Vatican officials side with critics of new church architecture
June 03, 2013
Vatican officials have acknowledged that some newly designed churches are not appropriate for Catholic worship.
Antonio Paolucci, the director of the Vatican Museums, has complained that some new church buildings resemble museums rather than churches, offering “spaces that do not suggest prayer or meditation.” Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, acknowledged a “lack of integration between the architect and the faith community.”
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Posted by: unum -
Jun. 04, 2013 8:18 AM ET USA
Catholic churches are intended for the worship of God, not for winning awards from the secular community.
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Posted by: dover beachcomber -
Jun. 03, 2013 8:06 PM ET USA
The last thing that most trendy architects would want is to integrate with actual faithful Catholics in arriving at their designs. And most diocesan building committees, I suspect, would prefer to keep it that way. If they allowed that, one of the great unwashed might inadvertently offend the award-winning architect, whose name on the building is the real prize.
