"An Italian priest has developed an application that will let priests celebrate Mass with an iPad on the altar instead of the regular Roman missal."
He stressed that the iPad application, like the iBreviary, was launched at his own instigation and with his own money and is not an official Vatican initiative. Vatican officials have previously praised the iBreviary as a novel way of evangelizing. [Source]This does present some interesting questions though. The intersection of technology and the Mass is nothing new. We forget about how the printing press changed liturgical books used in the Mass in going from hand-written volumes to ones created via the mechanical printing press. In modern times the use of wireless microphones and sound equipment has become quite prevalent – though not everybody is happy about that technological transition either.
The Vatican has gotten involved at an official level before when it came to using technology during the liturgy or in our churches for that matter. After the invention of the electric light the question came up about using an electrical lamp for the sanctuary to indicate the presence of Christ in the Tabernacle. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), No. 316, states: “In accordance with traditional custom, near the tabernacle a special lamp, fueled by oil or wax, should be kept alight to indicate and honor the presence of Christ.”
I once went to a parish with electric votive lamps where you inserted coins for a lamp to light for a certain period of time. Surely someone thought this was great way to reduce insurance premiums but it was unbelievably tacky looking – seemed more like a machine from an amusement park. Asking someone to turn on a candle for you is just not the same.
The invention of the telephone brought questions about using a telephone for confessions. In modern times the same question was asked about confession over the internet and was answered in the negative for really the same reasons phone confessions would not be valid.
In a Church with sacraments and the sacramental view of things the types of materials used at Mass are not insignificant questions. The type of material used for the chalices should be made of solid and noble material that is not easily breakable or corruptible, is another example of how the Church takes seriously these questions.
So we come down to is should an iPad with the Roman Missal be used on the altar? Now as a self-professed geek who is a lover of both technology and theology, and Apple and Jesus fanboy I have mixed feelings about this. Technically I know of no liturgical law that would prevent an iPad or any other similar device from being used for this purpose as the Roman Missal used in Mass. The question would be more of a prudent one for now. I would expect though that this might be a question answered by the Vatican sometime in the future, though they are notoriously slow in answering questions of this type. I can certainly see why some priests would appreciate and electronic version of the Roman Missal. It would be much harder to loose your place and in fact easier to find the correct section each day. I love electronic versions of the Liturgy of the Hours because it makes it so easy to read the LOTH without having to thumb through a bunch of ribboned book marks. Liturgy of the Hour apps replaced my four-volume set of the LOTH and I would not like to have to go back to the old way. I can spend more time praying/reading the LOTH instead time spent getting to the right page.
As St. Paul said that just because something is lawful it does not mean that it should be done. That there are other things to take into account such as the reaction of people to an electronic device used for the Roman Missal. Would people be scandalized by and iPad Roman Missal? Surely there would be some who would be. Or it could just be something that people get use to and just think odd at first. ...read the rest of this article
What do you think?
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