Building Churches - liturgical bureaucracy

Commonweal, Sept 8, 2000 by Joseph Schickel

When I raise these issues with diocesan liturgical staff, they generally admit that the overall quality of liturgical art and architecture is mediocre. But they continue to favor diocesan review structures because, "we can't have another Saint Disaster in this diocese." Again and again I have heard the sad story about how Saint Disaster did not meet the requirements of EACW, that the bishop was upset, and that this must not happen again. So I find myself shaking my head both yes and no when Mitchell, using EACW, takes Domus Dei to task for emphasizing mechanics over mystery. I agree with him that EACW intended just the opposite, but, as implemented, it is an imperfect tool for critiquing the new draft document. Pope John Paul II's Letter to Artists (Origins, May 6, 1999), strikes a deeper note. As in EACW, its emphasis is exhortative and encouraging, not technical. It calls us to ponder the profound relationship between goodness and beauty. It makes no reference to boards of review or other bureaucratic structures to advance its goals.

The skepticism and concern that Al, Tina, and many others have about the "education" they have undergone is, for me, a sign of hope. It is appropriate that the laity should take an active, perhaps even leading, role in the movement for cultural and liturgical renewal in the church. Real education, like art, does not exist by legislative, judicial, bureaucratic, or clerical fiat. It has its own authority.

Of course, there is risk in moving away from the bureaucratic model the American church has embraced. There will be less control, less uniformity. Some projects will be downright bad. But let's admit it, more than a few are downright bad now. (I even question whether my grandfather was right about bureaucracy preventing the worst!) Still, the potential for improvement and innovation would seem to outweigh the risk by far. In a recent column (Worship, July 1999), Mitchell calls for a "vernacular" architecture in our worship spaces: "We...experts," he writes, "do not like the idea that ordinary, uneducated people may have ideas--good ideas--about how to shape ritual space, about how to create architectural environments that are truly hospitable to the community that inhabits them." Amen!

With less bureaucracy, the art and architecture of our worship spaces would be far more diverse, creative, and authentically local. A wider variety of rich, artistic expression--called for in EACW and welcomed in the Letter to Artists--would be given freer rein. We need to emphasize more both the local and the universal, to throw off the false security of bureaucracy, and to take the risks required for cultural renaissance and spiritual revival in our time. It may mean that the weeds and wheat will have to grow along-side one another for a while. That's better than living in a desert.

Joseph Schickel is a project facilitator for the Schickel Design Company and a former member of the Worship Commission of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.