Theologian · Contemporary
Robert F. Taft, SJ
1932–2018 · Comparative liturgiology (Byzantine)
American Jesuit, archimandrite of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, professor at the Pontifical Oriental Institute.
The pre-eminent historian of the Byzantine liturgy, whose multi-volume history of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, studies of the Liturgy of the Hours and “The Byzantine Rite: A Short History” established how an Eastern rite actually developed. He was a strong advocate of Eastern Catholic authenticity against latinization and of ecumenical honesty toward the Orthodox, and he played a decisive role in the 2001 Roman recognition of the Assyrian Anaphora of Addai and Mari.
Why he matters: Taught two generations of Eastern and Western Catholics that liturgy is history before it is rubric, and that the Church's two lungs must breathe from their own traditions.
Where to be careful
Combative in ecumenical polemics; his liturgical historicism and his criticisms of “uniatism” are scholarly positions, not magisterial ones.
Reading
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The Byzantine Rite: A Short HistoryRobert F. Taft, SJ · The best short introduction to how the Byzantine liturgy grew.
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Through Their Own Eyes: Liturgy as the Byzantines Saw ItRobert F. Taft, SJ · The liturgy from the pew, not the sanctuary.
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The Liturgy of the Hours in East and WestRobert F. Taft, SJ · The Divine Office across the traditions.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each question the test asks.