For this Catholic, I find it so misplaced. If we are going to have the so called sign of peace, then why not at the very beginning of the Mass. Where it is now, it is quite disruptive to the liturgy. All of a sudden, we stop at just about the most sacred parts of the Mass. Then we are supposed to pick up again, almost as if nothing had happened when we should have been paying attention to the priest who is about to commence the celebration of the Holy Eucharist distribution.
Oh, and by the way, doesn’t anyone in this Vatican have something more important to be emphasizing every hour of every day, that being the slaughter of thousands of Christians in the Middle East and Africa by Muslim fanatics.
WHO CARES about the sign of peace?
The BODY, BLOOD, SOUL and DIVINITY of our Lord, Jesus Christ, is what is crucial!