Roel Aalbersberg defended his doctoral dissertation about The Lord’s Supper
21 October 2026
On Monday, 19 October, Aalbersberg successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, The Lost Supper: A Study of the Question How, When, Where, and Why the Eucharist Lost its Proper Meal Character, at Utrecht University.
In this thesis, written under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Peter-Ben Smit and Prof. Dr. Samuel Goyvaerts, Aalbersberg addresses the question of how and why the communal meal character that lies at the heart of the Eucharist/Lord’s Supper disappeared at an early stage in Christian history and gave way to a symbolic meal. A summary of the dissertation will be published in the Yearbook for Ritual and Liturgical Studies (2026).
