Het Genootschap voor Liturgiestudie in een nieuw spanningsveld

Samenvatting

The Society of Liturgical Study gathered in ’s-Hertogenbosch on 25-5-1988. On that occasion the members approved of alterations in the statutes, which concerned the objectives of the Society in particular. In this connection a speech was given about the Society of Liturgical Study in a new field of tension. In 1952 the Society of Liturgical Study was founded with the object to study liturgy and to work together to deepen liturgical life. In most cases, the members of the Society were the scholars in liturgy of the Catholic Theological Universities. Especially the last ten years the structure of the Society has changed. The number of scholars in the Netherlands declined and at the same time the number of graduates in the study of liturgy, who work in the field or in trained staff, increased. Moreover, an other phenomenon presented itself. The scholars in liturgy assembled in the liturgical subdivision of the Foundation of Theologic and Religious Scholarly Research (STEGON), through which the research is being subsidized, which is added to the universities. Likewise, the state committed the scholars to cooperate in larger research programs, which have a long-range plan. Finally, they assembled in their own 'Co-operation of Scholars in Liturgy in the Netherlands' (SLDN). All of these structural changes gave the Society of Liturgical Study a new field of tension. For all that, there still remains a special task for the Society of Liturgical Study. This task includes especially the following elements. 1) The Society can bridge between research and practice by translating the results of the research for the practice and by asking questions for the research. 2) The Society can focus its research more directly on the practice and is able to reflect on short-term questions. Since Vaticanum II there are many fields of tension in the liturgical practice which need clarification. In the introduction an enumeration and a short description is given about these fields of tension and the Society is being encouraged to make a conscientious planning and to define priorities for her research. (transl. K. van Tongeren-Kemme)