True – real – essential
Under this title about 100 interested priests and lay people will gather in Herzogenrath (near Aachen, Germany) from 24 to 27 August for the 14th Cologne Liturgical Conference. It takes place at the Oswald von Nell-Breuning-Haus. The parish coucil of St. Gertrude is host to the solemn liturgies that will be celebrated in the churches of St. Gertrude and St. Mary's in the extraordinary Roman ("Tridentine") rite.
In addition to the Bishop of Copenhagen, H.E. Czeslaw Kozon, and the Abbot of Mariawald, Dom Joseph Vollberg, well-known and significant speakers will give lectures. Among them are Rev. Prof. Dr. Andreas Wollbold, professor of pastoral theology at the University of Munich, Rev. Prof. Dr. Helmut Hoping, professor of dogmatic theology and liturgical studies at the University of Freiburg, Rev. Prof. Dr. Peter Hofmann, professor of fundamental theology at the University of Augsburg, and the great English liturgical scholar, Rev. Dr. Alcuin Reid.
The conference this year focuses on the important question of the Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and the need for an adequate liturgical form. Papers inlcude:
The gift of the Holy Presence of the risen Christ in the Eucharistic, by Rev. Prof. Dr. Helmut Hoping,
From rubrics to “ars celebrandi”, by Rev. Dr. Alcuin Reid,
Liturgical gesture – Its demands on theology and celebration, by Rev. Prof. Dr. Peter Hofmann
“Christus cantat in Ecclesia” – Liturgical music as Theophany, by Dr. Michael Tunger, Aachen
In addition to the specialized presentations and three outstanding cultural events are scheduled. Thus the well-known cultural journalist and Der Spiegel editor, Matthias Matussek, will declare "My love for the liturgy." On Friday, 26 August, there will be an exclusive tour of Aachen Cathedral “Claret opus Domini”, led by the Bonn art historian Clemens M.M. Bayer. As part of the cathedral tour the Schola Carolina under Dr. Michael Tunger will sing part of the medieval Office in honour of Charlemagne "Regali natus".
There will be two Pontifical Masses in the usus antiquior, celebrated by H.E. Czeslaw Kozon, Bishop of Copenhagen/Denmark, and Dom Josef Vollberg OCSO, Abbot of the Trappist Monastery of Mariawald.
The conference will conclude with a matinee with the author Martin Mosebach.
The fee for conference participants is EUR 40. If you participate in selected prts of the program, the organisers ask for a donation. For organizational reasons, registration is required in any case under +49 2406 - 3566 or pfarrer@st-gertud.info.
You can see the complete programme of the Conference in Enlgish at this link, the Conference homepage (German) is here.
