A practical theology of bereavement care: Re-ritualization within a paradigm of "comforting presence"

The investigation focuses on a concern for the marginalization of bereaved human beings in the context of cultural shifts now shaping twenty-first century pastoral care. The article advocates for a practical theology of bereavement to aid in nurturing care and eudaimonic well-being (including both v...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Stellenbosch theological journal
Authors: Gibson, L. (Author) ; Louw, D. J. 1944- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Stellenbosch University [2018]
In: Stellenbosch theological journal
IxTheo Classification:RC Liturgy
Further subjects:B theology of compassion
B comforting presence
B deritualization
B re-ritualization
B grief and mourning in pastoral caregiving
B practical theology of bereavement
B funeral directors
B Resilience
B theopaschitic thinking
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Summary:The investigation focuses on a concern for the marginalization of bereaved human beings in the context of cultural shifts now shaping twenty-first century pastoral care. The article advocates for a practical theology of bereavement to aid in nurturing care and eudaimonic well-being (including both vocational pastors and funeral directors) within the paradigmatic framework of a theopaschitic understanding of compassion (oiktirmos). The investigation examines the growing threat of deritualization - a public openness to revise, replace, minimize the significance of, and even eliminate or avoid long-held funerary rituals to assist in the adaptation of loss. The notion of re-ritualization is operationalized as an intentional act of restoring and re-engaging in creative and meaningful ritual forms that give symbolic expression to significant thoughts and feelings of the bereaved within a social ethos that is no longer committed to a conventional or fixed approach to ritualization. In order to facilitate a process of re-ritualization, bereavement care is linked to the notion of "comforting presence".
ISSN:2413-9467
Contains:Enthalten in: Stellenbosch theological journal
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.17570/stj.2018.v4n2.a24