Wing Of An Active San Francisco Catholic Parish Church Turned Into An “Art Gallery”

Pagan art displayed therein solely for its “esthetic value”

Folks, a reader kindly forwarded to me the following article by Gibbons Cooney for the California Catholic Daily, asking also for my comments. The article is entitled Church or Museum? and I think it’s worth to be read in its entirety:

Church or museum?

USF’s St. Ignatius Church has replaced confessionals to make room for art gallery

By Gibbons Cooney
Special to California Catholic Daily

On November 3, 2008, the online newsletter of the Jesuit California province announced the opening of an art gallery in the eastern alcove of St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco.

Said the newsletter, “St. Ignatius Church, a Jesuit parish in San Francisco, celebrated the opening of its new Manresa Gallery on September 18. Formed by four interior alcoves, which previously housed confessional boxes, the gallery is a permanent testament to St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Composition of Place… In keeping with Ignatius’ understanding that his Constitutions or governing rules for Jesuits would include old principles and new ones, the gallery’s philosophy is to include both traditional religious works and contemporary art in a series of changing exhibitions. Commissioned pieces will enhance the dialogue that take places on a larger scale within the ritual space of the church. Manresa Gallery is open on Sundays from 2 to 5 p.m. and by appointment.” The article was written by James R. Blaettler, S.J., Associate Pastor of St. Ignatius.

A few weeks ago, I decided to go to St. Ignatius to take a look for myself. While the museum was closed, I was able to look through the windows to get a glimpse of what’s inside. It was a surprising experience to find an art gallery inside a Catholic Church. It became even stranger when the art displayed was not Christian, but pagan.

The current exhibition is “The Arts of Java and Bali: Objects of Belief, Ritual and Performance.” One of the pieces in the show is an hermaphroditic wooden figurine, with female breasts and a male erection. Another is a hairy demonic figure with a women’s face protruding from its mouth. Another is a brightly colored, scaled, demonic figure.

If a Catholic (or a pagan for that matter) ignores for a moment the impropriety of introducing pagan ritual objects into a Catholic church and instead considers that the church has removed its confessionals, which were an integral part of the original plan of the church both architecturally and sacramentally, and replaced them with an art gallery, the experience becomes stranger still.

As Fr. Blaettler said, the motivation was to “enhance the dialogue that take places on a larger scale within the ritual space of the church.” Those at St. Ignatius who replaced the confessionals might argue that they are showing respect for other cultures by installing the gallery. If so, I think they are wrong. The prevalence of the art gallery, a place where man-made objects are considered under their aesthetic aspect alone, is a recent Western phenomenon. Reducing the “Objects of Belief, Ritual and Performance” into aesthetic objects by placing them in a gallery is, as they say at USF, cultural imperialism.

And, of course, they showed no respect whatsoever for the culture that built St. Ignatius Church -- a culture to whom sacramental confession, and confessionals (not “confessional boxes”) were a basic fact of religious life. Ironically, the reduction of the Balinese and Javanese artworks into aesthetic objects “de-sacramentalizes” them just as much as the gallery de-sacramentalizes the church.

It is impossible for me to believe that a good Catholic like St. Ignatius meant his Constitutions to be used as a justification for removing confessionals from a Catholic Church, to be replaced by an art gallery, which by its nature can have no sacramental function.

The church does retain a single confessional, in the western alcove, but in its isolation it too has the feeling of being “on display” -- not an object with a purpose, but a curiosity from another era, whose interest is mainly academic.

Commentary. I agree with Mr. Cooney in so many words: this is a travesty, and with all due respect to Fr. Blaettler, turning Catholic sacred space into an art gallery to display items created to support a spirituality foreign to Catholic Christianity is a violation of the purposes, means, and ends of Catholic architecture, church decor, liturgical tone, and artistic tradition dating centuries. Destroying a space clearly meant to reconcile sinners and replacing it with a secular art gallery violates the very purpose of a Catholic church building: to draw others to Christ.

The US Catholic Bishops’ published in the year 2000 very clear guidelines governing the design, purpose, appointment, and ends of Catholic art and architecture in a document entitiled Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture, and Worship. The following quotes are relevant to this discussion:

The Church Building
§ 16 §    Just as the term Church refers to the living temple, God's People, the term church also has been used to describe "the building in which the Christian community gathers to hear the word of God, to pray together, to receive the sacraments, and celebrate the eucharist."¹³ That building is both the house of God on earth (domus Dei) and a house fit for the prayers of the saints (domus ecclesiae). Such a house of prayer must be expressive of the presence of God and suited for the celebration of the sacrifice of Christ, as well as reflective of the community that celebrates there.

§ 17 §    The church is the proper place for the liturgical prayer of the parish community, especially the celebration of the Eucharist on Sunday. It is also the privileged place for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and reservation of the Eucharist for Communion for the sick. Whenever communities have built houses for worship, the design of the building has been of critical importance.¹⁴ Churches are never "simply gathering spaces but signify and make visible the Church living in [a particular] place, the dwelling of God" among us, now "reconciled and united in Christ."¹⁵ As such, the building itself becomes "a sign of the pilgrim Church on earth and reflects the Church dwelling in heaven."¹⁶ Every church building is a gathering place for the assembly, a resting place, a place of encounter with God, as well as a point of departure on the Church's unfinished journey toward the reign of God.

