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Church Wrecker Plays to San Diego Crowd

One Thing to Liberal Weekly, Another to Locals

Michael DeSanctis was the featured speaker at an "art and environment seminar" hosted by the office for liturgy and spirituality at the pastoral center on Friday evening, January 19. Approximately 100 Catholics from 20 parishes attended the two-hour slide show entitled "The Story of Christian Worship and Its Architectural Setting." According to a promotional flyer, the event was targeted to "all who are interested in the design of worship spaces, especially clergy, building and renovation teams, architects, design consultants and liturgy committees."

According to his biography, DeSanctis teaches art and architecture at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the commission on art and architecture for the diocese of Erie and a recipient of the "Bishop Donald W. Trautman Feed My Sheep Award." He writes on contemporary Catholic church architecture."

In the April 21, 2000 issue of the liberal weekly National Catholic Reporter DeSanctis attacked the new-classicist church architecture movement led by University of Notre Dame professors Duncan Stroik and Thomas G. Smith. In it, he called Stroik and Smith a "new bunch of old fogies" seeking "to ingratiate themselves to today's tabernacle-obsessed bishops" and described the set of "Mother Angelica Live" as "a TV dreamland dripping with appropriately 'ecclesiastical' decor."

This was not DeSanctis' first visit to San Diego. In addition to his job at Gannon University, he serves as liturgical design consultant for two new churches in this diocese, St. Jerome in South San Diego and Queen of Angels in Alpine. Since last year, he has flown here several times to conduct parish "educational" sessions and gather parishioner suggestions for the new "places of worship."

In his presentation, DeSanctis discussed the history of "sacred worship," the relationship between "piety and polity," and the future direction of Catholic architecture. His narrative was peppered with such terms as "worship"; "worship space" or "liturgical space"; and "community."

"Forty years ago," he said, "there was no problem [designing churches] because church plans were standard; the lay people's role was to pray. Today, the lay role is participatory."

Baptism, said DeSanctis, "is key to understanding liturgy and theology. It's this incredible event where we are incorporated into the Body of Christ. If everyone has been incorporated into the Body of Christ, then the entire worship space becomes sanctuary."

"We should revere our patrimony of art and architecture but come up with things that will cause young people to fall in love with Jesus Christ." Jesus Christ is the same forever, but according to DeSanctis, "Images of Jesus Christ change from generation to generation, and as images change, so do ways that Christians worship and the architecture that surrounds that worship."

Stressing "the importance of meal symbolism," DeSanctis said, "Jesus is constantly feeding others in the scriptures." He showed slides of an artist rendering and archaeological excavation indicating that people in Christ's day reclined around a table when eating meals. Michelangelo's 16th century fresco of the Last Supper "isn't historically accurate; it depicts Italian bread, but it was the Feast of Unleavened Bread."

DeSanctis introduced the concept of "piety vs. polity" and said that "the more important or significant a person or object, the smaller the space it occupies." He showed cathedrals where the priest and consecrated religious are separated from the people by a rood screen that "disenfranchised" people from participating in the Mass. "How many times do you find your fellow Catholics involved in private devotional prayer instead of the liturgical assembly?"

DeSanctis showed slides of modern churches including amphitheater (fan-shaped) and "in-the-round" seating arrangements and various placements of the tabernacle.

One woman, remarking on the lack of stained glass and artistic appointments in the interiors, said, "They all look so plain." DeSanctis replied, "This is all you can get for one or two million dollars today." Perhaps, but other renovation projects with which DeSanctis has been involved show that the money was used to get rid of "patrimony of art." One example is the renovation of the Mary, Seat of Wisdom chapel on the Gannon University campus for which DeSanctis was a member of the final planning committee.

According to a Web site describing the project, the planners justified ridding the church of its stained glass windows because, in addition to their decorative use, they were "used as a teaching or catechetical device ... to help a poorly educated or even illiterate congregation to understand the Scriptures." However, "A highly literate community, capable of abstract thought and sustained reflection is in need of an art form that can move them in such a direction. Consequently an art form that is more abstract and symbolic seemed appropriate for the Gannon community." DeSanctis' construction plan for Queen of Angels' "interior gathering space" includes "an abundance of natural light" and "a fenestration scheme that provides ample views of the surrounding mountains."

Another man told DeSanctis "The tabernacle should always be front and center." DeSanctis acknowledged that "The tabernacle is the most contentious part of any renovation," and indicated that if a parish decided to place it there, it would be fine with him. "I really believe liturgical space has to percolate up from the community."

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