The Reform of the Reform
Roma locuta est: Pope wants guitars silenced during mass.

This would be great news if more than a handful of Catholics listened to the Vicar of Christ. No, the guitars will sound this Sunday.

Next time I see one, however, I might be emboldened to pull a John Belushi and smash the thing over the guy's head. Of course, as in the best scene in Animal House (1978), I'll say "sorry" afterwards. It's still a Mass, after all.

Some "youth Masses" here in Korea use guitars and the music for the English Masses I've attended has been provided by Filipinos with guitars, which is why I exclusively attend Korean-language Masses.

Here's a disc I bought in my pre-Catholic days:

Of the three masses, there is only one I can listen to:

Why? The African choir is astonishingly beautiful and polyphonic, and the accompanying drums are muted and in keeping with the dignity and solemnity of the Mass. The setting is pre-conciliar, and thus in Latin. This is inculturation at its finest.

The other two settings are in Spanish and the music is raucous Cuban and Andalusian folk music, which I enjoy, but not at church.

[link to article via Shrine of the Holy Whapping]