They won't need dynamite. Diocese with such monstrosities tend to close churches due to lack of attendance.
All the commission needs to do is to make sure that the good churches aren't sold and that the monstrosities are sold, or at least re-purposed as schools (that's what I originally thought the picture was of) or other non-religious uses.
Oh, please tell me they're coming to Japan. I'll gladly lead them to our cathedral which is basically a big concrete box. It makes your photo there look attractive!
At last! Somebody else is suggesting what I have been saying for years - the only solution to most modern Catholic church buildings is - dynamite!!
I have sat in too many modern Churches, trying to focus on the Mass, while being constantly distracted by the total ugliness and anti spirituality of the building that surrounds me.
I sometimes occupy my mind with what I would do to make the building more Catholic ... and every time I realize that it is rotten from the foundations up and that nothing but a total demolition and total rebuild will fix it.
A church building is itself an expression of the faith, it is a teaching tool about God and Heaven, it is a type of sacramental. So when it is wrong it hurts our spiritual journey and gives us false messages about God.
Let's have a spring clean throughout the Church and worship only in buildings truly built to the glory of God.
Wooohoo! While I will always have a special place in my heart for the 1980's minimalist amphitheater where I received my first Sacraments, it's time to rediscover architectural tradition. Can we re-purpose superfluous century-old urban churches to the suburbs?
When our (then new) parish was designing our permanent church, I asked many of the same questions about the architecture and the interior appointments (no kneelers?). I was gently put in my place by our kind and holy pastor who, unfortunately, had drunk deeply from the "spirit of Vatican II" well.
The result: go to this page for a look-see. Sorry, it never seems like a church to me - more like a large lecture hall.
Oh, and if you want to see a really egregious disaster, visit the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul in Burlington, VT. I stumbled across this while visiting my son and daughter-in-law over Thanksgiving. "Churches shouldn't be cement factories" was my first thought.
They won't need dynamite. Diocese with such monstrosities tend to close churches due to lack of attendance.
ReplyDeleteAll the commission needs to do is to make sure that the good churches aren't sold and that the monstrosities are sold, or at least re-purposed as schools (that's what I originally thought the picture was of) or other non-religious uses.
Oh, please tell me they're coming to Japan. I'll gladly lead them to our cathedral which is basically a big concrete box. It makes your photo there look attractive!
ReplyDeleteAt last! Somebody else is suggesting what I have been saying for years - the only solution to most modern Catholic church buildings is - dynamite!!
ReplyDeleteI have sat in too many modern Churches, trying to focus on the Mass, while being constantly distracted by the total ugliness and anti spirituality of the building that surrounds me.
I sometimes occupy my mind with what I would do to make the building more Catholic ... and every time I realize that it is rotten from the foundations up and that nothing but a total demolition and total rebuild will fix it.
A church building is itself an expression of the faith, it is a teaching tool about God and Heaven, it is a type of sacramental. So when it is wrong it hurts our spiritual journey and gives us false messages about God.
Let's have a spring clean throughout the Church and worship only in buildings truly built to the glory of God.
Wooohoo! While I will always have a special place in my heart for the 1980's minimalist amphitheater where I received my first Sacraments, it's time to rediscover architectural tradition. Can we re-purpose superfluous century-old urban churches to the suburbs?
ReplyDeleteDynamite?! I say call in an artillery unit and let them blast away. More fun for everybody.
ReplyDeleteWhen our (then new) parish was designing our permanent church, I asked many of the same questions about the architecture and the interior appointments (no kneelers?). I was gently put in my place by our kind and holy pastor who, unfortunately, had drunk deeply from the "spirit of Vatican II" well.
ReplyDeleteThe result: go to
this page for a look-see. Sorry, it never seems like a church to me - more like a large lecture hall.
Oh, and if you want to see a really egregious disaster, visit the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul in Burlington, VT. I stumbled across this while visiting my son and daughter-in-law over Thanksgiving. "Churches shouldn't be cement factories" was my first thought.