Liturgical music can draw people to Christ, heal divides, says Hispanic Catholic composer

“Every culture, every language” has value in the celebration of the Mass – and bilingual liturgical music can help heal divides, while drawing faithful into an encounter with Christ and one another, a longtime Hispanic Catholic composer recently told OSV News.

“The climate of the liturgical music in the Catholic Church is changing drastically; it’s shifted a lot in the last six, seven years,” said Jaime Cortez, whose hymns include “Rain Down,” “Take Up Your Cross,” and “Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo/We Are the Body of Christ,” a song he co-wrote with fellow liturgical music composer Bob Hurd.

Cortez, who was born in New York and raised in El Salvador, has engaged in multicultural music ministry throughout his career, with a “top priority” of fulfilling the Second Vatican Council’s call for the “full and active participation of the faithful by all the people” in the Mass.

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Cortez admitted that, amid a polarised society, “we have a little bit of division” in the pews, making for a “difficult time … for finding a way to common ground right now.” But in particular, he said, “when you at least attempt to have music that’s in bilingual form, at least you are making a reach to include other people.”