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Wrecking (Catholic) Churches: Iconoclasm or Continuity?
Crisis Magazine ^ | January 30, 2015 | REV. DWIGHT LONGENECKER

Posted on 01/31/2015 2:22:51 PM PST by NYer

Saint_Turibius_chapel

There are few better illustrations of the clash between conservative values and progressive ideologies than the church architecture wars of the last fifty years. Although traditional architecture was dismissed by most Christian denominations, the conflict comes into focus most clearly within the Catholic Church.

The Second Vatican Council in the 1960s ushered in the most iconoclastic ideology since the Protestant revolution. Across the Western world, in a spirit of enthusiastic reform, Catholic churches were erected with no reference to the past. A new wave of ideologically driven priests teamed up with modernist architects to create round churches, fan-shaped mass centers, multi purpose worship spaces and utilitarian cement block boxes. In an attempt to imbue some sense of the sacred they plopped ill shaped spires on the roof, created sweeping towers topped with crosses or punched holes in the walls with abstract stained glass.

Not only did the sincere, but ignorant priests and architects build new churches that looked like teepees, stranded space ships, or ice cream cones that had fallen upside down, they made matters worse by “renovating” existing churches according to their progressive creed. Their iconoclasm was complete. They covered tiled or marble floors with cheap wall-to-wall carpet. They ripped out neo-Gothic altarpieces, removed statues of the saints, painted over murals, dumped relics in the trash, junked the candlesticks, votive candle stands and fine vestments. Everything was to be simple, bare and back to basics. Austerity was in. Posterity was out.

The “wreckovation” as conservatives refer to it, continued into the 1990s. The authorities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, for example, effected this simplification of the chapel of the Pontifical Josephinum Seminary in Ohio.

The revised design is actually one of the more tasteful solutions. In parish after parish the pastor simply ripped out the artwork and furniture—destroying the buildings that had served their Catholic community for generations. The wholesale destruction was an act of mindless vandalism that always accompanies progressive ideologies.

Progressive ideologies can always be spotted because their devotees destroy the past rather than renew it. By definition, revolutionaries revolve, they do not evolve. To create their brave new world they must destroy the old one. Their new age is fueled by rage and the smiling revolutionaries cannot create anything without destroying everything.

The changes in churches were never loved because they were derived in destruction. Like the Protestant revolution in sixteenth-century England, the innovations which were supposed to benefit the people were imposed on the people by clericalist ideologues who ironically believed they were “of the people.” Furthermore, the changes the progressives force on everyone are doomed to fail because they are a fashion, and all fashions will soon be unfashionable.

The imaginative conservative, on the other hand, does not fall for fashion, but neither does he preserve the past for its own sake. He understands that change happens. Renewal is constant and necessary. However, he sees the renovation as a refreshment of the past and a rejuvenation of what has been shown to be tried, true, and tested. The imaginative conservative brings the past forward into the present to create a foundation for the future, because he knows that which will truly last into the future is that which has already proven its durability in the past.

It is not a surprise therefore to find that the current round of church renovations are a return to tradition. Faithful pastors are now ripping up the cheap carpet, polishing the tiles floor, putting statues back and restoring sanctuaries in a sympathetic modern style that promotes reverence and aids worship without being a slavish copy of the past or a crude antiquarianism for its own sake.

New churches are also being built that are traditional in style, yet cognizant of the demands of modern worship. Michael Tamara writes here of the plans to build traditional churches in the Carolinas and elsewhere. My own parish of Our Lady of the Rosary in Greenville, South Carolina will be the location for a beautiful new church built in a Romanesque style.

This new church will feature a set of classic stained-glass windows salvaged from a church in Massachusetts, and will include new artwork by contemporary Catholic artists. Antique stations of the cross and statuary will be salvaged and restored while new furniture and fittings are designed and built in a spirit of continuity that rejuvenates the tradition.

The lessons are clear: Despite its calm demeanor and gentle approach, progressivism is founded on rage. The status quo is the culprit and the established order must be overthrown. The imaginative conservative, on the other hand, seeks to correct what is wrong not by revolution, but renewal. What is beautiful, good, and true from the past is restored to its original reason so that it might do good service in the present and into the future.



TOPICS: Catholic; History; Worship
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1 posted on 01/31/2015 2:22:51 PM PST by NYer
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To: Tax-chick; GregB; SumProVita; narses; bboop; SevenofNine; Ronaldus Magnus; tiki; Salvation; ...
Leading the charge for church wreckovation over the past 30 years is Father Richard Vosko.

Ping!

2 posted on 01/31/2015 2:24:20 PM PST by NYer (Without justice - what else is the State but a great band of robbers? - St. Augustine)
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To: NYer

I hope not to trivialize this subject. Bit this reminds me s bit of how the old baseball parks were replaced in the 60s and 70s by circular stadiums. But then in recent years, almost all new baseball stadiums are built to resemble the old ballparks of the past.

The more things change, the more they stay the same??? There is nothing new under the sun????


3 posted on 01/31/2015 2:30:07 PM PST by Dilbert San Diego (s)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

I don’t think that’s trivialization. Obviously, some traditionalists are repairing the destruction of the 60s in other venues as well.


4 posted on 01/31/2015 2:33:51 PM PST by miss marmelstein (Richard the Third: Loyalty Binds Me)
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To: NYer
Despite its calm demeanor and gentle approach, progressivism is founded on rage.

Excellent observation. Jealousy is the source of it; such as Satan's jealousy of God.

