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May 28, 2012 is our liturgy and design issue, and in our culture section Michael E. DeSanctis of Gannon Unversity looks at the trend toward bulding new Catholic churches using elements of traditional design. You can read Professor DeSanctis's article here.

Accompanying the article is a slideshow featuring several churches not mentioned in the article. View the slideshow here.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Joan Carroll
13 years 2 months ago
It will be interesting to see how 85 year old priests climb the steps without hand railings to get to the altars in these churches.
Katherine McEwen
13 years ago
One thing I notice in the slide show is how disability unfriendly all the sanctuaries and seating in these churches are. Have the architectural provisions of the Americans with Disabilies Act been totally erased from these architects' mental databanks? As well as the parish committees who brainstormed these designs? Do the architects, planners and parishioners totally forget their compatriots with physical, movement or other disabilities? As well as baby boomers and other seniors? Or the regular people for whom traditional 20th century and earlier architecture and interior furnishings just doesn't work? What about clergy, lay ministers, musicians and worship leaders' access?

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