Q: Recently we hosted a funeral celebrated by a priest from another diocese. Our music director volunteered to provide the music. I was not present at the funeral and didn’t have any role in planning. When our music director presented the four hymns to the priest, (we use an OCP missalette for all our music) he replied that the hymns were not “Catholic”; he then chose four others. Unfortunately, the music director can’t remember the hymns involved.
What constitutes a “Catholic hymn”? I’ve never heard “Catholic hymn” being used positively and politely.
A: In the United States we do not have an approved restricted list of hymns for Catholic worship. OCP’s publications are approved by the USCCB. You can rest assured that anything in there is Catholic music.