Fr. Longenecker skriver om den nye kirken man holder på å bygge i hans menighet i South Carolina i USA:
When one of my third graders saw the architect’s drawings of the new church we’re building for my parish, he exclaimed, “Father! It looks like a Catholic Church!” Indeed. His observation not only registered his delighted surprise, but revealed that such a church was not something he had experienced before. In South Carolina, where I minister, a Catholic Church that looks like a Catholic Church is actually a rarity.
This is why, in our first building committee meeting five years ago the parish representatives stated quite firmly that everyone wanted a traditionally styled church. I was happy to agree with them, and so we proceeded to plan a modern church in the Romanesque style.
We did so for some very good reasons. The people of my parish were clear that they wanted a church that “looked Catholic.” Their motives were mixed. There was some nostalgia and sentimentality. “I want a church with stained glass windows,” said one older woman, “like the one I grew up in.”
Others said that in the Bible Belt of South Carolina, it was important that a Catholic Church was distinctive in its architecture. Others were unable to articulate exactly why they wanted a traditionally styled church. They just knew they didn’t like the modern, fan-shaped, concrete flying saucers that have landed in so many American suburbs.
During the five year process of building the church we’ve been able to explore together some of the deeper reasons for a Catholic church to look Catholic. It has to do with the principles of the Second Vatican Council and what it means to be Catholic in the first place. …
På (det nokså radikale) nettstedet Pray Tell har man startet en debatt på bakgrunn av denne artikkelen. Les diskusjonen der; noen mener at den aktuelle i kirkken har feil fokus, bl.a.: «The postconciliar documents lay out what a Catholic Church should look like – ie, how it should function. It is abundantly clear that this means the space has to work for the reformed rites. You seem to be arguing “but it looks so Catholic and sacred to me, and that trumps any concerns about postconciliar liturgy.” In effect you’re privileging your spiritual hankerings and personal tastes over the teachings of the Church since Vatican II.»
(Og: Ligner ikke denne kirken en del på den nye katolske domkirken i Trondheim?)