Ex Fonte: Journal of Ecumenical Studies in Liturgy promises international scholarship across liturgical disciplines and traditions.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA: In June of 2022, the University of Vienna announced the launch of a new, open-access, continuously published, peer-reviewed journal: Ex Fonte: Journal of Ecumenical Studies in Liturgy. Executive Editorial Board members Florian Wegscheider and Elias Haslwante write,

We see Ex Fonte as an open and internationally oriented platform for scholarly discourse in Liturgical Studies, which may bring new inspiration to ecumenical dialogue. Ex Fonte contributes to bringing worldwide liturgical scholarship closer together and to inspiring mutual enrichment. We see this as a contribution and commitment to ecumenism. We hope that through Ex Fonte and the contributions published therein, ecumenism will also benefit from new impulses from a liturgical perspective to strengthen and foster the dialogue between Eastern and Western traditions, and can be expanded to include interreligious contributions as well, for example from Judaism and Islam. Even if not every single contribution needs to address explicitly ecumenical Liturgical Theology, the authors from different denominations and their submitted contributions commit themselves to a basic ecumenical approach.

In a nod to the increasing need for timely publication and the evolving nature of academic publishing, Ex Fonte does not publish on a fixed schedule. “Articles are reviewed, edited, and published as soon as possible after submission. This makes it possible to discuss and react to current and topical issues or challenges in a quick and uncomplicated manner,” Wegscheider and Haslwante write. “By publishing the articles in Open Access, research in Liturgical Studies will not only be permanently accessible 24/7 to everyone and everywhere, in a simple and straightforward way, but they also comply with the standards and requirements of contemporary academic scholarship. The excellent quality of the published articles is ensured by a double-blind peer-review process.”

This type of publishing heralds good news both for established and up-and-coming scholars seeking to engage their work on a global stage and in a timely manner. Pray Tell will publish new Ex Fonte abstracts regularly in our recurring In This Issue feature. Early articles examine ecumenical perspectives of Vatican II (Pietro Ventura), the ḥūḏrā in the Liturgy of the Assyrian Church of the East (Mar Awa III), and the stole practices of Carthusian nuns (Daniel Tibi), to name a few. The journal’s timely publication schedule has even allowed for an analysis of the rites and rituals surrounding the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II (Daniel Lloyd).

The editors invite submissions at any time; guidelines are available here. The journal has published thus far in German, English, and Italian; submissions in French are also welcome. Visit exfonte.org for full details and to read the latest.