How Catholic Church Architecture Is Losing Its Identity

The Bulletin ^ | 6/4/2010 | Tom Nickels

[IbJensen]

No votive candles, statues, proper crucifixes, confessionals and the tabernacle, in many instances, cannot be found.

The New Order churches look more like aircraft hangars than sacred houses of worship!

[Sergio]

Bookmark.

[Jedidah]

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

Acts 17: 24-30

[SnakeDoctor]

There are certainly bigger problems for Christians to worry about in this world than how pretty our buildings are. No building we can create is near glorious enough, and, honestly, I figure He’d rather we put the money toward better causes than ornate architecture.

Keep your eye on the ball.

SnakeDoc

[duckworth]

In my 50s I’m still an enthusiastic Catholic, but... I remember entering my teens and thinking it was wrong to make us bring money to school to donate to the poor, while up the street at the church they were spending a fortune on remodeling. It shook my foundation and faith and it really took until I was in 30s and had kids to really get back “into” the church. A lot of my colleagues never recovered.

[afraidfortherepublic]

FTA:

Unfortunately, that’s what the Diocese of Milwaukee got when they employed Vosko to redo the Milwaukee’s cathedral of Saint John. Archbishop Rembert Weakland was in command at the time, a name you may recognize from today’s news. Weakland’s plans to denude the old cathedral, especially the 40-foot high marble canopy over the high altar—something he decried as having “no artistic or historic value,” met with Vatican censure. But Weakland went ahead and did it anyway and now, the cathedral, denuded and stark, stands as a testament to fashionable bad taste.

People wanted to buy the architectural features that were ripped out of the Cathedral -- columns, pediments, brackets, etc. Weakland claimed that they crumbled when being removed and could not be saved. I think that the crucifix over the altar is just bizarre. The throns are larger than the Christ figure. See below:

This photo is taken from the choir loft, but the ordinary worshiper does not view that crucifix from the same angle:

I just learned today that it is made of FIBERGLASS!

I do like the colors they chose for the renovation. THey are lovely.

[SnakeDoctor]

Agreed. Churches have to put their money where their mouth is on this stuff. God does not want us to build Him palaces while poor people suffer or His Word stagnates.

This is also not to say that I do not understand the value of good facilities for worship, study and outreach.

I am Baptist, not Catholic. I go to a HUGE Baptist Church in Houston. We have over fifty-thousand members, several large campuses throughout Houston, and an international television broadcast of weekly sermons. Our campuses are large and expensive — but they are functional, not ornate, and they serve a purpose of spreading the message and doing the work.

There is an automotive maintenance garage where mechanics in the church do free repairs to the cars of the poor. There are dozens of Bible Study classrooms. There is high-tech broadcast equipment for spreading the message worldwide. Parking and seating alone for a 50K-member church is daunting ... and that money needs to be spent to keep membership growing.

But, we must give in proportion to what we have ... and there needs to be a functional, Biblical, Christ-centered purpose for every expenditure.

I’m just not sure architectural beauty qualifies.

SnakeDoc

[afraidfortherepublic]

throns=thorns

[IbJensen]

Whoever designed this must despise Christ’s Church on Earth!

[IbJensen]

He’d rather we put the money toward better causes than ornate architecture.

What, for instance? Beefing up the welfare trough? Blowing trillions on third world nations that will never learn to plant when they get it in UN cans and boxes?

[DesScorp]

There’s nothing worse in architecture than a flat, ugly, modernist church. Give me gargoyles, statues, granite, and flying buttresses any day.

[SnakeDoctor]

Is that a serious question?

Can you honestly not see the theological and moral value in charity over architecture?

We are called to give. We are not called to build palaces for Him. Our ultimate goal is to spread the Gospel — is that goal better served by serving those in need, or by building pretty churches?

Our works do not determine our Salvation ... but our works can contribute to the Salvation of another. Our buildings are just buildings ... functionality is necessary, ostentatiousness is excessive and embarrasing.

SnakeDoc

[mc5cents]

Well not everywhere. Here in Buffalo, NY we have some beautiful churches. Here are just two examples.

Our Lady of Victory Basilica, Lackawanna, NY

St. Casimir, Buffalo, NY

[schmootman]

Father Vosko holds degrees in neither architecture nor liturgy; in fact, he wrote his doctoral thesis on adult education. The secret to his “success” is his ability to manipulate parish meetings and marginalize orthodox dissenters.

[WVKayaker]

Spot and I spend a lot of time in God's handiwork. It surpasses anything man can conquer, or despoil. The idea that God lives in any man made structure, or appreciates anything more than the whispers from our closets, is not confusing.

Man is always trying to think of himself as smarter than God... and art becomes confused with creation. Catholics churches are as gilt as whorehouses...

[Leo Carpathian]

Byzantine Catholic churches are preserving iconostas, altar in traditional setup. Also people dress up for mass, do not see “worshipers” in torn jeans and NJ Devils jackets.
Bothers me to see people sitting at the table eating with their hats on.

[Crolis]

Architectural beauty can be a celebration of God’s many gifts and blessings to us. While there is a use for things which are functional, there is also a use for things which express beauty and honor God.

[Tanniker Smith]

I have to say that I actually do sit in a gym during Mass. The wall separating the gym from the Church proper is folded back on Sunday. This probably won’t last much longer. Attendance is down due to changing demographics and an aging congregation so that soon, if they don’t close the church, the entire congregation will be able to fit in the chapel, except on Palm Sunday.

[Antoninus]

Man is always trying to think of himself as smarter than God... and art becomes confused with creation. Catholics churches are as gilt as whorehouses...

You couldn't be more wrong. You would feed the body while allowing the soul to starve.

[John O]

There are certainly bigger problems for Christians to worry about in this world than how pretty our buildings are. No building we can create is near glorious enough, and, honestly, I figure He’d rather we put the money toward better causes than ornate architecture.

While you are correct I do not think you are looking at the entire issue.

One reason for the church building is to serve as a place where the church can come together to worship, to experience the presence of God in a corporate setting.

You can walk into an older, more classically designed church and "feel" the holiness. It is obviously a sacred place and instantly removes distractions and gets you focused on God. Even atheists tend to speak more reverently in those sorts of churchs

Now walk into one of the modern destroyed churches and you feel no "presence" at all. They are simply big meeting rooms.

I am Penetcostal, but I was raised Catholic. The Catholic churches inspire a reverence that I have not found in any protestant church (sadly).

The Catholic architectural reformers, in my opinion, are seeking to sever man's connection to God in any way they can. They are neither Catholic nor Christian.

Now this is not saying that the church should be spending all their funds on big buildings. But when we are building we need to remember that the building will be seen as God's house and should be fitting for that purpose.

Feeding the poor does them no good whatsoever if we leave their souls starving. We need to make it as simple as possible for them to connect with God on a personal level. Classical churches are one tool that makes that easier to do.