Sign of Peace, or Sign of Confusion?

VATICAN CITY — Will the sign of peace be moved? According to many bishops, priests and lay Catholics, as it's currently practiced the rite takes too long and creates confusion prior to reception of Communion.

In fact, dissatisfaction over the sign of peace is so widespread that at last month's Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist, participants suggested Pope Benedict XVI authorize an examination into the possibility of moving it elsewhere in the Mass.

“The greeting of peace in the Holy Mass is an expressive sign of great virtue and depth,” reads the synod's Proposition 23. “Nevertheless, in certain cases, it takes on a weight that can become problematic when it goes on too long or actually provokes confusion before receiving holy Communion.”

The proposition adds that it might be “useful to appraise” the sign of peace to see if it “cannot take place at another moment of the celebration, also taking into account ancient and venerable customs.”

Concerns about the sign of peace were regularly raised during the scheduled synodal interventions and small group discussions. As a possible remedy, some bishops suggested the rite be moved to just before the Presentation of the Gifts, as practiced by the Eastern liturgies and the Ambrosian rite.

That option was broached in the instrumentum laboris (working document), which was circulated before the synod.

“The sign of peace in its present position in the liturgy of the Mass easily overshadows the fraction rite [the breaking of the bread] and Communion itself,” said Bishop Paul Mandla Khumalo of Witbank, South Africa. “There is among us a strong preference to adapt the usage referred to in the instrumentum laboris in [Proposition] No. 50, for the insertion of this particular rite at the point before the Presentation of Gifts.”

Redemptionis Sacramentum

The Vatican is less eager to embrace the suggestion. In its March 2004 instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, the Congregation for Divine Worship acknowledged that problems have arisen with the sign of peace but stated specifically, “The practice of the Roman Rite is to be maintained according to which the peace is extended shortly before holy Communion” (No. 71).

The Ambrosian and other such rites allow the gesture to take place before the offertory because the emphasis there is upon human reconciliation, liturgical experts point out. However, the Roman rite assigns a different meaning.

“It is about the peace that comes from the altar, the peace of the Lord be with you always,” explained Legionary Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum University in Rome. “It's Christ who is giving his peace, so that people share the peace that comes from Christ as a means of preparing for Communion.”

In other words, changing the rite's position to before the offertory would implicitly mean making an “earthly peace” before making an “earthly offering” and thereby change the meaning of the Roman Rite.

“It might seem practical for bishops who are thinking about it from a pastoral point of view, not wishing to turn it into an overly messy rite, but by moving it they would be converting it into a different rite,” said Father McNamara, who stressed that the synodal bishops only requested an examination of the matter.

Furthermore, there is the historical tradition in having the rite of peace just before Communion, something not easily discounted. “The sign of peace has formed part of the Latin tradition for the last 1,800 years, so if you want to change it, you have to have good reasons,” said Father NcNamara.

Still, Benedict could conclude a change is necessary to reduce the disturbance the rite often generates in today's Masses.

“The Pope could do it,” Father McNamara said, adding that the “world wouldn't collapse if the Holy Father decided to make the change for pastoral reasons.”

Different Forms

The rite of peace has been practiced in different forms over the centuries. A version of the current rite, a handshake or placing hands on another's shoulders, was practiced by Catholics until around the 15th century before being restricted to clergy and the choir.

Later, the rite was changed to allow Catholic to kiss a tablet at the altar marked with the word “peace” — a practice that continued until the 18th century.

The current version of the practice was instituted after the Second Vatican Council. In 2004, in a bid to curb the excesses that had cropped up, the Congregation for Divine Worship emphasized in Redemptionis Sacramentum that priests should remain “always within the sanctuary, so as not to disturb the celebration” during the rite and that lay Catholics should “give the sign of peace only to those who are nearest and in a sober manner.”

The sign of peace is optional, and can be dropped from the Mass entirely by the celebrating priest.

Still, it remains disliked by many. One Rome priest characterizes it as “too chummy” and an “liable to misinterpretation, confusion and distraction.”

For one Caribbean bishop, by contrast, it's not informal enough.

“Many of the faithful resist the short handshake for the sign of peace,” he told the synod. “They want a more ‘feeling’ expression of fraternity, such as a bear hug or an embrace.”

Probably unsurprisingly, that suggestion never made it to the final list of synod propositions.

Edward Pentin writes from Rome.