5 posted on 01/31/2015 2:42:43 PM PST by livius
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To: NYer
Enjoyed the article. These were great take-aways for me:
Progressive ideologies can always be spotted because their devotees destroy the past rather than renew it. By definition, revolutionaries revolve, they do not evolve. To create their brave new world they must destroy the old one. Their new age is fueled by rage and the smiling revolutionaries cannot create anything without destroying everything.
The lessons are clear: Despite its calm demeanor and gentle approach, progressivism is founded on rage. The status quo is the culprit and the established order must be overthrown. The imaginative conservative, on the other hand, seeks to correct what is wrong not by revolution, but renewal. What is beautiful, good, and true from the past is restored to its original reason so that it might do good service in the present and into the future.

6 posted on 01/31/2015 2:42:56 PM PST by 9thLife ("Life is a military endeavor..." -- Pope Francis)
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To: NYer
Here's a winner:


7 posted on 01/31/2015 2:51:28 PM PST by 9thLife ("Life is a military endeavor..." -- Pope Francis)
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To: 9thLife

That is good. Thanks for pointing it out.


8 posted on 01/31/2015 2:58:15 PM PST by USMCPOP (Father of LCpl. Karl Linn, KIA 1/26/2005 Al Haqlaniyah, Iraq)
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To: NYer

Comparing churches built on either side of 1964, an archaeologist a thousand years from now would have to conclude that fundamental beliefs had changed.


9 posted on 01/31/2015 3:01:32 PM PST by Oratam
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To: NYer

My church, built in the early 60’s, fits this mold.

https://www.stjamesapostle.org/images/StJamesEagle4-19-2014.jpg


10 posted on 01/31/2015 3:18:36 PM PST by headstamp 2
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To: headstamp 2

looked at the pic, I’ll bet everyone talks in there before mass.
are those colored shards of glass or the real stained glass windows?


11 posted on 01/31/2015 3:21:07 PM PST by RBStealth (--raised by wolves, disciplined and educated by nuns, and kneeling at the feet of Mary)
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To: RnMomof7; metmom; CynicalBear; daniel1212; boatbums

Another fine example of unity in the Roman Catholic church.


12 posted on 01/31/2015 3:21:58 PM PST by Gamecock (Joel Osteen is a preacher of the Gospel like Colonel Sanders is an Army officer.)
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To: RBStealth

Colored thick shards with “chipped” edges in what is supposed to look like lead frames. Very “cold” looking.

Inside is all modernistic woodwork in minimalist fashion.

If you look at the roof line, it is supposed to look like a “seashell” next to the lake.

We have a much more traditional church on the other end of town that is a thing of beauty with original stained glass windows and traditional woodwork and pews. Unfortunately its quite small. It’s used for a few masses and usually weddings because of its size and quaintness. Our Lady of the Lake.

The larger church, St. James the Apostle is next to the Catholic grade school and was built to handle the huge increase in population that came in the 50’s and 60’s.


13 posted on 01/31/2015 3:28:48 PM PST by headstamp 2
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To: Oratam

They did. And you don’t have to wait a thousand years to conclude that fact.


14 posted on 01/31/2015 3:31:46 PM PST by tomsbartoo (St Pius X watch over us)
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To: Dilbert San Diego
Interesting observation. One big difference is that those old ballparks weren't replaced by the new circular stadiums as part of a plan to destroy baseball traditions. They were part of move in the 60s and 70s to replace those old ballparks with more pragmatic, functional venues that could host both baseball and football games.

All the baseball stadiums built in the last 20 years resemble "old ballparks of the past" because they're ballparks, not multi-use stadiums.

15 posted on 01/31/2015 3:32:37 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("It doesn't work for me. I gotta have more cowbell!")
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To: Oratam
Comparing churches built on either side of 1964, an archaeologist a thousand years from now would have to conclude that fundamental beliefs had changed.

Comparing churches built on either side of 1964, an archaeologist a thousand years from now would conclude that one religious organization ceased to exist and was replaced by another one.

What I find interesting is that this phenomenon of silly modern churches seems to be almost exclusively a North American issue. Maybe I'm just not exposed to stories like this from other places. But everything I've read and heard about Europe suggests that the Catholic faith went right from "traditional" to non-existent without going through this intermediate fixation on a "New Age" type of worship.

Maybe that's more an indication of our monetary wealth and lack of intelligence here than anything else. Maybe we're the only people on the planet who would waste our money building idiotic churches, and then waste our time showing up on Sundays to take part in some kind of idiotic rituals inside them.

16 posted on 01/31/2015 3:39:21 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("It doesn't work for me. I gotta have more cowbell!")
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To: Dilbert San Diego
The more things change, the more they stay the same??? There is nothing new under the sun????

Nothing like quoting the French ... plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose and the Book of Ecclesiastes in the same sentence : -)

17 posted on 01/31/2015 4:02:04 PM PST by NYer (Without justice - what else is the State but a great band of robbers? - St. Augustine)
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To: Gamecock

Get a life


18 posted on 01/31/2015 4:03:00 PM PST by Lil Flower (American by birth. Southern by the Grace of God! ROLL TIDE!!)
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To: 9thLife
Can't compare to this:


Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Milwaukee WI

19 posted on 01/31/2015 4:07:58 PM PST by NYer (Without justice - what else is the State but a great band of robbers? - St. Augustine)
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To: headstamp 2; RBStealth
Check out this post from 2007.

Cabinet of Horrors

20 posted on 01/31/2015 4:17:23 PM PST by NYer (Without justice - what else is the State but a great band of robbers? - St. Augustine)
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