In his 2026 Annual letter to his flock, (See Here), the Archbishop of Seattle, Paul Etienne, could not have selected any more hurtful words to speak to the people he serves than, “Church is NOT buildings and historic artifacts”. He might have said, “Church is NOT ONLY buildings and historic artifacts”, or, “Church is MORE THAN buildings and historic artifacts”, but, in fact, he did not. It seemed, at first, to be a typo, but given the sophisticated programs that write, edit, and proofread these corporate compositions, the idea of it being an error was quickly dismissed. The word crafting was deliberate, and purposeful, and particularly wounding.
I remember as a child, waking during the night and finding my mother busy at her sewing machine replacing the elastic waist band on her underwear in order to have the extra money, that would have bought ‘new’, to give to the Church. And her mother, my grandmother, would tell stories of her mother baking bricks in their home oven in the ‘old country’ to supply their new Priest with building materials for a new Church with my mason smith great-grandfather offering his time and talent to lay the bricks and build UP their Church. My parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, like most Catholics, scrimped, and saved, and sacrificed, and even baked bricks, to fulfill their commitment to their parish’s building fund. Some would call it an obligation but it was never considered that in the hearts and minds of a devout people who acted only out of love for Christ, His Priest, and His Church. They understood churches to be ‘NOT ONLY’ and ‘MORE THAN’.
Catholic tradition has always viewed architecture and stain glass as “gospels in stone” and “windows into heaven,” making invisible spiritual truths perceptible to the senses. Catholic architecture treats the physical structure of a church as a “Living Catechism,” where every element makes complex spiritual mysteries accessible through sight and experience.
For centuries, before widespread literacy, stained glass and stone carvings served as a “Poor Man’s Bible”. Vibrant windows and intricate facades allowed the illiterate to “read” the history of salvation through images.
There is even a ‘Theology of Light’ (Lux Nova) in Catholic doctrine, particularly in Gothic architecture, where light is the symbol of the Divine Presence. Stained glass transforms ordinary sunlight into lux nova (new light), representing how God’s grace penetrates and illuminates the human world.
With the Partners in the Gospel plan the faithful are being asked to go from ‘maintenance to mission’ as if there is a need to choose between the two when the faithful have been successfully accomplishing both for millennia. Every church is a gift to God from His people and from God to His people. Our churches are holy ground where God walks; they are sacred spaces where God physically resides. Our Churches are MUCH MORE THAN just buildings. God desires they be preserved, not destroyed. In our next post we’ll find out just HOW MUCH MORE THAN when we take a look at the Rite of Dedication of a Church and Altar.
THE CRACKED SPINE 