I could hardly believe that this phrase was used in the article
**American Catholic Church **
[sic] was my additional comment.
(No such thing as an American Catholic Church!)
I think the author’s reference to the angel statue being “held hostage” is kind of snarky. I am sure King Richard’s paid for it, and that when various Churches close, it is the local Bishop who allows the items to be sold off. Yes, King Richard’s prices can be steep, but they are a business, and nobody is forced to buy from them.
My Parish has basically dumpster dived and gotten some beautiful things, vestments, an altar, etc, when other Catholic Churches modernized.
I’ve purchased things from antique stores that I feel are of a more questionable provenance than what King Richard’s sells. I’ve purchased things that came out of Eastern Europe in Containers, and wondered if a Church was wondering what happened to some of their Stations of the Cross, statues, or altar crosses.
Sacred art, sacred music, the poetry of Latin and of earlier translations, mostly gone, discarded by a national hierarchy which worships the age rather than God, which believes sin is another anachronistic concept of the Dark Ages. We went from cathedrals to fast food palaces in a generation.
Oh sure, according to the article,the Catholic Church must send an “ecological message to the world”. LOL!!!
By the way,Catholics don’t have to “buy back” anything.
Not that I am surprised that Catholics should share in my observation, but I'd thought by now (200+ years) somebody would have set up an institution to deal with the issue of church art. There've always been buildings that were set in the wrong place ~ or that had a fire ~ or that fell down in an earthquake.
Wisconsin is a good example of another phenomenon ~ they have HUNDREDS of jewel-box Catholic churches scattered across the countryside ~ far from members! Just not as many hired hands these days ~ there's a fantastic amount of stained glass and statuary just sitting around in fire-traps out there.
I suspect that what you are seeing in the antiquities dealers is simply the private sector rising up to meet a real need ~ and not just for the Catholics but for the Protestants ~ and Jews ~ and Buddhists. America was settled rapidly ~ and it never stopped being developed and redeveloped. Rural Wisconsin, central Baltimore (with a plethora of Orthodox buildings), Pittsburgh with every denomination, and San Francisco Bay Area's Chinese "jewelbox" Baptist churches all suffer from this constant renewal of America and its characteristic architecture.
Perhaps the RCs could lead the way in "regularizing" this business a bit with a KofC "certified" restorer program. Just something about the way this problem has been dealt with by everyone else suggests that bringing in the hierarchy (even if that's only one guy covering 20 states) probably isn't going to do it.
(NOTE: I have a little bit of experience in this ~ I was considering purchasing an independent Christian Church churchbuilding in Morgantown IN. It has 18 3 ft wide by 12 ft high Stained Glass Windows, and a classical Small Town America interior ~ I would have lived in the educational wing and given over the sanctuary area to serve as an art gallery. The church's corporate structure still exists ~ they have a newer building that looks like a Catholic church ~ modern one too ~ elsewhere. They prohibited the purchaser of the building from removing those windows! I thought that rather irresponsible since it was a one-way street. If the church wants the windows left in place they should have offered to pay for the insurance too which they didn't. If that sort of "deal" is the standard for everyone it's no wonder the antiquities dealers jack the price up. )