Prof. Clare Johnson
Date and Time: 6pm for a 6:30pm start. 29 November 2023

Implementing the liturgical reform called for by Sacrosanctum Concilium was an immense undertaking begun with great energy and resulting in a monumental output over a relatively short timeframe. Sixty years on from SC’s promulgation, significant aspects of Vatican II’s liturgical vision are yet to be realised, while attempts to revise or reverse the reform have generated discord and division where unity is the ideal. This lecture will explore some of the triumphs and traumas associated with Vatican II’s reform of the liturgy, highlighting aspects of SC still to be actioned, and focusing on how Pope Francis seeks to bring to maturity the liturgy as envisioned by the council fathers, their predecessors, and successors.

Clare Johnson is the Professor of Liturgical Studies and Sacramental Theology and Director of the ACU Centre for Liturgy at Australian Catholic University. She has taught at the University of Notre Dame (USA), Michigan State University (USA) and the University of Notre Dame Australia (Fremantle). She has a mandatum to teach Catholic theology and has received multiple teaching awards. Her research in liturgy, liturgical music, ritual studies, liturgical theology, liturgical inculturation, and sacraments has been widely published. She directs higher degree research students in liturgy, sacraments and the sacred arts. Clare served as a member of the National Liturgical Council advising the Bishops Commission for Liturgy of the ACBC (2009-2018), and currently serves as Chair of the National Liturgical Music Council and consultant to the bishops.