{"id":1639,"date":"2018-07-26T13:05:05","date_gmt":"2018-07-26T11:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/europeancommunion\/?p=1639"},"modified":"2018-07-26T13:05:05","modified_gmt":"2018-07-26T11:05:05","slug":"churches-barcelona-community-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/europeancommunion\/2018\/07\/churches-barcelona-community-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"“Communitarian” to Trump “Sacred” in Barcelona’s Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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The MareNostrum supercomputer in the former chapel of the Torre Girona, Barcelona (Wikipedia)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Earlier this month the Vatican announced that it is preparing guidelines<\/a> on how to properly revitalize or repurpose underutilized and deconsecrated churches<\/strong>. Guidance more and more dioceses around the world need as secularization, declining vocations and economic mismanagement continue to decimate the demand for places of worship. Church authorities in Barcelona, however, appear to have forged ahead on the matter without Vatican assistance, giving their blessing to a new book<\/a> which proposes that the \u201ccommunitarian\u201d prevail over the \u201csacred\u201d<\/strong> in the uses to which the city\u2019s 135 churches are put.<\/p>\n

Barcelona. Esgl\u00e9sies i construcci\u00f3n de la ciutat<\/em><\/strong> (\u201cBarcelona. Churches and the building of the city\u201d) is the name of the new book published jointly by the City and Archdiocese of Barcelona which contains the controversial proposal. Presenting the volume mid-July, author Alba Arboix<\/strong> lamented the fact that although the vast majority of Barcelona\u2019s churches are the \u201cfocal points\u201d of the quarters in which they\u2019re situated, these \u201cexceptional buildings\u201d are used by only a few people for only a few hours a week. So these examples of Barcelona\u2019s rich cultural heritage can continue to be the \u201cnerve centers\u201d of the life of its citizens, argued the architect and university lecturer, \u201cwe need to look for other uses for them that can coexist with their religious use<\/strong>, such as holding concerts, awards ceremonies and plays\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinimum cost\u201d and \u201ctemporary and interchangeable elements\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cThis dualism of use can be achieved with minimum cost and with temporary, removable and interchangeable elements, or simply by removing the pews and setting up a platform<\/strong>\u201c, continued Arboix, calling at the same time for the traditional \u201ctaboos\u201d and \u201cvetoes\u201d<\/strong> around the issue to be forgotten. \u201cIf it is explained well, everyone wins\u201d<\/strong>, said the architect: both the politicians who stand to gain new spaces for community engagement and the parish priests who would have access to new sources of conservation funding.<\/p>\n

In the presentation of her book, Arboix was careful to point out that utilitarian modifications to churches \u201cdon\u2019t have to affect the walls of the temple or the line of sight, or impede that religious life continues\u201d as normal. The truth, however, is that the new social uses to which different parishes around Barcelona have been put in the last few years have transformed these sacred spaces almost beyond recognition<\/strong>, such as in the Piedad<\/em> chapel of the Church of St. Anne<\/a>, in which the celebration of the Eucharist has given way to the care of homeless people. Not to mention those churches which no longer have anything to do with the sacred, such as the former chapel of the Casa de la Miseric\u00f2rdia \u2013 now a bookshop \u2013 or the chapel in the residence of Manuel Girona, which now houses Spain\u2019s most powerful supercomputer.<\/p>\n

Only time will tell the extent to which the communitarian will triumph over the sacred in the uses to which Barcelona\u2019s churches are put. The idea, however, that changes are necessary to ensure parishes continue to be focal points in the community is a good one, and the Vatican, and other churches around the world, should take notice.<\/p>\n

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What to do with decommissioned churches? (Pixabay)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month the Vatican announced that it is preparing guidelines on how to properly revitalize or repurpose underutilized and deconsecrated churches. Guidance more and more dioceses around the world need as secularization, declining vocations and economic mismanagement continue to decimate the demand for places of worship. Church authorities in Barcelona, however, appear to have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3060,"featured_media":1663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35],"tags":[7,17,187,13,155],"class_list":["post-1639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spain","category-vatican","tag-church","tag-identity","tag-secularization","tag-service","tag-society"],"yoast_head":"\n"Communitarian" to Trump "Sacred" in Barcelona's Churches<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Earlier this month the Vatican announced that it is preparing guidelines on how to properly revitalize or repurpose underutilized and deconsecrated churches. 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