§ 18 §    Churches, therefore, must be places "suited to sacred celebrations," "dignified," and beautiful.¹⁷ Their suitability for worship is determined by their ability through the architectural design of space and the application of artistic gifts to embody God's initiative and the community's faithful response. Church buildings and the religious artworks that beautify them are forms of worship themselves and both inspire and reflect the prayer of the community as well as the inner life of grace.¹⁸ Conversely, church buildings and religious artifacts that are trivial, contrived, or lack beauty can detract from the community's liturgy. Architecture and art become the joint work of the Holy Spirit and the local community, that of preparing human hearts to receive God's word and to enter more fully into communion with God.¹⁹

The Gathering Space or Narthex
§ 95 §    The narthex is a place of welcome—a threshold space between the congregation's space and the outside environment. In the early days of the Church, it was a "waiting area" for catechumens and penitents. Today it serves as gathering space as well as the entrance and exit to the building. The gathering space helps believers to make the transition from everyday life to the celebration of the liturgy, and after the liturgy, it helps them return to daily life to live out the mystery that has been celebrated. In the gathering space, people come together to move in procession and to prepare for the celebration of the liturgy. It is in the gathering space that many important liturgical moments occur: men and women participate in the Rite of Becoming a Catechumen as they move towards later, full initiation into the Church; parents, godparents, and infants are greeted for the celebration of baptism; and Christians are greeted for the last time as their mortal remains are received into the church building for the celebration of the funeral rites.

§ 96 §    In addition to its religious functions, the gathering space may provide access to the vesting sacristy, rooms for choir rehearsal, storage areas, restrooms, and rooms for ushers and their equipment. Adequate space for other gatherings will be an important consideration in planning the narthex and other adjoining areas.

§ 97 §    The doors to the church have both practical and symbolic significance. They function as the secure, steady symbol of Christ, "the Good Shepherd and "the door through which those who follow him enter and are safe [as they] go in and go out."¹²² In construction, design, and decoration, they have the ability to remind people of Christ's presence as the Way that leads to the Father.¹²³ Practically, of course, they secure the building from the weather and exterior dangers, expressing by their solid strength the safe harbor that lies within. The appearance and height of the church doors reflect their dignity and address practical considerations such as the accommodation of the processional cross or banners.

The Rite of Penance or Reconciliation
§ 103 §    In the sacrament of penance, God forgives sins and restores broken relationships through the ministry of the Church. The Rite of Penance does not describe the place for the celebration of the sacrament except to say that it be in the space "prescribed by law."¹²⁴ The Code of Canon Law designates a church or an oratory as "the proper place" for the celebration of the sacrament of penance¹²⁵ and requires a screen or fixed grille between penitent and confessor to insure the anonymity of those who wish it.¹²⁶ Canon 964 further directs conferences of bishops to issue more specific norms. The bishops of the United States have directed that the place for sacramental confession be visible and accessible, that it contain a fixed grille, and that it allow for confession face-to-face for those who wish to do so.¹²⁷

§ 104 §    By its design, furnishings, and location within the church building, the place for reconciliation can assist penitents on the path to contrition and sorrow for sin and to proclaim their reconciliation with God and the community of faith.

§ 105 §    In planning the reconciliation area, parishes will want to provide for a sound-proof place with a chair for the priest and a kneeler and chair for the penitent. Since the rite includes the reading of Scripture, the space should also include a bible.¹²⁸ Appropriate artwork, a crucifix symbolic of Christ's victory over sin and death, icons or images reflective of baptism and the Eucharist, or Scriptural images of God's reconciling love help to enhance the atmosphere of prayer. Warm, inviting lighting welcomes penitents who seek God's help and some form of amplification as well as braille signs can aid those with hearing or visual disabilities. Additional rooms or spaces will be needed as confessional areas for communal celebrations of penance, especially in Advent and Lent.

Turning formerly Catholic consecrated space into a museum clearly violates the spirit and the letter of the liturgical norms current in the United States. I have no objections to Fr. Blaettler turning a wing of his parish hall into an art gallery. However, turning penitential space within a Catholic temple into a place where pagan idols are displayed “solely for their esthetic value” smacks of sacrilege and it is scandalous to Catholic piety.

I encourage the Catholic faithful of St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco to respectfully approach Fr. Charles R. Gagan, S.J., their pastor, humbly following the spirit and the letter of Canon 212 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, and request the removal of the art gallery from the church and into a side building and to restore the sacred space to its original purpose. Failing that, the Catholic faithful have the right to respectfully ask for redress from the local ordinary, the Most Reverend George H. Niederauer, Archbishop of San Francisco.

It breaks my heart when I have to make these kinds of appeals to men who are clearly my superiors in the spiritual life. Nevertheless, we have sacrificed too much to the Shibboleth of political correctness and “cultural sensitivity” while undermining and destroying our own heritage in some sort of self-hating stupor. This is wrong, and it shouldn’t have happened. The guidelines are clear.