The various restrictions have raised numerous theological, liturgical and spiritual questions. And the Holy See and the local Churches have urgently tried to provide temporary answers that are in conformity with canon law.

Organizing liturgical services and providing access to the sacraments in ways that adhere to civil laws and respect health measures, has repeatedly strained the Church's legislative norms.

The Institut Catholique of Paris (ICP) explored the issues during a study day on Nov. 30 that brought together canon lawyers and theologians.

"During the lockdowns, which often coincided with the suspension of services, pastors demonstrated their creativity, especially with Masses broadcast on the Internet," said Father Ludovic Danto, dean of ICP's canon law faculty.

"These practices should make us reflect since they raise questions of bringing forth the presence of God and managing what is lacking," he added.

"The situation we are going through can only be understood within the legal framework of the exception," Father Danto pointed out.

Technologies that can reinforce self-isolation

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed new challenges to the Church compared to past epidemics.

"Until the 20th Century, the Church saw epidemic scourges as divine punishment for the sins of humanity, while offering people the opportunity to atone and enter into a new covenant with God," said Father Albert Jacquemin, a lecturer at the ICP.

Such a theology of divine retribution, coupled with limited knowledge of how contamination spreads, led to manifestations of penitential piety.

But the Church has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in a decidedly more technological manner.

And because of this, Father Cédric Burgunt, vice-head of the ICP canon law faculty, asked, "Has the year 2020 marked the digital transition of ecclesial life?"

"It is for the best that technologies have enabled pastors to reach their people in spite of lockdown," he noted.

But he worried that these technologies might also be straining the unity of the Christian community in that they tend to accentuate self-segregation among Catholics.

"We are seeing the emergence of new identities which, thanks to the globalization made possible by digital technology, are grouped together according to people's liturgical and spiritual preferences," the canonist said.

"They disregard territorial structures, whereas in the past the Catholic faithful had a sense of belonging to the universal Church, first of all through the bell tower of their church," he pointed out.

Father Burgun warned against the supposedly unifying nature of social media for Catholics.

"We shouldn't believe that social media creates great encounters, it creates microcosms of like-minded believers," Father Burgun argued.

"The sacrament trapped in a consumer logic"

Liturgical adaptations, whether they are permitted by digital technology or whether they concern the way one receives the Eucharist (for example, outside of celebrations, or the prohibition of communion on the tongue) must not obscure the fundamental question of how to handle what is lacking for Christians.

The issue was raised by Father Olivier Praud, head for liturgical and sacramental services in the Diocese of Luçon.

He warned of a looming threat.

"Suspending liturgies risks turning the Eucharist into a consumer good and diminishing its significance.

"The sacramental perspective would thus find itself trapped in a consumerist logic," he explained.

Father Praud supported his hypothesis by pointing to the natural desire Catholics have to try to fill the void left by the suspension of services.

But he said that contradicts the emptiness that fundamentally characterises the liturgy and Christian revelation in general.

"In all Christian theology, emptiness is necessary to allow God to give his grace," he said.

"In the Old Testament, this is the case for the people of Israel. In the New Testament, the people were waiting for Jesus to save them from Roman oppression," the priest continued.

"But he moves them and responds to the void in his own way: he saves them from Evil by saying 'no' to their immediate satisfaction," Father Praud explained. "That is, by saying 'yes' to their deepest desires."

• Héloïse de Neuville is a religion journalist. First published in La Croix International.

"There are ways to make choices in our livestreams and recordings that mark them as a different kind of space, a sacred space, to minimize distractions," she says.

Schmidt, who has been studying the relationship between digital culture and the church for the past decade at Molloy College

"If you've ever been part of planning a big liturgy, you know that all the details matter immensely," she says.

This means it matters where the cameras are placed and how well the audio is working and it's necessary to consider the viewer's needs.

Schmidt says this week she spent some time analyzing a range of virtual Masses from the past weekend, focusing on the ones that weren't doing them before the pandemic.

"The main thing that stuck with me was the frequent use of a single camera that's really high up and really far away.

"It's very alienating and cold. Then you have some parishes that are using multiple camera angles, where someone is selecting which camera to use at various points during the liturgy.

"But I'm not so sure about that either, because someone's making the choice for you about where to look. Some people might say, "Oh who cares?

"We've been saying for millennia that the smallest details in the liturgy matter, so why wouldn't it matter where the camera is pointing?"

The way forward would be for the bishops' conference or individual bishops to issue some guidelines that say, "Hey, if you're going to livestream your parish, here are certain things that you need to do."

In Schmidt's opinion, issuing this type of guidance is s really no different than saying you have to use real candles and a chalice made of "noble materials" at Mass.

In the online Mass guidelines, advice would be given about "having your camera at a certain angle, close enough to the altar, that sort of thing," she says.

No matter how immersive the virtual experience of Mass gets, Schmidt says she thinks there will be a break during the Eucharist, "where we see the seams of the virtual experience that show that it's not quite perfect.

"There's this break where we realize, oh no, I can't actually partake in this Eucharist. In our sacramental imagination, it's important we hold onto the fact that this is a real break," she says.

Clergy need to be open to others using digital technology - even if they're not using it themselves, she advises.

Emails, Facebook messages, and other digital connections help make bonds between parishioners.

These bonds are especially important in a "suburbanized" era for the church where parishioners are often geographically, physically and socially separated from each other, Schmidt says.

Source

• Crux
• Image: Crux Now