In this installment of “Working in the Vineyard,” Pray Tell presents the Liturgical Institute at KU Leuven in Leuven, Belgium, in a conversation with Professor Joris Geldhof, the Chair of the Liturgical Institute, alongside consultation with the other members of the institute.
How long has the Liturgical Institute been around? Tell us about the founding vision.
Our name has been around since 1969, when the Faculty of Theology and the Abbey of Keizersberg (Mont César) signed a contract for cooperation. The contract particularly pertained to the publication of Questions Liturgiques (our journal and flagship), but it was also agreed to join forces to take both scholarly and pastoral initiatives. So we have deep roots in the Liturgical Movement and its attempts at liturgical renewal. We are proud of that particular heritage and find it a rich resource for our future as well.
Whereas the Liturgical Institute used to be a cooperation between the monks (plural) of the abbey working in the area of liturgy and the professors (plural) working in that same area, subsequent rationalizations and other evolutions in church, culture, society and the university have resulted in a much smaller group. The Liturgical Institute has today become basically the research group around Prof. Joris Geldhof. This group consists of junior scholars preparing a PhD, postdoctoral fellows, voluntary research associates and, every now and then, visiting scholars.
What are your major activities? Who reads your materials?
The most important thing to say here is that our Liturgical Institute is embedded in several international networks, while deeply rooted in the local context.
For teaching, we collaborate with the Institutum Liturgicum in Anglia et Cambria, based in London, where there are summer courses in liturgy each year. Many of these courses are officially accredited by KU Leuven, and thus available for students interested in the study of liturgy as part of their programme of studies.
For research, we set up an intensified collaboration with the chairs of liturgy at the universities of Tilburg, Nijmegen and Leuven, so that we actually cover all the catholic faculties of the Low Countries where they have such a chair. The three chair-holders – Sam Goyvaerts (Tilburg), Thomas Quartier (Nijmegen) and Joris Geldhof (Leuven) – are also the three co-editors-in-chief of Questions Liturgiques. That has been the new situation since the 100th volume of the journal in 2020. We are ready for the future!
In terms of pastoral outreach, our Liturgical Institute is involved in the organization of annual congresses for pastoral liturgy in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium). Joris Geldhof is also appointed as expert in the Flemish liturgy commission of the Belgian Bishops’ Conference.
What is the most important contribution the Liturgical Institute is making to the life of the church?
In line with the ideals of Liturgical Movement, our Liturgical Institute intends to contribute to the scholarly foundations on which initiatives for liturgical renewal and liturgical formation must rest. We are also convinced of the importance of international collaboration in this area. Working with and from a deliberately theological profile, we aim at offering services where and when needed. In this context we find academic freedom a very important gift.
Any new things in the works?
Recently we had a very interesting expert symposium about Marie-Dominique Chenu, who authored some fascinating articles about sacramental anthropology and liturgy. These texts constitute a rich treasure trove for anyone who is interested in the connection between ritual and sacrament and the interplay between divine and human agency in the liturgy – and who wouldn’t be in our field? It is our intention to have a translation of these articles published together with some commentaries from different disciplinary perspectives. The symposium showed the strength of the collaboration between Tilburg, Nijmegen and Leuven.
What else do you want Pray Tell readers to know about the Liturgical Institute?
Do consider submitting an article for Questions Liturgiques! Encourage any student you might know to come and study in London, or Leuven. And be welcome as a visiting scholar, e.g. in the context of a sabbatical.
May God prosper your work!
This interview with Joris Geldhof and the Liturgical Institute was conducted by email.