Liturgy and Secularism: Beyond the Divide

Can Christian worship engage our secular culture? Should it? While engaging thinkers in philosophy, history, religious anthropology, and liturgical theology, liturgical theologian Joris Geldhof argues that such engagement is necessary—that our liturgy and faith should embrace our modern culture. He shows that liturgy itself is an immensely resourceful reality that appeals to any human being, regardless of sociocultural and intellectual circumstances. If properly understood, the liturgy can provide a powerful dynamic that helps people overcome any binary, including the unfortunate one between the “left” and “right” within the Catholic Church.

Joris Geldhof is Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He previously served as professor of liturgical studies and sacramental theology at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He is co-editor of The Worshiping Body: Chenu, Liturgy and Sacraments (Liturgical Press, 2025), and author of Liturgy and Secularism: Beyond the Divide (Liturgical Press, 2018), Liturgical Theology as a Research Program (Brill, 2020), and Monotheism in Christian Liturgy (Cambridge University Press, 2023). Joris is also a past president of the international ecumenical Societas Liturgica and a member of the Malines Conversations Group.