内容摘要：, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently.

, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently.

Kleinman, who is Jewish but not observant, said he doesn’t have a religious connection to the lyrics and finds singing in a group cathartic.Nathan Rees, a committee member and Sacred Harp museum curator, at The Sacred Harp Publishing Company and Museum on March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Nathan Rees, a committee member and Sacred Harp museum curator, at The Sacred Harp Publishing Company and Museum on March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)Whereas Nathan Rees, a committee member and Sacred Harp museum curator, finds spiritual depth in the often-somber words.“It just seems transcendent sometimes when you’re singing this, and you’re thinking about the history of the people who wrote these texts, the bigger history of just Christian devotion, and then also the history of music and this community,” he said.

At Holly Springs, Rees took his turn as song leader, choosing No. 374, “Oh, Sing with Me!” The group did as the 1859 song directed — loudly and in harmony like so many Sacred Harp singers before them.“There’s no other experience to me that feels as elevating,” he said, “like you’re just escaping the world for a little while.”

Sacred Harp singers sit among the headstones at Holly Springs church for a midday potluck. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Sacred Harp singers sit among the headstones at Holly Springs church for a midday potluck. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)rejecting a Vatican declaration to allow priests to offer spontaneous, non-liturgical blessings to same-sex couples seeking God’s grace.

That statement, seen as a rebuke of Francis, asserted that same-sex unions were “contrary to the will of God.” It cited biblical teaching condemning homosexuality and asserted that same-sex relations are “contradictory to cultural norms” in Africa.But it is Sarah, the Guinean cardinal who is the Vatican’s former liturgy chief, who posed a more public challenge to Francis.

A favorite of traditionalists, Sarah prefers silent prayer and is an adherent of the old Latin Mass. He is a staunch defender of longstanding doctrinal faith.After Francis in 2021 reimposed restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass that Benedict had relaxed, Sarah responded with tweets quoting Benedict’s original 2007 law to relax the restrictions. His posts were accompanied by a photo of Benedict wearing the red cape that Francis had eschewed the night of his election.