«A homily must not last longer than eight minutes. After that time attention is lost, people fall asleep. And he's right."
Pope Francis lashes out against long homilies during the general audience in St. Peter's Square in Rome.
«The homily must be short – he said -. An image, a thought, a feeling." And instead "priests sometimes talk a lot and it is not clear what they are talking about", continued the Pontiff.
The maximum limit of eight minutes had been established by his predecessor Benedict XVI who, in October 2008, convened a general assembly of the Synod of Bishops dedicated to the "Word of God" . The rules for the perfect homily, according to Pope Ratzinger, started from the definition of a main theme and the recommendation "not to exceed eight minutes, the average concentration time of the listeners" .
(Unioneonline/D)