A Report of the second Colloquium of CIEL

The Centre International d'Etudes Liturgiques (C.I.E.L.), founded in 1994 by a group of Catholic lay people, held its second study conference on the traditional Roman Liturgy, from the 9th to the 11th October 1996, in the sanctuary of Notre-Dame-du-Laus, in the diocese of Gap (France), on the theme, The Veneration and Administration of the Eucharist.

The participants

Almost a hundred participants, clerical and lay, were present, and came from France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain and Gabon, all anxious to study liturgical questions thoroughly, and to form themselves better in the spirit of the Church.

For three days, ordinary members of the faithful, leaders of lay associations, parish priests, religious, and religious superiors, were able to follow scholarly lectures, participate in liturgical ceremonies celebrated according to the traditional rite, and exchange points of view and pastoral experiences in an atmosphere of study and fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church.

Amongst those present were: Bishop Lagrange, Bishop of Gap, Bishop Jacqueline, former Nuncio in Morocco, Dom Courau, Abbot of Triors, Father Bisig, Superior of the Fraternity of Saint Peter, Monsignor Wach, Prior of the Institute of Christ the King, Father Wladimir, Superior of Opus Mariae, Mr Michael Davies, President of the International Association of Una Voce, Mr Mario Seno, President of Una Voce Italy, Mrs Monica Reinschmitt, President of the Association Pro Missa Tridentina, Mr Christophe Geffroy, Director of the journal La Nef, and Miss Béatrice Toulza, President of the movement Jeune Chrétienté.

The lectures

After the singing of the Veni Creator, Loïc Mérian, President of CIEL, outlined what had been achieved since the first colloquium, underlining especially the publication of the Proceedings, which had been very widely circulated - in particular to the French bishops and French-speaking communities - as well as the foundation of branches in other countries, giving CIEL an increasingly international character, and allowing the publication of the Proceedings in several languages.

It then fell to Bishop Lagrange to initiate the work of the colloquium with a lecture on the veneration of the Eucharist in the teachings of His Holiness John Paul II, stating from the outset the object to which all the contributions were to tend: the real and substantial Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, source of all spiritual life and the object of adoration.

The ten lectures which followed explored three principal aspects of the subject:

• It was appropriate in the first place to demonstrate the historical evolution of Eucharistic veneration, and to explain how, in the face of errors, the Church had been able to establish its doctrine more precisely. This was carried out by Father Clément, professor of liturgy, who gave the general principles of this deepening of the doctrine in the face of error.
• Father Chanut, a historian, took the matter further in the particular case of the rite of Exposition, showing the very close bond which the liturgy helped develop between the teaching of the faith and the living faith of the people. Michael Davies, president of Una Voce, painted a detailed picture of the Anglican reform of Eucharistic rites, and of the radical theological differences which this demonstrated in relation to the Catholic faith. Professor Graf, through the encyclical Mediator Dei, brought the proceedings to the contemporary era.
• It is through the liturgical rites that the Church has, through the centuries, most directly set out the faith to the faithful. For this reason Father Folsom, professor at the Pontifical Institute of Saint Anselm, and then Father Quoëx, professor of liturgy, demonstrated the evolution of these rites of the veneration of the Eucharist, and showed the profound origin and theological and spiritual importance of each gesture, expressed more or less solemnly in the different liturgical books. Father Lugmayr, speaking on the subject of the Communion rite, and Father Wladimir, Superior of Opus Mariae, discussing Communion under both kinds, showed that the practice of the Church had always moved towards a veneration, ever more profoundly marked, of the Eucharistic species.
• Finally, Bishop Lagrange, the Bishop of Gap, speaking on the teachings of the Holy Father on the subject, and the well-known theologian Father de Margerie, examining the question of frequent Communion; Professor Boogaarts of the University of Utrecht, on the question of Eucharistic hymns, and then Monsignor Schmitz, member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology in his concluding remarks, all returned to the essential point: the adoration which is due to the Saviour really and substantially present under the Eucharistic species.

The liturgical ceremonies

This reality, present at the heart of the Church's life and liturgy, was truly at the heart of the debates and lectures, which were not restricted to intellectual reflection, but led also to contemplation. So the liturgical ceremonies celebrated according to the liturgical books of 1962 (pontifical Masses celebrated by Bishop Lagrange, Dom Courau and Bishop Jacqueline, and the singing together of the Office of Compline each evening), made possible a better appreciation of these rites, with which the Church surrounds the treasure of the Holy Eucharist.

A time for exchange of views

The conference was also an ideal opportunity for the exchange of views between lay people and priests present from many countries, representatives of various associations, and members of the hierarchy. The debates occasioned by the lectures, and the free time set aside for meetings allowed everyone, in a spirit of fraternity and friendship, to appreciate more fully the universality of the Church spread throughout the world.

The Proceedings

The Proceedings of the 1996 colloquium have so far been published in French, English and German.

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Proceedings of the 1996 Conference
Proceedings of the 1997 Conference
Proceedings of the 1998 Conference
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