THE SISTINE

CHOIR IS
REORGANISED
THE Pope has decided to re organise the Sistine Choir. This is the choir that had its origins back in the time of Pope St, Gregory the Great and which performs at all ceremonies in which a Pope takes part.
The Sistine Choir's present statutes were drawn up by Pope St. Pius X in the early 1900s. Shortly after the election of Pope John, the choir's director, Mgr. Bartolucci. told him of the technical problems confronting it.
The Pope then asked Mgr. Bartolocei to prepare a new set of statutes and at the same time ordered a raise in salary for the singers on the same basis as the recent increases for other Vatican employees.
The choir will now comprise 25 men and 30 boys. Falsetto voices are to be discontinued. But there is to be more work. Practice, which for years has not been obligatory. must now amount to at least three hours daily. More emphasis is to be given to their liturgical, cultural and musical training both in polyphony and Gregorian Chant.
Record of the past
To mark the first anniversary of his coronation, French Catholics are to present the Pope with a gramoph.one record containing addresses he gave while Nuncio in Paris. The reverse side will contain appreciations 'of the Pope by leading Frenchmen who knew Pope John well at this time. The record will be given to the Pope by the French pilgrimage which is to be led by Cardinal Feltin and several French bishops.