Actually, 60 churches are closing, five will remain open as worship spaces. The rest will be sold. From the Archbishop’s website:
Total number of churches to remain open as worship spaces maintained by proximate parish: 5
Total number of churches to close: 60
Visit site .
The esteem for sacred art and sacred space is highly valued in Catholicism. For the Catholic, a sacred building is not just a building.
If you believe that selling a church and mourning the loss of the building is ‘wrapping oneself in just a building’ then I highly recommend that you read
Pope John Paull II’s letter to Artists.
“The Church needs architects, because she needs spaces to bring the Christian people together and celebrate the mysteries of salvation. After the terrible destruction of the last World War and the growth of great cities, a new generation of architects showed themselves adept at responding to the exigencies of Christian worship, confirming that the religious theme can still inspire architectural design in our own day. Not infrequently these architects have constructed churches which are both places of prayer and true works of art.” - John Paul II.
Even if there were no buildings, the Church will always exist. This was never the question. What you’re bringing up will lead into a question of iconoclasm which the Church has dealt with a long time ago. Essentially, iconoclasm is wrong.
I’m also not debating whether the diocese should sell the churches or not. The attendence numbers are very low and the sexual abuse cases have cost the diocese a lot of money.
demolished. The diocese leadership believes it’s the right thing to do.