V. Rev. William J. Turner, a priest and pastor in the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, holds two doctoral degrees in the field of cultural anthropology, including the study of Catholic identity and its relationship to the Catholic church building. Email: drwjpt@aol.com
Visitors traveling through the Cincinnati area might well stop to see the Greek Revival Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains. However, they may not realize that across the Ohio River, in the city of Covington, Kentucky, can be found the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, a true architectural high Gothic jewel.
The campus of Ave Maria University has been carved out of the tomato fields and drained Everglades of rural southwestern Florida…
If you are looking for someone to preserve and protect Crown Jewels, a visit and conversation with Monsignor Anthony M. Tocco may resolve any concerns as to how it may be done. As he led a 2001 project to restore this chapel “to its original glory,” as it is titled in the short history of the event, the emphasis was to prepare a defense against the ravages of time. Not only has that aging been addressed, but even more has been accomplished. In what the American Institute of Architects in 1937 called “one of the hundred representative and distinguished buildings in the United States,” this chapel stands as an example that the former can be retained when the new is built. Here is found a visible testimony to the symbols and the Catholic identity held dear by parishioners in an over 75 year history.
This bishop is in the forefront of what I hope will be a modern movement to encourage in this age what the people of the Middle Ages believed and understood. They were willing to support and express what they believed in their sacred buildings.
The renovation of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received national and even international attention in 2001-2002.
The dissatisfaction that many Roman Catholics have expressed concerning the renovation or construction of church buildings within the last thirty-five years has often been attributed to the eye of the beholder.
It has become evident recently that a plethora of opinions and reactions to liturgical renewal exist, especially as it applies to sacred space. This fact is reflective of the concern of many Catholics, and it needs to be seriously addressed.