April 8, 2013
SBH Theater, Saint John's University
Godfrey Diekmann Lecture
All Together Now? Catholic Unity and the Liturgy
Rita Ferrone
In what does the unity of the Roman Rite consist? Fifty years after the promulgation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, some assert that this unity is textual, and therefore they regard exact correspondence of vernacular texts with a Latin original as essential to be believed, textual unity was not what the fathers of the council chiefly had in mind when they made the landmark decision to opt for the expression "substantial unity." We will examine the shift that has taken place between the Second Vatican Council and today in interpreting the Constitution on this point, and argue that the lasting unity of the Roman Rite is best founded on the concept of paschal mystery, the hidden theological treasure of the liturgical reform.
