A Catholic church......turned into a private home?

  • Thread starter Thread starter T_More
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T_More said:
I may be overreacting, but this strikes me as almost blasphemous.
What is the protocol within the Church when turning over a former church to a new owner?
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I don’t know what the protocol is, but plenty of former churches here in Pittsburgh have been converted into homes or into other secular functions after being decommissioned.

St. Michael’s, St. Casimir and St. Matthews are all now condos. Even further away from its original purpose, St. John the Baptist is a brewpub and St. Elizabeth of Hungary is a nightclub.

What you are seeing is by no means a unique situation.
 
My aunt and uncle lived in a converted church.

Once a church is “decommissioned” I imagine it can be used for whatever the new owner chooses. I am sure that the diocese would prefer a private house to a pool hall.
 
If a Catholic Church has been deconsecrated, the building can then be put to any other use.

It Iis tragic that the church was lost, but for someone to live there is hardly an abuse.

ICXC NIKA
 
I read of a Catholic Church that was decommissioned or whatever you would prefer to call it and is now being used for civil marriages (not just homosexual unions but heterosexual ones as well). This made me gravely upset. What an act of disrespect to let a once Holy building be filled with such sin. Why not abandon St Peter’s Basilica and let satanists do blood sacrifices in there?
 
Canon 1222 governs this.

Yes, you are overreacting, and no it is not blasphemous.
 
Wow, what a nice home! Quite expensive, though.

I just checked on Wikipedia, and there is an actual deconsecration ritual, so I’d imagine as long as it was performed, the church becomes, well, brick and mortar (or whatever building material was used) and can be used for anything.
 
Americans are not used to seeing buildings that were Catholic Churches at one time.
If you were to travel in Italy and really get to know a city, you would see former churches used for almost anything.
In Naples, for example, all you have to do is turn around to see a former church used as a parking garage, or a clothing factory, or a restaurant, etc.
The wildest thing I ever came across was in Kanea, Crete, where a former mosque was being used as a house of ill repute. I guess the locals considered this retribution against the Turks, their mortal enemies, who ruled them for several hundreds of years.
 
1ke said:
Canon 1222 governs this.

Yes, you are overreacting, and no it is not blasphemous.
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Can 1222 seems to apply if the church building is still owned by the Church and there are restrictions on its secular use, i.e. no unbecoming purpose.

However, if the building is sold then the owner can do whatever they like with it.

Can. 1222 §1 If a church cannot in any way be used for divine worship and there is no possibility of its being restored, the diocesan Bishop may allow it to be used for some secular but not unbecoming purpose.

§2 Where other grave reasons suggest that a particular church should no longer be used for divine worship, the diocesan Bishop may allow it to be used for a secular but not unbecoming purpose. Before doing so, he must consult the council of priests; he must also have the consent of those who could lawfully claim rights over that church, and be sure that the good of souls would not be harmed by the transfer.
 
Would it be better to tear it down or reuse a potentially useful building? I am thinking the latter, especially if it is an attractive building?
 
I can see how it would rub someone the wrong way. Ideally it would be wonderful if a church never had to be shut down/sold, but, as others have said, as long as it’s deconsecrated there’s nothing wrong with turning it into a home. Better to be used for that than something outright immoral. Must’ve been a beautiful church when it was in use, though!
 
I recall seeing one in Connecticut that was being used as a lumber storage area.
 
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