On Distance, Belonging, Isolation and the Quarantined Church of Today

Description

From the closure of churches during the pandemic, and therefore in the absence of a community of worship, arises the pressing theological question: what does it mean to belong 'from a distance'? Although many have reacted to this question by providing virtual alternatives for activities and by reaffirming solidarity in times of hardship, a theological response requires articulating the effects of quarantine and distancing on what it means to belong in the Church. Fundamentally, what does it mean to belong, and is it possible to belong anew after the pandemic? This book addresses these questions by carefully drawing from the thought of Augustine of Hippo, whose life and thought fittingly echoes the course of our times.

Pablo Irizar is Faculty Lecturer and Kennedy Smith Chair of Catholic Studies at the School of Religious Studies at McGill University, Canada. He also serves as Director of the Newman Centre, also at McGill.

This book wrestles with the fundamental questions of the human relation to God and the world. In so doing, Irizar brings forward Augustine's thought on the church in a thoughtful, creative, and timely manner to address spiritual, ethical, and social concerns central to us today. -- Matthew Drever, The University of Tulsa, USA What is the meaning of belonging and relationship within the Christian community in a time of pandemic? This book offers insights to help us guide in this present crisis, insights gathered from the works and thought of Augustine (354-430), where he proposes a mystical belonging through love in Christ's Body. -- Enrique Eguiarte, Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Italy