USCCB To Consider Implementing Challenge Flags And Instant Replays During Masses

“Parishioners are challenging the orthodoxy of the homily.”

Washington, D.C.–As bishops from across the country gather in Washington, D.C. this weekend for the annual USCCB Liturgical Conference, many within the Church are speculating about rumors that U.S. bishops may vote on a proposal to implement instant replay for every Mass starting in 2014. The idea of using instant replay cameras during Mass was first proposed in 2009 by then Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan. “I believe that technology could actually be an immense benefit to us,” Dolan told the New York Times in a 2009 interview. “The idea would be to give a red challenge flag to two or three parishioners to toss onto the sanctuary on behalf of the congregation should they feel something heretical, or something not in line with the rubrics of the Mass had occurred. They would not have ability to throw the flag in the case of an overtly fluffy homily. Once the Liturgy of the Eucharist had begun, all reviews could only then come from upstairs, so to speak.” But some critics of instant replays such as 47-year-old Mary Collins from New Haven, Connecticut says that implementing such a move would mean prolonged Masses. “Mass already takes so long,” Collins told reporters. “Also, there’s something just special about the human element in Mass…you never know what could happen. It’s kinda exciting.”