A liturgy is not Christian if Christ is not the centre of the celebration, Pope Benedict said.

“The conviction must grow in us every day that the liturgy is not ‘our’ or ‘my’ doing, but is God’s acting in us and with us,” he said Oct. 3.

In his catechesis during his weekly general audience, the pope said, “If in the celebration (of Mass) the centrality of Christ does not emerge, we won’t have Christian liturgy, totally dependent on the Lord,” who supports it with his presence.

It’s not the action of the individual – whether the priest or one of the faithful – or the group gathered in the pews “that celebrates the liturgy, but it is primarily the action of God through the Church, which has its own history, rich tradition and creativity,” he said.

The liturgy cannot be created or modified by the individual community or by experts, but must be faithful to the forms of the universal Church, he said.