Antjie Krog’s Mass for the Earth. Ecumenical liturgy in poetical form

Description

Contribution to the panel "Contextual ecumenical challenges and limitations to preaching, praying and singing in times of climate change"

Abstract:
In 2020 South African poet Antjie Krog published O Brose Aarde. ‘n Misorde vir die Nuwe Verbond (translation: O Fragile Earth. A Mass for the New Covenant). In this poetical work, Krog challenges the human relationship with the earth. The work is created as a Mass, with an ‘Introitus & Miserere nobis’; ‘Hosanna: Sol, Luna, Terra’; ‘Credo’ and so forth, because of the worshipping and confessional character of this liturgical form. Also, what inspired Krog was an understanding of the Mass as a transformative practice through which the humans, who participate in its performance, want to become or do better.
Krog’s Mass circles around the questions: how can we take care of the earth when we do not care for each other / how can we care for each other if we do not care for the earth? This paper regards O Fragile Earth as a poetical liturgy and will ask how it challenges the ways in which human beings relate to the earth. It thereby also reflects on the potential of poetical liturgy to inspire a responsible relationship of human beings with the earth from a theological perspective.

Period	9 Aug 2023
Event title	Societas Liturgica: Congress Liturgy and Ecumenism
Event type	Conference
Location	Maynooth, IrelandShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International