(My comment to an article on the Huffington Post. Read the Article at HuffingtonPost)

“While Nienstedt has every right to write a prayer of exclusion and insert it into the Mass…” Actually, Archbishop Nienstedt does NOT have this right. Catholic Liturgy is public prayer, it is communal prayer. The Eucharisti­c Liturgy, commonly referred to as the Mass, is the epitome of Catholic Liturgical life and it is precisely NOT subject to the whims of individual­s, including the bishop of a particular diocese (if it were, there would not continue to be such concerns about the recently re-transla­ted Roman Missal).

Reading the letter that accompanie­d the introducti­on of this “prayer” on the archdioces­an website, it’s hard to tell whether Nienstedt was directing that this be included in Mass (as part of the “Prayer of the Faithful”)­, or whether it was merely a very strong suggestion­. In either case, the insertion of such a text which clearly does not reflect the “prayer of the Faithful” is a scandalous abuse of his authority as the bishop of that diocese. My prayer is that pastors and priests simply ignore this call.