The Society for Catholic Liturgy has announced that it will feature two keynote speakers at its 2023 conference, to be held in St. Paul, MN, on September 21-22—with registration starting on the evening of September 20. The theme for the 2023 Conference for the Society for Catholic Liturgy (SCL) is “Remain in me”: Liturgical Formation and the Eucharistic Revival.
Both keynote addresses will emphasize the importance of liturgical formation in the life of faith. Oratorian Father Uwe Michael Lang, an Adoremus contributor and a liturgy scholar, will speak on “The Historical Formation of the Liturgy and Liturgical Formation,” and Brant J. Pitre, a biblical scholar, will speak on “Liturgical Formation and the Laity.”
Father Lang is a native of Nuremberg, Germany, and a priest of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in London. He has a doctorate in theology from the University of Oxford, and teaches Church history at Mater Ecclesiae College, St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, and Allen Hall Seminary, London. He is also on the Visiting Faculty of the Liturgical Institute in Mundelein, IL. He is a board member of the SCL and editor of the SCL’s journal, Antiphon.
Pitre is a New Testament scholar and Distinguished Research Professor of Scripture at the Augustine Institute in Greenwood Village, CO. He received a doctorate in theology from the University of Notre Dame and has written extensively in defense of Catholic teaching on such topics as transubstantiation, the perpetual virginity of Mary, the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the traditional authorship of the Gospels. Pitre currently lives in Louisiana with his wife and eight children.
The theme for this year’s SCL conference takes its inspiration from Pope Francis’s 2022 Apostolic Letter on the liturgy, Desiderio Desideravi. In the letter, Pope Francis calls for a “serious and vital liturgical formation” of the people of God through a “rediscovery of a theological understanding of the liturgy.” At the same time, the Catholic bishops of the United States have called for a three-year Eucharistic Revival (2022-2024), culminating in a Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, IN, in 2024.
According to the official announcement of this year’s theme, the SCL believes it has “a specific scholarly contribution to make in responding to both calls to action. We would like to pose a question: Is it possible that the recommitment to liturgical formation and the Eucharistic Revival can be integrated? How can a plan for the liturgical formation of the faithful contribute to the Eucharistic Revival in the United States?”
Referring to the Eucharistic congresses of the past century, the announcement noted, “the Eucharistic rites of the Church were presented as ways in which the whole Church might develop a new spiritual fervor that would serve as a medicine against individualism, secularization, violence, and injustice. At the heart of these efforts was the desire for a deeper participation in the mystery of Jesus Christ, the ‘true vine’ in which the life of the world remains, continuously sanctified by the prayer of the Church.”
An optional tour of the Cathedral of St. Paul will be offered on September 20, prior to registration, and Solemn Mass will be celebrated on both days of the conference. To register and for the full conference schedule, visit https://liturgysociety.org.
