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Vatican approves liturgical adaptations for Indigenous communities in Mexico

Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, bishop emeritus of San Cristóbal de las Casas in the Mexican state of Chiapas, expressed his hope that the approval of a series of liturgical adaptations for Indigenous communities in the Mexican state of Chiapas “will encourage the process to promote similar adaptations in other Indigenous groups.” (Credit: Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas)

Puebla, Mexico, Nov 18, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has approved a series of liturgical adaptations for Indigenous communities in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

According to Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, bishop emeritus of San Cristóbal de las Casas, this decision transforms certain Indigenous expressions into “liturgy of the Church,” eliminating the perception that they were simply “uses and customs that were viewed with suspicion.”

The Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments granted “confirmatio” on Nov. 8, endorsing the “adaptations to the Ordinary of the Mass in Spanish” for the Tseltal, Tsotsil, Ch’ol, Tojolabal, and Zoque ethnic groups. It also granted “recognitio” for the translation into Tseltal of key magisterial documents, such as the apostolic constitution Missale Romanum and the motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis.

Arizmendi, who led the efforts of the Mexican episcopate to promote these adaptations, said in a message shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that these practices are a form of “incarnation of faith in expressions specific to these cultures.” Their acceptance by the Holy See represents a sign that “if in some Indigenous customs there are deviations, we can help them reach their fullness in Christ and in his Church.”

The cardinal expressed his hope that this approval “will encourage the process to promote similar adaptations in other Indigenous groups.” To this end, he invited his brother bishops and pastoral workers to “have an interest in giving liturgical value to many Catholic expressions of our native groups and not see them as simple folklore.”

What are the adaptations approved by the Vatican?

The cardinal explained that “ritual dances were approved for the offertory, the prayer of the faithful, or the thanksgiving after Communion,” pointing out that these “are not folklore but simple movements of the entire assembly, monotone, contemplative, accompanied by traditional music, which express the same thing as the Roman rite, but in a different cultural form.”

“The content of the Mass is not changed but the way of expressing it,” the cardinal said.

Another point approved is that women will be able to perform the ministry of thurifers during the Mass. Once the priest “places [on the coal] and blesses the incense,” the women will proceed to incense the altar, the images, the Gospel book, the ministers, and the assembly.

“They do it not with the common censer but with an incense that is proper to the culture,” the cardinal indicated.

The cardinal emphasized that this sign “is not a feminist demand” but one that responds to the customs of Indigenous communities, where “it is usually the woman who incense during traditional prayers.”

In another change, it was approved that a layperson of “recognized moral relevance” can lead “certain parts of the community prayer.”

This can be done “at the beginning of the Mass, to initiate the community into the celebration, to name intentions, and to ask forgiveness” as well as “in the prayer of the faithful, after the priest makes the initial invitation and closes with the concluding prayer.”

It can also occur “after Communion as a thanksgiving, which the priest concludes with the post-Communion prayer.”

“This is not about removing the priest from his role as president of the assembly,” the cardinal explained, “since he is the one who is in charge of the celebration and who authorizes these moments.” With this, he pointed out, the aim is to provide a way for the assembly to participate.

“The content of the Roman rite is not being changed, but rather its cultural expression,” he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.


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15 Comments

  1. Who is surprised that with the closing down of the TLM, that this “make a mess” papacy would approve the song & dance routine that does nothing for the universal Church..
    So sad…

  2. The TLM is somehow unacceptable to our current Pope but incorporating Voodoo pagan demon worship in the Mass is somehow just fine? Talk about skewed priorities.

  3. Ok Francis, just so I understand. It’s now acceptable to incorporate pagan elements into the mass under the pretense of honoring “indigenous” people – whatever that means – but you forbid faithful American Catholics from celebrating the Latin mass.

    • Indeed. It is all part of the intentional and perhaps planned transformation of the Catholic Church by the powers in the Vatican and its accomplices in the parishes. It even goes beyond the example of the frog in the boiling water. It is going very fast. God help the Catholic Church.

  4. I can only imagine how quickly the LBGQT community & German synod supporters will see this as a green light for their “cultural expression.” But by no means should anyone dare attempt true Catholic expression by offering a TLM.

  5. … what deceits, lies, dissimulations, falsehoods, in the substance of and the explanations….it is a change, Christ the Priest’s Official and Perfect Worship in Spirit and Truth is far from this, thus the non-priests make it perfect and bring it into it’s fulness of expression?!! The Thurifer never incensed at these liturgical times and places, only the Priest or Deacon…this is not a participation but an usurpation of Christ the Priest and Deacon and His Perfect and Full Office and Worship in the Holy Spirit and Truth… The Beloved testifies through Moses, numerous times, ‘do not turn to the left or right [add or subtract] to what I showed you in the Heavenly Pattern of Worship’ – Aaron’s two priest sons turned to the left and right and incensed not as established by God and in committing this change were quilty of deadly sin, and the Beloved testified to this in striking them dead bodily to show forth the eternal spiritual death that came from their own cultural adaptation. This would not be and was not acceptable, right or just, to happen or be facilitated in God’s Worship – may be we can have an addition or gloss for the Scriptures in Revelation this week, ‘To you Bishop-Lampstand, I have this against you, you have defaced with your cultural adaptation My Divinely Establish Liturgy that I commanded you not to change or adapt, either to the left or right, but only do according to the Heavenly Pattern I Revealed to you’…

  6. Female thurifers are not objectionable per se but I am concerned about the justification being that indigenous women traditionally serve that role during prayers. Is this a concession to assimilating pagan ritual?

  7. To quote the article, “This is not about removing the priest from his role as president of the assembly…” I have never thought of the priest as the “president of the assembly, congregation, group, etc. The priest, for me, has always embodied Jesus Christ, acting in persona Christi. He is the Intercessor and the bridge between God and those who worship and partake in Holy Communion.
    If we are to engage in discussions on novel doctrinal positions, it is imperative that we employ proper terminology. Failure to do so may indicate that the proposition is rooted in heresy.

  8. This change was covered by the final document of the Synod of Synodality. It says that Mass/Liturgy can be changed for the purpose of being more synodal. Not many paid attention.

  9. I will try to quote a priest (who will go unnamed) after the publication of this by the Vatican said: “We have seen the Mayan Rite in the movie, Apocalypto”.

    I think the Vatican has outdone the leftists in being out of touch with reality.

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