Roman Catholic Churches

Renewal of Christian worship began in the nineteenth century and culminated in the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which led to greater participation by the laity in the liturgy. Issues that must still be faced in ongoing discussions concern the theological and cultural appropriateness of the language of liturgical texts, the role of women, and the place of the laity in leadership. The change in the worship experience of twentieth-century Roman Catholics may be appreciated by briefly looking at history. In the sixteenth century, Reformers had posed challenges to the lack of intelligibility of medieval Catholic worship experience to the laity. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) responded to the challenge by revising liturgical books, but the Latin language was retained and the textual uniformity remained. A Roman-centered Sacred Congregation of Rites insured a rubrical uniformity that often resulted in overemphasis on rubrics and underemphasis on people's prayer. The Liturgical…