Mixed reactions as Pope Francis discourages lengthy homilies

In the Catholic church, the homily is the sermon, address or talk which follows the readings of the day. It is usually given by the priest. It was on this that the Pope spoke about.

In Sicily, Pope Francis stated
that a homily should not exceed 8 minutes. 

In his words, "A homily shouldn't last more than 8 minutes. "A 40 minute homily? NO. The whole Mass should last about 40 minutes!".

See tweet reactions below:

The Pope is astute.When he made that remark who was he addressing?What was their response? Loud applause. He is saying that, for most ppl, a short sermon will be more effective. He is not saying that long sermons are always wrong.Stop with the unintelligent, ideological reactions

— Ted Jones (@TedJones1928) September 15, 2018

I agree that some priests ramble and spend too long on boring homilies. But I’ve also heard fantastic longer homilies. Preaching truth in an interesting, compelling way is the answer, not arbitrary time limit.

— Catholic-adoptive-mama (@MamaAdoptive) September 15, 2018

I think we’re learning more and more everyday about how Francis feels about the Mass. He prefers a rushed “service” lacking tradition or reverence. How can one argue otherwise?

— Joseph Drum (@JDrum84) September 15, 2018

Shorter Masses won’t fix the problem of lack of faith and discipleship. Neither will longer Masses. That’s a red herring. And, as I said, the advice is Procrustean.

— Fr. Steve Mattson (@frstevemattson) September 15, 2018

The length of homily does not reflect the quality of homily.

— City Softball 1972 (@baytobreaker79) September 15, 2018

He declared in 17 minutes.

— OnTheSideOfTheAngels (@OTSOTA) September 15, 2018