Liturgical Commission reestablished to advance liturgical life in Archdiocese of Baltimore

Following a hiatus of several years, the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Liturgical Commission is back. The reboot, which took effect in May, is partially related to the U.S. bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival and the need for ongoing formation and teaching about the liturgy – especially the Eucharist, according to Monsignor Richard Hilgartner, pastor of St. Joseph in Cockeysville and a member of the commission.

Monsignor Hilgartner, who is also the former executive director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, explained that the Second Vatican Council instructed every diocese to have a liturgical commission to oversee the implementation of council reforms with local formation and instruction.

Dr. James Starke, chairman of the commission and director of liturgy at St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park, described the commission as “a consultative and formational body under the direction of the archbishop of Baltimore.” He noted that it works in close collaboration with the archdiocesan Office of Divine Worship. 

“In its consultative capacity,” he said, “the commission assists the archbishop by assessing the liturgical needs of the archdiocese and assists in the development of the norms and guidelines as needed for the faithful implementation of the liturgical rites of the Catholic Church.”

He explained that, as a formational body, the commission “seeks to offer catechetical and liturgical formation on the archdiocesan, deanery and parish levels.”

In those two capacities, the commission has four main tasks: to be acquainted with the state of pastoral liturgical activity of the archdiocese; to assist in the faithful implementation of all norms, guidelines and instructions of the Apostolic See and the Archdiocese of Baltimore with regard to all liturgical matters; to recommend and promote practical programs, especially of liturgical formation, for the advancement of the liturgical life of the Archdiocese of Baltimore; and to provide counsel to the archbishop in liturgical matters when appropriate.

In addition, Starke said, the Vatican II Constitution “Sacrosanctum Concilium” (“On the Sacred Liturgy”) “highlights the fundamental and indispensable role of the bishop in the church’s liturgical life, which the conciliar fathers had affirmed … in the same document: ‘The bishop is to be looked on as the high priest of his flock, the faithful’s life in Christ in some way deriving from and depending on him’ (no. 41).”

This is not the first time the commission has been reinstituted after a hiatus, having last been reestablished around 2009. At that time, the archdiocese also hired a full-time director of what is now the Office of Divine Worship, which had not seen a dedicated director since the early 1990s. 

Part of the reason for the restart of the office and the commission 14 years ago was in preparation for the implementation of the new Roman Missal and the 2011 changes in liturgical language at Mass, which required substantial liturgical formation for clergy, other liturgical ministers and the faithful.

Starke said the newest commission’s membership – which includes four priests, two deacons, three lay women and two lay men – represents the diversity of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. 

“All members have expertise in the areas of liturgy, theology, canon law, music and architecture, and similar fields,” he said.

The commission’s members are:

•       Dr. James Starke, chairman
•       Deacon Fritz Bauerschmidt
•       Father Ernest Cibelli
•       Monsignor Richard Hilgartner
•       Helen Kirby
•       Deacon Andrew Lacovara
•       Julie Grace Males, director of the Office of Divine Worship
•       Father John Martinez
•       Brian Olsen
•       Amy Spessard
•       Dominican Father Reginald Whitt

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