1st Edition
The Rite of Christian Initiation Adult Rituals and Roman Catholic Ecclesiology
In the wake of recent papal legislation, the various liturgies of the Roman Rite may today be celebrated in either their post-Tridentine or post-Vatican II forms. Whilst much discussion of this new situation focuses on purely liturgical issues, this book breaks new ground by arguing that the coexistence of the two forms raises questions of a profoundly ecclesiological character. Peter McGrail explores the relationship between ritual form, ecclesial self- understanding and constructs of the world that are at play as adults become members of the Church. Analysing the rites by which adults were taken into the Church for three and a half centuries, this book goes on to explore attempts to find a new ritual expression for the journey to Christian Initiation, set against the divergent and even conflicting ecclesiologies which were at play before and during the Council.
Biography
Peter McGrail has considerable personal experience of celebrating adult initiation as a Roman Catholic priest and educator. As a member of the Liturgy Committee of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales - and especially as Chair of its Liturgical Formation Sub-Committee - he has an extensive and in-depth understanding of current liturgical developments in the Roman Catholic Church internationally.
’The influence of the RCIA upon the wider church has encouraged new and imaginative approaches to Christian initiation. However ecumenical appreciation of the rite seldom extends to its ecclesiological foundations within Roman Catholicism. Peter McGrail provides a fascinating insight into how the RCIA reflects ecclesiological shifts within the Roman Catholic Church. The result is a very welcome, stimulating and enlightening read that will provoke serious thought about how Christian initiation enacts communal Christian identity.’ James Steven, Sarum College, UK 'This is a proactive book in the best sense of that word. Placing side by side the primary theology of initiatory ritual practice and the systematic presentation of evolving ecclesiology, the reader is at once reminded that the choice of the ritual form of inititation goes beyond taste and preferences while being informed of the ecclesiological ramifications of such choices. Peter McGrail's detailed study is to be very much welcomed into the initiation and ecclesiology repertiore!' Anaphora
