…the National Association of Pastorial Musicians has a form on thier website to vote for the hymn or song that “means” the most to you. I think this is just for American Catholics - there’s no entry for country on the form.
Anyway, if you feel so inclined, go to:
http://www.npm.org
and click on the news portion on the right.
(I voted for “Awesome God” by Rich Mullins)
Can I vote for “Like a Rolling Stone”?
I have to confess that I haven’t done much of the “Mass” thing after I did
the “Vietnam” thing, so I really don’t know what the current hymns are.
We always sang “Faith Of Our Fathers” in choir when I was a kid . . . that
was probably my favorite. Then we got a new parish priest who was
horrified when we sang it at mass and immediately put a stop to it. His
objection was that it was a “protestant” song. When we sang it, I thought
it was about the early Christian martyrs. As I grew older, and learned
more history, I realized the priest’s negative reaction was probably from
the song’s inferences to the inquistion. Although. I suppose most religions
would have trouble with the lyrics if they studied their own histories.
Will O’Ban
Apparently your priest was not aware of the original 3rd verse of the song:
Faith of our fathers, Mary’s prayers
Shall win our country back to Thee;
And through the truth that comes from God,
England shall then indeed be free.
Frederick Faber, who authored the words to the song, was a Catholic. Somewhere down the line it was changed, and this verse was taken out.
I’m not in to the new “hip” hymns that are sung now. I love the old Latin hymns (despite never having heard them at Mass growing up), and the older music that was played way back when. I also do like Gregorian Chant to a certain extent, but I much prefer the Polyphonic music that came from the Baroquian period (I love Mozart’s Requiem Mass, for example). Of course, this type of music is rarely heard anymore at a Catholic Mass, unless you attend a Latin Mass. Even then, you more often than not hear things such as Immaculate Mary, Panis Angelicus, O Sanctissima, and the like, rather than the Polyphonic music.
If you want to hear that kind of music, it’s still alive, well, and thriving in the Anglican tradition. That’s exactly the kind of music our choir does.
Redwolf
The Anglicans have some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard. It’s very reminiscent of the Traditional Latin music in the Roman Rite. For me there is just something sublime in sacred music such as that. 
Actually, much of it IS the traditional music from the Roman Rite. We’ve preserved much of the greater Church’s musical tradition, which is a good thing, since it seems like everyone else is determined to throw it away. I can’t believe the awful music I hear when I go to a Catholic church these days…what are they thinking of?
Redwolf
I think it has to do with feeling the music in the Church needs to be “updated” and more modern to appeal to the younger crowd. I don’t think it’s working, though, since young people really aren’t flocking to Mass anyway…although there is a very large population of young people who attend Traditional Latin Masses regularly, and the music has quite a bit to do with it (along with a lot of other things). I know for me, that’s a big part of why I attend a Latin Mass over the regular ones now.
Incidentally, is there a such thing as High Anglican here in the U.S.? From what I understand, the Liturgy (along with the music) is also very similar to the old Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.
I was taught by the Salesian Fathers. We used to sing that one a lot too. Good lusty stuff. There’s a line that goes “We will be true to thee till death” but I never quite understood what I was singing there. For years I wondered what “veetal death” was. I had a bit of trouble with the Hail Mary too - “Blessed is the fruit of thy wound Jesus.” I also understood that some of my compatriots thought that God was called Harold (“Harold be thy name”).
I’m an atheist now, thank God! 
Steve
Yes, there are high, low and broad churches here in the U.S. just as there are in England. You’ll mostly find the really high services in big cities though.
One of the greatest experiences of my trip to London was hearing Evensong sung at St. Paul’s Cathedral…that was the next best thing to heaven! That and hearing the boys and girls choir rehearse in Salisbury Cathedral (an unexpected treat!). It was exciting to hear some of the music we do in a real cathedral setting…the acoustics are fantastic!
Sadly, none of the Catholic churches here have anything resembling a high mass…forget about Latin! In fact, our choir has several refugees from Roman Catholic choirs here, who just got sick of the trite drivel that passes for music in the churches. It’s sad.
Redwolf