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Liturgical Irenicism and the Unity of the Church

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Innocent Smith OP
Innocent Smith OP*
Affiliation:
Dominican House of Studies, 487 Michigan Ave., Washington, D.C. 20017
*
innocent.smith@opeast.org
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Abstract

The liturgy has often been a source of conflict within Christian communities. After comparing several recent exhortations by Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI concerning the importance of the unity of the Church, this essay examines resources for articulating an approach of “liturgical irenicism” on the basis of texts from Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and the Magisterium of the Church.

Keywords

LiturgyAugustineAquinasMagisteriumUnity of the Church
Type
Original Article
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 96 , Issue 1061 , January 2015 , pp. 3 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 The Dominican Council

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References

1 Pope Francis, General Audience (25 September 2013). http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130925_udienza-generale_en.html.

2 Pope Benedict XVI, “Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Bishops on the occasion of the apostolic letter ‘motu proprio data’ Summorum pontificum on the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the reform of 1970” (7 July 2007). http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070707_lettera-vescovi_en.html.

3 Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (25 January 2013). http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2013/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20130125_vespri_en.html.

4 Pope Francis, General Audience (25 September 2013).

5 Pope Francis, General Audience (9 October 2013). http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20131009_udienza-generale_en.html

6 Pope Francis, General Audience (25 September 2013).

7 Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1240.

8 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae III, q. 66, a. 5, ad 1.

9 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae III, q. 66, a. 10.

10 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae III, q. 66, a. 10, sed contra.

11 St. Augustine, Letter 54.2.2, tr. Roland Teske, S.J., Letters 1–99, The Works of Saint Augustine II/1 (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2001), pp. 210–211.

12 St. Augustine, Letter 54.2.3, tr. Teske, p. 211.

13 St. Augustine, Letter 55.19.35, tr. Teske, p. 234.

14 St. Augustine, Letter 54.5.6, tr. Teske, p. 213.

15 St. Augustine, Letter 54.5.6, tr. Teske, p. 213.

16 St. Augustine, Letter 22.1.5, tr. Teske, p. 60.

17 Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei 61 (20 November 1947). http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_20111947_mediator-dei_en.html

18 Pius XII, Mediator Dei 58; cf. Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum concilium 22.1, Code of Canon Law (CIC/1983) can. 838.

19 Pius XII, Mediator Dei 58; cf. Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum concilium 22.3.

20 Pius XII, Mediator Dei 50.

21 Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum concilium 21. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html

22 Pope Francis, General Audience (19 June 2013). http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130619_udienza-generale_en.html