The Disciples followed the Last Supper with a hymn, and the early martyrs went singing into the arena to meet the lions; voices raised in praise and gladness have always been part of the Christian faith. But the sound is sometimes unholy. In modern times, Pope St. Pius X warned against the infiltration of profane music in his Motu Proprio (1903), followed by Pius XI in his Divini Cultus (1928). Last fall Chicago's Cardinal Stritch blacklisted such sentimental standbys as Schubert's Ave Maria and the Wagner and Mendelssohn wedding marches (TIME, Oct. 24).
Last week Roman Catholics could study the first full-dress...