The North American Academy of Liturgy (NAAL)
About the NAAL
The North American Academy of Liturgy (NAAL) is an ecumenical and inter-religious association of liturgical scholars who collaborate in research. It is open to those who are engaged in and who can contribute to such research. Academy members are specialists in liturgical studies, theologians, artists, musicians, and persons in related disciplines, whose work affects liturgical expression and furthers liturgical understanding.
Connecting scholarship and worship
The Academy’s purpose is twofold:
•to promote liturgical scholarship among its members through opportunities for exchange of ideas, and
•to extend the benefits of this scholarship to the worshipping communities to which its members belong.
Gathered first in 1973
The Academy’s origins date to December 1973, ten years after the promulgation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, when more than fifty American experts in liturgy met at Scottsdale, Arizona. The ecumenical gathering, sponsored by the journal Theological Studies and organized by two Jesuits, Walter Burghardt and John Gallen, met to discuss the principle opportunities, needs, and problems of liturgical renewal.
In January 1975 the academy was founded at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, when a basic agreement was reached on goals, structures, and membership qualifications. The first official meeting was held in January 1976 at Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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For more information please visit the website.