Liturgical Theology as a Research Program

This essay is centered around five questions: (i) What is the proper place of liturgical theology? (ii) Which evolutions have there been in the past and which current tendencies are there in the field of liturgical theology? (iii) Which contents must liturgical theologians focus on? (iv) How can liturgical theologians engage in research? And (v): How can liturgical theology appropriately respond to what happens in Church and society? Each question corresponds with one part. The rationale behind ordering the content of this essay in this way is the following: starting from a reflection about the non-evident place of liturgical theology, an attempt is made to give it a fitting profile again on the basis of its genealogy in the Liturgical Movement. Correspondingly, liturgical theology can be considered a full-fledged research program, which does not simply deal with Christian rituals, festivals and sacraments, but with the core of Christian faith.

Joris Geldhof is Professor of Liturgy and Sacramental Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies of the KU Leuven, Belgium. He is the chair of the Liturgical Institute at this university and a past president of the international and ecumenical Societas Liturgica. Among his recent publications is Liturgy and Secularism: Beyond the Divide(Liturgical Press, 2018).