This chapter presents the main themes that emerge from a survey of the scholarly work that has been undertaken on the history of papal involvement with music. Seven centuries of papal pronouncements on music in the liturgy show a remarkable consistency of concerns, which could be summed up in the word “decorum.” Liturgical music must serve the Word, it must be solemn, it must be serious, it must not be there simply to be enjoyed, and it must not remind the congregation of secular matters. Yet it is striking how limited and how ineffective most papal decrees were. While popes consistently claimed global authority over all sorts of religious matters, only two issued decrees on music addressed to the entire Church. Even the papacy’s greatest contribution to the history of music, the creation of the plainchant repertory, was for the popes a local matter.

Canon law has played a role in the life of the Church since its earliest days. For many centuries, it was largely customary and local. However, from the sixth century on, the Roman pontiff played an increasingly prominent role in shaping and applying this law in the West. This tendency to centralize authority in the hands of the Roman pontiff reached its culmination with the promulgation of the first Code of Canon Law in 1917. Cut off from the law’s roots in history and theology, this code derived its force from the will of the pontiff who enacted it. The Second Vatican Council, from 1962 to 1965, attempted to balance the role of the pope with that of the College of Bishops and to move toward decentralization of authority by enhancing the figure of the diocesan bishop and creating episcopal conferences. These conciliar efforts have been implemented, at least in part, in the revised Latin code of 1983 and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches of 1990. Nevertheless, subsequent legislating has come largely through the unilateral action of the Roman pontiff.