(In) visibility and the Process of Public Theology

In this article the notion of (in) visibility as a skill and an analytical device is brought into the field of public theology, and, using political and sociological insights from Andrea Brighenti and Pierre Bourdieu, a theoretical basis is established. Further, a liturgical and eschatological hermeneutic is applied to relativize (in) visibility and to locate its development as a skill in a Christian narrative context. The article argues that (in) visibility offfers a complementary paradigm to the auditory that otherwise attends predominantly to the substantive content of public theological interventions; hence, it contends, the process and consequences for others (not necessarily acting as public theologians) are to be encompassed in a model of public theology. In addition, a case study on a recent statement by a Roman Catholic bishop in Scotland is presented.