Presentation by Faculty Member

On 21 May 2022, Dr Andrew Mellas (Senior Lecturer, Church History and Liturgics) presented a paper on “Liturgical Emotions in the Shadow of the Pandemic” at a Conference convened by the Sydney College of Divinity: Theologizing in the Shadow of the Pandemic. Dr Mellas explored how today’s descendants of Byzantium, who have been spending much of their time either in quarantine or lockdown, and who have often been deprived of liturgical life, are navigating the emotions such a crisis evokes. Dr Mellas investigated whether the Pauline “church in the house” is being rediscovered or whether liturgy is giving way to contemplation and interiority. In doing so, he also reflected on the liturgical and political ramifications of the Justinianic plague in sixth-century Byzantium. More information is available here: https://events.scd.edu.au/program/