Pope Leo ushering in a renewal of Gregorian chant

Pope Leo is helping expose Catholics to Gregorian chant, the music that the Second Vatican Council said should be given pride of place in the Mass, according to an Aug. 18 article in The Catholic Thing. 

The article’s author, Maggie Gallagher, calls attention to the ways that Pope Leo has helped draw attention to this ancient form of liturgical music and discusses some of the ways Catholics are working to promote Gregorian chant. Gallagher is the executive director of the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship. 

“Leo XIV has done much in the first few months of his papacy to dispel damaging misconceptions about Gregorian chant rooted in ignorance of what Vatican II actually taught,” Gallagher wrote.

This work began with the Pope’s first public appearance after being announced as the next successor of Saint Peter, Gallagher pointed out. Unlike other recent popes, Leo opted to chant the Regina Caeli rather than simply recite  it, as CatholicVote previously reported, leading an estimated 100,000 faithful in the medieval hymn.

Soon after Pope Leo’s election, the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, in conjunction with the Vatican Dicastery for Communications, launched a video series on social media called “Let’s Sing with the Pope.” In each video, viewers are taught how to sing parts of the Mass, such as the Pater Noster and Sanctus in Latin (or, in the case of the Kyrie, Greek).

Gregorian chant has long been central to celebrations of the Catholic Mass, a fact the Second Vatican Council reaffirmed in Sacrosanctum Concilium. The document emphasizes that “the treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care” and encourages founding higher institutes of sacred music and giving young people, especially boys, “genuine liturgical training.” 

“The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services,” Sacrosanctum Concilium states.

Gallagher also noted that camps teaching children how to chant the Mass have become more popular recently, according to Mary Ann Carr Wilson, president of the sacred music initiative Canticle.

“There’s more interest than ever,” said Wilson, who has run these camps for 15 years, according to The Catholic Thing. “I’m not able to respond to all the requests.”

Gallagher wrote, “Thanks in part to Pope Leo XIV, those like Mary Ann Carr Wilson, who have planted seeds for many years, will likely see a new harvest from their work.”

Archbishop Salvadore Cordileone of San Francisco has also welcomed this groundswell of interest in Gregorian chant, according to Gallagher. The archbishop told The Catholic Thing that Gregorian chant is a method of evangelization that helps pass on the faith to new generations, and children as young as 7 can master the basics of chant.

“Children and young people are fascinated by the traditions of the Church,” Archbishop Cordileone said, according to the outlet. “I’m not surprised that children’s chant camps are a growing phenomenon, and I’m very pleased. When we offer children only childish music, they grow out of it quickly. Gregorian chant helps sustain their faith through the years.”

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