Pope Benedict XVI on Architecture
Quotes on architecture by Pope Benedict XVI.
Editorial: Catechismus in Lapidem
People often ask me why we have not been building beautiful churches in recent decades. It is not a simple answer of course: there are the changes from Vatican II; the embrace of modernism by the architectural profession; the expense of craftsmanship; the parsimony of the faithful; and the belief that the church is merely a functional building. Today, when laity and clergy alike desire to build beautiful churches again they are confronted with a limitation that their great grandparents did not have to contend with: the strict monetary policies of the diocese.
The Joy Born of Faith: Homily From St. Patrick's Cathedral
A homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York.
The Christian Scandal in Dialogue: A Return to Sacred Images
On September 12, 2006, in Regensburg, an Italianized German called secularism’s bluff. In his address, Pope Benedict XVI pinpoints secularism’s false objectivity as it holds reason hostage and presupposes its incompatibility with faith.
Sacred Art Institute… Now!: A Mandate of Vatican II
One of the most important teachings of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council was the provision for the establishment of schools or academies of sacred art in order to train artists.
Shine Forth Upon Us in Thine Own True Glory: Lights of Faith: Stained Glass Windows as Tools for Catechesis
For the first thousand years of Christian catechesis (as well as thousands of years of Hebrew tradition), oral witness was the primary means of passing on the Faith. In medieval Europe, a new type of catechesis synthesized oral teaching with visual representations and became the standard for teaching, reinforcing, elucidating, and experiencing the Faith, a pedagogy that, to this day, is still intimately associated with the truths of the Catholic Faith: stained-glass windows.
