Functional Aspects of Ritual in Digital Religion

This article presents the initial results of a research project on the functional aspects of rituals in digital religion. The study aims to answer the following question: Does a sacred action, which is the founding element of a ritual, have the same efficacy when performed in a digital space? In the literature, there are heuristic models that analyze the phases that a ritual would go through before being transferred online. These analytical models are accepted and shared by the academic community and represent a complete theoretical framework regarding the authenticity and formal legitimacy of the ritual celebrated in digital spaces. The development of valid models relating to studies on the functional aspects of the online ritual seems to be less complete. For this reason, in this research, we proposed the use of a theoretical model borrowed from the cognitive science of religion, which classifies rituals as repeatable and nonrepeatable. The model was tested by applying it to the Catholic Mass broadcast on the Facebook page of Saint Anthony of Padua on June 13, 2024. In this context, two rituals were isolated: prayer and Holy Communion. The study led to the identification and analysis of the prevailing categories and communicative signs to try to answer the research question