Liturgical Abuse?

[VoTeckam]

Every year during Lent my parish has the Gospel readings read not only by the priest, but also the lectors. The priest reads the dialogue of Christ and the other 2 read the narration and other dialogue. Is this an abuse? In my experience only priests and deacons have proclaimed the Gospel. In person it feels far too theatrical than Mass should be.

Thank you in advance for your help!

[cappie]

The Lectionary for Holy Week indicates that the Passion (on Palm Sunday and Good Friday) may be read by more than one person — the priest taking the part of Christ, a narrator and another reader (which could be a deacon, another priest, or even a lector or lay reader), with the congregation responding as the crowd. (This last part — that of the congregation — appears in the current edition of the Lectionary.)

Paschale Solemnitatis states:

33. The Passion narrative occupies a special place. It should be sung or read in the traditional way, that is, by three persons who take the part of Christ, the narrator, and the people. The Passion is proclaimed by deacons or priests, or by lay readers. In the latter case, the part of the Christ should be reserved to the priest.

In the section on Good Friday, the same document states:

64. The order for the celebration of the Lord’s Passion (the Liturgy of the Word, the adoration of the cross, and Holy Communion) that stems from an ancient tradition of the Church should be observed faithfully and religiously and may not be changed by anyone on his own initiative.

And it says that the Passion on Good Friday can be read as described for Palm Sunday:

66. The readings are to be read in their entirety. The Responsorial Psalm and the chant before the Gospel are to be sung in the usual manner. The narrative of the Lord’s Passion according to John is sung or read in the way prescribed for the previous Sunday (cf. n. 33). After the reading of the Passion, a homily should be given, at the end of which the faithful may be invited to spend a short time in meditation.

The Newsletter of the US Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy, Jan.-Feb. 1999, comments on the presentation of the Passion in parts, and makes this point:

While it has a dramatic quality, the Passion is not so much a drama enacted as a narrative proclaimed solemnly and simply, without candles, incense, greeting, or signs of the cross. (Original emphasis.)

The article urges that “careful consideration should be given to the effect which this practice may have” — does reading in parts mean that everyone in the congregation is watching the “script”? Does it “allow each individual to meditate effectively on the word proclaimed?” (Thirty-Five Years of the BCL Newsletter, USCCB, 2004, pp 1625-26.)

Reading the Gospel in parts (by several readers) is restricted to the reading of the Passion of the Lord on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, and is not permitted on Sundays during Lent. This is made clear in the GIRM, paragraph 109:

109. If there are several persons present who are able to exercise the same ministry, nothing forbids their distributing among themselves and performing different parts of the same ministry or duty. For example, one deacon may be assigned to take the sung parts, another to serve at the altar; if there are several readings, it is well to distribute them among a number of lectors. The same applies for the other ministries. But it is not at all appropriate that several persons divide a single element of the celebration among themselves, e.g., that the same reading be proclaimed by two lectors, one after the other, except as far as the Passion of the Lord is concerned.

The division of any readings into parts, except for the Passion, is prohibited by the new Instruction [ref GIRM] (109).

[url="http://www.adoremus.org/0308GospelReadings.html"]http://www.adoremus.org/0308GospelReadings.html[/url]