Friday, 26 February 2010

Benedict XVI and the Sacred Liturgy


Benedict XVI and the Sacred Liturgy

Neil J. Roy & Janet E. Rutherford, editors

Benedict XVI and the Sacred Liturgy
is the published proceedings of the first Fota International Liturgical Conference held in Cork, Ireland, in July 2008 and it aims to provide a general overview of some of the more important themes in Benedict XVI’s liturgical writings. It serves as a broad introduction to issues central to Benedict XVI's concern for authentic renewal of Catholic worship, according to the principles set out by the Second Vatican Council, and to his critique of liturgical innovations deviant from those principles. The book explores some of the formative influences on Joseph Ratzinger's liturgical vision and points to the consistent application of those critically assimilated influences over a spectrum of issues facing modern liturgical scholarship: the recovery of the sacred, the cosmic and eschatological dimensions of Christian worship, advocacy of continuity rather than rupture in the liturgical tradition; the need for historical and intellectual honesty in discerning development (as well as in areas such as vernacular translations of the core texts of the Roman Rite); and the renewal of genuine scientific exploration of the sources of the Roman Rite. The book is aimed at a professional and general audience. For the most part, it is easily accessible and plots the map for a series of more specific issues to be dealt with in the Fota Liturgical Conference Series.

Revd Dr Neil J. Roy is visiting assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Janet E. Rutherford is the hon. Secretary, Patristic Symposium, Maynooth".

Reviews

"The Fota Liturgical series represents an important contribution to the new liturgical movement called for by Joseph Ratzinger as early as 1989. This first volume in the series, Benedict XVI and the Sacred Liturgy, brings together the reflections of liturgical scholars, drawn from North America and Europe, on several of the issues central to that renewal of Christian worship desired by the Second Vatican Council’s constitution on the sacred liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium."
Antonio Cardinal Canizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

"Long before his ascent to the papacy, Joseph Ratzinger believed that the celebration of the liturgy was not only central to Catholic life, but that liturgical aberrations contributed mightily to post-Conciliar confusion and decline. Benedict XVI and the Scared Liturgy is an excellent starting point for exploring the Holy Father's liturgical vision and concerns as the Church moves to purify and renew the liturgy."
George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney