About the Center

Mission Statement

Rooted in the teaching and practice of the Roman Catholic Church, expressed in the documents and decrees of the Second Vatican Council, the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame seeks to support and enrich the liturgical life of the Church through scholarly research and pastoral education.

"It is advisable that the competent, territorial ecclesiastical authority...set up a liturgical commission, to be assisted by experts in liturgical science, music, art, and pastoral practice. As far as possible the commission should be aided by some kind of institute for pastoral liturgy, consisting of persons eminent in these matters and including the laity as circumstances suggest." (The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 44)

Thus the primary focus of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy is "to support and enrich the liturgical life" of the Roman Catholic Church. Since liturgical studies today takes place in an ecumenical context, active collaboration with liturgical scholars, leaders in liturgical ministry and students of the liturgy from other Christian communities is both welcome and encouraged as part of the work of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy.