It's now standard English to refer to moving the deckchairs on the Titanic as a way of explaining the purposelessness or uselessness in a given activity.
A north-Dublin inner city Catholic church has recently re-installed altar rails. It's one of a number of vulgar 'lean-to' changes that have been made to the church over the last few years.
Does one have to obtain planning permission to make such changes in a building of historical note?
What sense does it make adding further barriers to people's participation in the liturgy, especially given that so few attend the Dominican church?
This is another example of moving the deckchairs on the ill-fated Titanic.
What else can be done to alienate people from their church?
What else can be done to ruin a church that was finely redesigned in keeping with church renewal?
And we are all being told that the church is running short of money.
Hi Michael. I'm not so sure at all that Dominick Street church was "so finely redesigned in keeping with church renewal". The old pokey sanctuary with high altar of its time were ripped out and replaced with a big empty space which was almost immediately found to be so impractical as to have the three items of furniture pushed to the edge towards the people in the unimaginative (and untraditional) three microphones in a line, and the Mass attendances collapsed drastically with those changes. I understood the wooden altar, etc. were temporary. The church renewal you referred to still obliged a fixed altar for churches; a movable wooden altar is not a fixed altar! I won't comment on the recent changes as I've only seen pictures on Facebook, but I must say I find it terribly sad how uninformed designers and re-designers of churches in Ireland are about theoretical (theological-symbolic) reference points for church design and practical elements too. As for an example, a diocesan church in the midlands was renovated earlier this year....there was so little space in the new sanctuary that the edge of the altar had to serve as the credence table and was cluttered from the beginning of the rededication ceremony with chalice, ciborium, etc. The church renewal you referred to tried to reclaim the dignity of the altar table, recalling it represents Christ himself, altar and sacrifice, and while we no longer use altars as a pretext for erecting the image of a favourite saint, the opposite seems to have happened to altars to that intended, they've disappeared by lowering the mensa to worktop height (900mm), been stripped of all architectural features (baldachino for versus populum; iconostasis, curtains, reredos, tall candlesticks and cross for ad apsidem) which for 1500 years at least gave them the architectural dignity they need if they are not to be reduced to demonstration tables for wannabee Fanny Craddocks.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't need planning permission to put them in any more than those who ripped out altar rails needed planning permission.
ReplyDeleteI note that Anglican churches tend to have them more than do Catholic churches, so presumably you think the Anglicans are at fault too.
The planning legislation has changed since the initial re-ordering and the latest restoration.
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