A photographer’s take on the sign of peace

Back in 2014, a letter from the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, written to Latin-rite bishops around the world, focused on the sign of peace. After years of study and consultation, the congregation decided that the sign of peace would continue to be part of the liturgy. Local bishops, however, would have the authority to omit it if “it is foreseen that it will not take place properly.”

The letter also said that bishops should do what they can to end “abuses” of the greeting and study whether it’s time to find “more appropriate gestures” to replace it.

A worshipper shares the sign of peace with a young man during Mass in Green Bay, Wis. (Sam Lucero photo)

Discussion on the practice of greeting fellow Mass-goers, shaking hands with them and saying, “Peace be with you” came more than two years after the revised Roman Missal was introduced. The revised missal also ushered in changes during the celebration of the Mass, including the laity no longer praying with hands extended (known as the orans position) during the Our Father. Instead, that gesture is reserved to the priest or leader of prayer. Folks in the pews are asked to pray with folded hands or hands at their side.

A lot of thought and discussion have been given to these decisions, both at the local level and on the universal church level. If the Vatican (or a diocesan bishop) decides to put an end to the sign of peace, people in the pews — reluctantly or not — will have to acquiesce. (We did see this happen during the COVID-19 pandemic, although for health and not liturgical reasons.)

While input from church liturgists, historians and theologians is considered when implementing rules on the use of gestures at Mass, the views of Catholic photojournalists are nowhere to be found.

Until now.

I think I speak for most Catholic photojournalists when I say, “We need gestures at Mass!”

I remember the days, during priestly ordinations, when the newly ordained would exit the sanctuary at the sign of peace and give a loving handshake, hug or kiss to his mother and father. Now that was a Kodak moment. This practice is no longer allowed, although I’m not sure when it ended — or how licit it was in the eyes of liturgists.

Holding hands or extending hands during the Our Father was also an opportunity for powerful images during Mass. Hands to the side? Not so much.

Worshippers hold hands while reciting the Our Father during Mass. (Sam Lucero photo)

If we wanted stoic expressions to photograph, most Catholic photojournalists would head to the nearest traditional Latin Mass.

All kidding aside, church leaders know the importance of signs and symbols in religion and the liturgy. As a photographer — and thus a very visually oriented observer — I’d like to beg them to not eliminate the outward signs we use to express our love for Christ and his church.