response to social structural changes. Such a theory sees the social function of ritual as having to ‘reanimate periodically the “sentiments” on which a given social formation depends for its successful running’ (Turner, 1972: 392). One of the major strengths of the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council had been its liturgical ability to develop community and collective identity through ritual regularity. Its possession of a single body of ritual meant that it had a unique ability to