Having attended Marquette, a good Jesuit University, I once had the privilege to attend mass in the Joan of Arc chapel. For those who don't know the story when they wanted to build a larger church on the location where Joan of Arc supposedly was inspired by God to throw the British out of France they moved the original building stone for stone from France to Milwaukee. Now the building is small, fairly dark inside, unembellished and made from crudely dressed stone. And yet i felt more of a connection in that tiny building than I ever did in the cathedral just across the lawn from it. I just kept playing in my mind, if I got that call, how would I answer.
Christs presence is not in the church but in the hearts of Christians. No building no matter how ornate or simple can capture that spirit. No dictator can suppress it. And the derision of a Comedy Central show can not destroy it.