Catholics who attended churches built in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, held in the 1960s, will be familiar with the church-building style in vogue in the decades following.
Traditional church architecture followed the prescriptions of the Hebrew Bible to build a place for the community (a nave), a place for the priests (a chancel), and a place for the Holy of Holies (a tabernacle).
Following Vatican II, however, church architecture switched focus from traditional goals of creating a sense of awe and mystery, to attempting to create a sense of community by interpreting the biblical references to the heavenly banquet and the Last Supper as an invitation to “come to the table” and partake in fellowship with other congregants.
Often termed “church in the round,” it was thought this style would be less hierarchical, more welcoming, and more agreeable to modern egalitarian sensibilities.
A classic “church in the round” - Brasilia’s Cathedral
The only problem was… most of the resulting churches were ugly.
Don’t take it from us. Google “ugly church” and modern churches predominate in the top image results:
Whereas Google’s results for “beautiful church” are all traditional-style churches.
Even the completely secular website Thrillist features a click-bait series titled “The 9 Ugliest Cathedrals in the World,” all of which were built after Vatican II.
In recent years, however, in at least some locations the tide seems to be turning back toward traditional design.
In the Catholic diocese of Arlington, Virginia in the United States, churches built in the last decade have all incorporated traditional features in their design. These include St. John the Apostle in Leesburg, St. Theresa in Ashburn, Our Lady of Hope in Sterling, and St. Mary of Sorrows in Fairfax.
During a recent business trip, we had the chance to visit the most recent of these - the newly constructed church of Corpus Christi in South Riding, Virginia, which was just consecrated on May 2, 2021. Here are some photos from our visit:
Exterior view of the church
Gothic-style entrance
View from the nave
The Arlington Diocese newspaper The Catholic Herald produced this video tour of the church in which the pastor, Fr Michael Taylor, explains the significance of the church architecture.
Fr. Taylor noted that the church is built in the Gothic style, with the color scheme of blue and gold in the interior inspired by the Sainte Chapelle Gothic church in Paris.
Sainte-Chapelle, Paris
The tabernacle was built in Europe in the 1800s and refurbished for the new church. The stone altar was designed by McCrery Architects and put together by Rugo Stone.
The communion rail was re-purposed from St. Peter’s church in Hartford, Connecticut, which was until its 2017 closing one of the oldest Catholic church in that state.
There are too many other variables to posit that the last 50 years of “ugly” church architecture is solely responsible for the collapse of Christianity in the West, but it is unlikely to have helped. Here’s hoping that a revival of traditional church design and liturgy will remind people of what they had lost, and what they stand to gain from a return to beauty.