Mediator Dei - Reception

Reception

Progressive theological elements of Modernism, many of whom were subsequently censured and silenced after Pius XII's promulgation of Humani Generis in 1950, especially in France, (Henri du Lubac, Yves Congar) presented a highly colored and distorted interpretation of the encyclical to bolster their own position of liturgical change. A commentary of the "elitist" liberal periodical, Nouvelle Revue Theologique labelled Mediator Dei:

The most important teaching, which the Magisterium ever issued, and one of greatest documents of this pontificate

The Jesuit G.M. Hansens writes in the influential Civiltà Catolica, ... that the importance of the encyclical are obviously the reforms, but also the notion, that without liturgy, religious life is not possible, and, liturgy as Pius XII taught, is “more than a beautiful spectacle but ultimate adoration of God Himself”. An unsigned editorial in the Journal Life of the Spirit opines, that some eccentric German liturgical reformists went too far liturgically, “and are now told to look at the depths of the dogma” A Blackfriers commentary also points to liturgical developments in Germany, which are now largely legal.

An American Journal,Orate Fratres, issued by Saint John's Abbey in Minnesota, writes that with this encyclical of Pope Pius XII, liturgy ceases to be an unimportant composite of ceremonies and regulations. It is now accepted dogma, that liturgy is not static but actively changing lives. It is hoped that the encyclical will help to coordinate the liturgical renewal throughout the Catholic world and thus multiply its effects on Christian life everywhere, similarly to the reform movement of Cluny or the reforms of the Council of Trent.