| Beyond
the Prosaic Oxford Liturgy Conference, 1996 |
|
Speakers and Topics Our 1996 Summer Conference, beginning 24 June, was called Beyond the Prosaic: Human Culture and Divine Liturgy. Main speakers and topics include the following: 'The Word and Silence' 'Liturgical Chant: Sung Theology' 'Whatever Happened to the Liturgical
Movement?' 'Rewriting the Liturgy: The Theological
Implications of Translation' 'The Catholicity of the Liturgy: Shaping
a New Agenda' 'The Role of Sacred Music' Newman's Oxford (Tour) and visit to Littlemore 'The Awe-Inspiring Rites' 'Chorus of Creation: the Divine Office
and Evangelization' 'Liturgy as the Measure of Religious
Experience'
Visit by Cardinal Poupard On the last day of the Conference, we were all surprised and delighted by the arrival of a most friendly and helpful letter to all the participants from Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Coucil for Culture in Rome.The Cardinal wrote in part as follows: "To go beyond the prosaic is to have recognized that the Good News of Jesus Christ is not fine-sounding words, but the revelation of a mystery brought miraculously close in the Incarnation, in every sacramental encounter with God and, indeed, every time God's Word touches our heart. "It seems wise that you should begin with the relationship between the Word and silence - just consider the silence of Christ, the Word made flesh, at his trial in Jerusalem. "That is a solid foundation for your deliberations on liturgy, which grows and is formed in a given culture, but in its turn has a profound effect on culture - hence the importance of cultivating a rich and worthy tradition of music and language." Stressing that "nostalgia is not the answer, although it is a foolish thing to sneer at the past," the Cardinal argued that "we serve God and his Church poorly, if the forms of worship become bland and dull" - "we need the best to do our best for God."
Other Events Evening events included a discussion of the poet David Jones with Fr Robert Ombres OP, a talk on 'The Priest, the Liturgy and the Spirit of Childhood' by Fr Dermot Power, a talk on the 'Cosmic Liturgy' by Brother Aidan and a musical oratory (with
the Hildegard Choir, directed by Lucy Haigh). Reports, interviews and articles appeared as far afield as Australia and Peru, in addition to the United States (Inside the Vatican, Catholic World Report and Adoremus Bulletin) and Britain (Tablet, Catholic Herald, Catholic Times, etc.). Details of the conference can be found in the August-September issue of Inside the Vatican magazine (UK distributors c/o PO Box 42, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4UH). The edited conference proceedings will be published by T&T Clark under the title Beyond the Prosaic during 1997.
Oxford Declaration What particularly caught the press's attention was the Oxford Declaration on Liturgy issued at the end of the Conference by the Liturgy Forum. The Forum was wrongly described by the Herald as a "pressure group"; in fact it was a discussion group convened from among the participants remaining on the final day, chaired by Mgr Peter J. Elliott from Rome. Such was the interest generated by the Declaration, however, that the Forum will continue, providing for a regular exchange of information on the revival of the Liturgical Movement, and perhaps occasional meetings and retreats. The "membership" of the Forum consists of an expanding list of people who are sympathetic with the Declaration and wish to be kept in touch.I would be interested to hear from anyone
wanting to host a local meeting, to coordinate the exchange of information,
or to contribute to the financial support of the Forum - so that,
for example, a regular Newsletter might be circulated separately from
the Bulletin of the Centre. |