Monday, September 3, 2007

Church Tour in Sandusky

According to the Sandusky Register, there's to be a historical tour, this Saturday, of churches in the area, including Sts. Peter and Paul. Good idea.
My opinion of the church? Well, this one has a lot of good, but has been the victim of monumentaly bad treatment. The building, itself, is magnificent. The "people's altar", so called in spite of the fact that most of the "people" liked the old one better, is very impressive. The windows in the apse are spectacular. Unfortunately, the altar has been removed and the side chapels mutilated. There's worse, though. I fail to understand the rationale for putting the organ where the altar belongs, when there's, no doubt, a perfectly servicable choir loft. Pardon me, but we have an inconsistency alert, here. The usual stated reason for such vandalism as removing altars, side chapels, statues, murals, and a sizable portion of the Church's artistic patrimony, ( Done, moreover, in flagrant violation of the documents that came out of Vatican II ) was because they distracted people from the Mass. Pardon me, but what the hell could be more distracting than having a full scale multimedia spectacular going on right there in plain view? Another problem is the presider's chair being placed right in the center where, for centuries, pride of place had been given to the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the tabernacle. One more inconsistency.
Hat tip to Alex Fries for the information.