In the decades following the Second Vatican Council, Catholic liturgy became an area of considerable interest and debate, if not controversy, in the West. Mid-late 20th century liturgical scholarship, upon which the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council were predicated and implemented, no longer stands unquestioned. The liturgical and ecclesial springtime the reforms of Paul VI were expected to facilitate has failed to emerge, leaving many questions as to their wisdom and value.
Quo vadis Catholic liturgy? This Companion brings together a variety of scholars who consider this question at the beginning of the 21st century in the light of advances in liturgical scholarship, decades of post-Vatican II experience and the critical re-examination in the West of the question of the liturgy promoted by Benedict XVI. The contributors, each eminent in their field, have distinct takes on how to answer this question, but each makes a significant contribution to contemporary debate, making this Companion an essential reference for the study of Western Catholic liturgy in history and in the light of contemporary scholarship and debate.
Reid, Alcuin: -
Dom Alcuin Reid is a monk of the Monastère Saint-Benoît in the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France. After studies in Theology and in Education in Melbourne, Australia, he was awarded a PhD from King's College, University of London, for a thesis on twentieth century liturgical reform (2002), which was subsequently published as The Organic Development of the Liturgy with a preface by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. He has lectured internationally and has published extensively on the sacred liturgy, including Looking Again at the Question of the Liturgy with Cardinal Ratzinger (2003), The Monastic Diurnal, The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described (2009), A Bitter Trial: Evelyn Waugh and John Carmel Cardinal Heenan on the Liturgical Changes (2011). His writings have been translated into Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Polish and Croatian.
Dom Alcuin takes his place at the centre of the new liturgical movement called for by Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) promoting an authentic interpretation of the Second Vatican Council's call for liturgical reform within a hermeneutic of continuity, a critical assessment of its implementation and of the need for a reform of the reform, as well as an openness to the value and riches of the usus antiquior in the Church of the twenty-first century. He was the principal organiser of Sacra Liturgia 2013, the international conference on the role liturgical formation and celebration in the life and mission of the Church in Rome in June 2013, and edited its proceedings Sacred Liturgy: The Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church (2014). He coordinates the ongoing Sacra Liturgia initiatives.
