told CNA on Thursday that he considers McKnight’s decree a “most welcome contribution” to the ongoing conversation about liturgical music in the U.S. Catholic Church, saying he views it as an “invitation to rediscover what music in the Mass is truly meant to be” for parishes in the diocese.

“For the parishes in the Diocese of Jefferson City it shouldn’t be received only as a restriction, but also as an invitation to rediscover what music in the Mass is truly meant to be,” he said. 

“The USCCB document on evaluating hymn texts is built on the assumption that the singing of hymns in the Mass is something secondary to singing the actual texts of the Mass itself. The words of the Mass do not need evaluation because they are already found in the liturgical books, and they are taken directly from scripture, from the Psalms, and from the liturgical heritage of the Roman Rite.”

Speaking to CNA in 2021 soon after the bishops’ original publishing of the guidelines, Bartlett echoed the bishops’ assertion that the words of Scripture should be prioritized in hymns sung at Mass, and that the music played at Mass should “serve the text, rather than the other way around.” 

“A lot of times we have this unintended consequence: We change the texts because of the demands of the music,” Bartlett said, which he said can lead to the words of Scripture being changed and ultimately distorted.

“If we’re praying with texts and with music that is not giving us the fullness, or even, in many ways, contradicts the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist, that will have a very real implication on what people believe in the Eucharist,” Bartlett said.

Music for the Mass should be carefully selected to reflect its unique purpose, which is to glorify God and sanctify the faithful, Bartlett emphasized. Basing the music used in Mass directly on Scripture helps to ensure that the music supports and enhances the theological message, such as the Catholic belief in the Real Presence, he said. 

Bartlett noted that there is a growing movement to re-center liturgical music around the “Proper of the Mass” — the antiphons, psalms, and alleluias specific to each liturgical day, often sung in Gregorian chant, which he said give primacy to the word of God and foster a more sacred and transcendent experience than contemporary hymns do.

He also said there ought to be a clear distinction between Catholic devotional and liturgical music. While devotional music can cater to individual preferences and contemporary styles, liturgical music should aim higher, he said.

“I think there’s a great opportunity for a real renewal in liturgical music … young people are drawn to beauty,” he commented.

“Those who are actually converting and deeply engaged in their faith, I think we’re here because we want the real thing.”

This article has been updated.