“Mediatized” liturgy in light of the Directory of the Polish Bishops’ Conference on the Celebration of the Holy Mass Broadcast on Televisionn

The aim of the article is to discuss the main assumptions of the Directory of the Polish Bishops’ Conference on the Celebration of the Holy Mass Broadcast on Television published on 14 March 2017 and to answer the question about the difference between watching the Holy Mass on television and direct participation in the Eucharist. The liturgy is the work of the Holy Trinity, a constant “sacred exchange” of blessings, a dialogue in which the people of God participate. The dialogical (relational) structure of the liturgy demands, therefore, an authentic relationship between man and God. God “needs,” as it were, the human “you” to whom He speaks and who responds to Him. The recipient of the broadcast liturgy, unlike the members of the liturgical congregation, who form a real community, does not participate directly in the anamnestic narration of the events of the Cenacle and Golgotha, because ritual anamnesis demands the unity of place and time, that is, the current, physical presence in the place of remembrance. There is, therefore, a fundamental difference on the ontological-sacramental level between the Holy Mass in which we participate and the transmitted image of it. The “mediatized” Eucharist is not and never will be the Holy Mass. Listening to and watching the Mass is not tantamount to direct participation in it, and therefore does not allow one to fulfill the obligation to participate in the Mass on Sundays and the prescribed feasts. Nevertheless, the broadcasts of the Mass have pastoral value, since they enable the sick and elderly who are unable to go to the place where the Eucharist is celebrated to establish a spiritual bond with the faithful who participate in the Eucharist in a particular church. They are, therefore, an integral part of the pastoral care of the sick. The broadcasts of liturgy in media also have evangelistic and formative dimensions since they are a carrier of evangelical content and can also serve as a bridge for people who do not know the Church or who have lost contact with it, enabling them to have contact with the Word of God and with the liturgy. The preparation of a Mass broadcast on television requires multifaceted, harmonious and creative collaboration of both those involved in the liturgy itself and the media team so that it can fulfill its pastoral purpose