Sacrosanctum Concilium as a Companion and Catalyst for Anglican Liturgical Reform

Fifty years is a short time in the life of the Church, but for liturgists these have been the best fifty years in the history of the world; or at least the busiest. Sacrosanctum Concilium was approved on December 4th, 1963 as the first document of the Second Vatican Council, and I do not consider it an exaggeration to say that since 1963 more liturgical texts and resources have been published than in every other era of the Church combined. For years it seemed like the liturgical party would never end. Many studies have discussed the importance of placing the reform of the Roman Catholic liturgy first among the Council’s concerns, but the purpose of this paper is to explore what relationship the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy had to the explosion of liturgical revision work throughout the Western Church in the years following its publication and, more specifically, how it related to Anglican liturgical reform during these fifty years, using Irish Anglicanism as the primary example.

* Full article available in printed copies.

Kevin Moroney

Formerly chaplain and lecturer at the C of I Theological College, is currently rector of a parish in the Diocese of Pennsylvania and an adjunct professor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.