Photo by Lachlan Gowen on Unsplash
We have all heard the stories. You know the ones, shared in hushed tones over the smoldering charcoals of a thurible in the sacristy before Mass; whispered over doughnuts and coffee in the parish hall. The stories of neo-Gothic high altars being destroyed and replaced by a modernist slab. Of the tabernacle being rendered from the center of the parish church and relegated to a chapel of repose. And of organs, stained-glass windows and confessionals whisked away to the dustbin of history in favor of folk group platforms, abstract art and “reconciliation spaces.”
Of course, each of these scenarios would be incomplete without the disdain of the parishioners involved, who feel that their parish church, where they have been baptized, confirmed, married and buried their loved ones, has been stolen from them.