A senior priest who leads the body in charge of English liturgical translations has defended a series of social media posts attacking “idolatrous” events taking place in Rome during the Amazon synod.
On 26 October Mgr Andrew Wadsworth, executive director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), wrote on Facebook that he did not wish to “belong to the new idolatrous Pachamama Church currently being brought into being,” while criticising the “sickening scenes of pagan worship” taking place in a church near the Vatican.
Mgr Wadsworth was referring to the wooden statues showing an indigenous pregnant woman, which some termed “Pachamama”, a goddess revered in the Andes. The statue, however, could represent either a symbol of life or a Marian image. An indigenous woman presented it to the Pope as “Our Lady of the Amazon”.
The criticisms by Mgr Wadsworth carry weight given his role at the ICEL secretariat, an institution based in Washington DC which works for the 11 bishops’ conferences in countries where English is the main language used in the liturgy. ICEL has a civil service style function of implementing liturgical directives from the bishops.
After his remarks on the use of the indigenous statues were reported by the National Catholic Reporter, Mgr Wadsworth stressed that he was not criticising the synod, but the events around it.
“Where I have become increasingly distressed is in relation to the matter of worship, which must always be of central importance to the life of the Church. In particular, I would cite three issues which are coterminous with the Amazonian Synod, although not necessarily part of its formal proceedings,” he told The Tablet.
The first of these, the priest explained, was a prayer ceremony in the Vatican gardens on 4 October consecrating the synod to St Francis of Assisi. Mgr Wadsworth said during the event “some participants, including religious in their habits, seem to be engaging in a religious rite which includes an act of prostration, usually understood to imply worship or veneration, in a Catholic context.”
The second was the “enthronement in the church of Santa Maria in Traspontina of statues of the Pachamama, the church being reordered in such a way that the attention of those entering that church was reorientated towards the Pachamama and away from the altar and the sanctuary.” During the synod, the statues were stolen from the church by Alexander Tschugguel, an Austrian Catholic activist, and thrown in the River Tiber. The Pope later apologised for the incident.
Nevertheless, last month Mgr Wadsworth attended a talk in Mclean, Virginia given by Tschugguel.
The third concern the ICEL secretary cited was the “the publication of a prayer by the Italian Bishops’ Conference in which the Pachamama is addressed as a propitious deity to whom sacrifice is offered.” The prayer was published in April 2019 by Missio, a pastoral agency of the conference, and used the word “propizia”, which means “favourable” or “propitious”.
The synod on the Amazon faced fierce criticism from conservative Catholics, with the opposition spearheaded by voices in the United States and the Tradition, Family and Property network. The latter is a Brazilian traditionalist movement which is deeply suspicious of – and in some cases outright rejects – the Second Vatican Council. The Washington DC event which Mgr Wadsworth attended was sponsored by the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property.
Mgr Wadsworth is a priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster, who from 1998-2009 was the Catholic chaplain to Harrow School before taking up his role at ICEL. He resides at the St Thomas the Apostle Parish in Washington DC where the ICEL secretary is the superior of the Oratory of St Philip Neri.
His social media criticisms of the use of indigenous symbols in the events at the Amazon synod call into question his impartiality as the lead official in charge of carrying out the English-speaking bishops’ wishes on the liturgy. ICEL, which was founded during Vatican II, helps with the crucial work of translating liturgical texts from Latin into English which is then used by millions of Catholics across the world.
When asked in an email by The Tablet if he would continue in post, Mgr Wadsworth did not offer any comment but stressed that he is seeking to take part in the debate around inculturation. The bishops attending the Amazon synod have recommended the establishment of an Amazonian rite which will incorporate local rituals into the liturgy.
“On occasion, I have reposted on Facebook articles of others, including bishops and cardinals, who offer commentary about some of the issues surrounding the recent Synod,” Mgr Wadsworth said. “I believe that to do so is part of the process whereby we can all enter into a dialogue concerning the discussion of serious challenges that the Church faces at this time. You will be aware that a spectrum of opinions is expressed, within the Church, in this respect.”
He added: “I do not believe that I am alone in raising these questions which touch upon foundational tenets of the Judaeo-Christian revelation, expressed in the first commandment of the Decalogue. The Church’s growing understanding of the implications of inculturation is a matter of great importance but I would humbly suggest that it cannot extend to confusion in relation to the worship of the God who is the author of our salvation.”