On Distance, Belonging, Isolation and the Quarantined Church of Today

From the closure of churches during the pandemic, and therefore in the absence of a community of worship, arises the pressing theological question: what does it mean to belong ’from a distance’? Although many have reacted to this question by providing virtual alternatives for activities and by reaffirming solidarity in times of hardship, a theological response requires articulating the effects of quarantine and distancing on what it means to belong in the Church. Fundamentally, what does it mean to belong, and is it possible to belong anew after the pandemic?

This book addresses these questions by carefully drawing from the thought of Augustine of Hippo, whose life and thought fittingly echoes the course of our times.

Pablo Irizar is Adjunct Professor of Catholic Studies at the School of Religious Studies and Director of the Newman Centre of McGill University, Canada