Bishop Barry Jones has issued "The House of God", to inform and guide Christchurch diocese in the task of building churches.

Aimed at parishes wanting to build or repair and strengthen a church since the earthquakes, the document emphasises that churches in the diocese will be beautiful, traditional and places of worship and prayer.

Bishop Jones echoed Vatican II's Sacrosanctum Conciliam (124) in calling the church building "the House of God".

He said such buildings should be able to be recognised as Catholic churches.

"It is a sacred place set aside for the sublime prayer of the liturgy and for personal private prayer. It is not a multipurpose building."

"The church building itself should reflect the transcendence of God, the beauty of his holiness and the divine truth he has entrusted to his Church."

Describing the altar as the "point of convergence of all that happens in a church", Bishop Jones wrote that "it is not correct historically to claim that in early Christian churches the altar was at the centre, nor should it be".

"Rather it should be at head of the assembly and the church building ought not be in the shape of a theatre or a stadium," he wrote.

"Generally modernist styles have not served the liturgy well. In building a new church parishes should seek architects capable of using traditional styles . . . but not simply replicating a particular church," the document continues.

Examples of suitable styles include Gothic (Darfield) and Classical Revival (Cathedral).

At several points in the document, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal is cited.

The document also states the essential division in a church is between sanctuary and nave.

"This reflects the differentiation of the ministry which derives from Holy Orders and the ministries which derive from Baptism and Confirmation."

The document also states pews are to have kneelers and confessionals should be visible, but should afford privacy to penitents who desire it.

Source

• Christchurch diocese
• Image: 3 News

"The lack of integration between the architect and the faith community has at times been negative," said Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture. "Sometimes it goes wrong."

And 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 Ravasi said a church built in 2009 in Foligno, Italy, by the celebrated Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas, which resembles a monolithic concrete cube, has been "highly criticised", The Telegraph reported.

In his native town of Merate in Lombardy, Cardinal Ravasi said the local priest needed to bring his own image of the Madonna to Mass, because Mario Botta, the architect who designed the church, had not installed one.

"The problem is that in Catholicism, unlike Protestantism, things like the altar, the images, are essential, while architects tend instead to focus on space, lines, light and sound," said Cardinal Ravasi.

Cardinal Ravasi conceded that one of Rome's most controversial new churches — Richard Meier's Jubilee Church, which resembles a yacht with spinnakers hoisted — had won over locals, but complained that "the building materials were the focus of pre-construction meetings, not the liturgical life".

Cardinal Ravasi, speaking after inaugurating the Vatican's first art exhibit at the Venice Biennale, said the Church now had its sights on commissioning modern liturgical art, for installing in churches.

"The Venice Biennale exhibit has been the first step on a journey," he said. "Further down the line could come liturgical art, meaning we could commission modern artists to create altars, fonts, tabernacles, lecterns, pews and kneelers."

But after letting modern architects push the envelope too far, the Church will keep a wary eye on liturgical art commissions, he said. "We will need to build up dialogue with artists before we commission any liturgical art."

Source:

The Telegraph

Image: Veneremurcernui