ABOUT
THE PARTNERSHIP FOR CATHOLIC SACRED ARCHITECTURE
The Partnership for Catholic Sacred Architecture (PCSA) is an unincorporated organization that exists to put on the Living Presence symposium series. It was created in 2009, in advance of the 2010 inaugural symposium entitled: “A Living Presence: Extending and Transforming the Tradition of Catholic Sacred Architecture.”
The Vision of the Living Presence symposium series is for a regularly scheduled Symposium on Catholic church architecture, rooted in the documents, teachings and history of the Catholic Church; to be dedicated to the development of Catholic Church buildings and renovations that are worthy of the mission entrusted to them by the Church.
VISION OF THE LIVING PRESENCE SYMPOSIUM SERIES
The Vision of the Living Presence symposium series is for a regularly scheduled Symposium on Catholic church architecture, rooted in the documents, teachings and history of the Catholic Church; to be dedicated to the development of Catholic Church buildings and renovations that are worthy of the mission entrusted to them by the Church. The following paragraphs outline details of this endeavor.
INCARNATIONAL NATURE OF THE CHURCH
As a touchstone for all efforts regarding the symposium, we take as essential the incarnational nature of the Catholic Faith. The incarnation of Christ, Our Lord, into His human nature is fundamental to our Faith, and to our understanding of the Eucharist, which we celebrate as He commanded. The Eucharist is the heart of the Mass, and our efforts as artists are well-ordered when they center on embodying this understanding in Catholic church Architecture. Since our work as artists takes shape in the material world, the fruits of our labors, while not Sacraments in the strict sense of the word, are sacramental in the sense that they should be visible signs of the invisible realities of our Faith.
INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK
While Architecture provides the overall backdrop of the setting for the Mass, the Visual Arts and Sacred Music play interdependent crucial roles in the liturgies of the Church, in both Eastern and Western Rites. Today, artists in these disciplines continue a rich legacy of serving the Church. Their work is used for Catholic worship, to edify the faithful, and to foster their piety and their religious formation. The 2010 Symposium invited all “architects, theologians, philosophers, teachers, artists, liturgical consultants, clergy ...” to attend, and Sacred Music and the Arts were represented in major lunch presentations.
The 2020 Symposium will be grounded even more fully in the coordinated effort of the disciplines, as the Schools of Theology, Philosophy, Architecture, and the Arts and Music at Catholic University are now Co-Sponsors of the event. With this support, the symposium will
be able to reach a larger and more diverse audience, and speak more meaningfully to the several aspects of Catholic Church design
.
FOUNDATIONS IN CHURCH DOCUMENTS
Every building design should respond closely to the Owner’s program of needs. For Catholic Church buildings, the most fundamental program need is to respond to the requirements for the celebration of the Holy Mass, other Sacraments, and personal devotion proper to a church building. These requirements are both practical and ideological. Both are derived directly from the Catholic Church’s beliefs about the actions that are the Sacraments and prayers, and are articulated by numerous documents and teachings promulgated by the Church, and understood within her history. In all of these, the Mass is the Sacrament experienced with greatest frequency and regularity in the life of Catholics, and as such will tend to dominate the discussion, without excluding the other important activities.
The Living Presence symposium presupposes that an understanding of the above Church documents, teachings and history as regards the design of the church building is fundamental to good church design. Therefore, the 2020 symposium has gratefully accepted the offer of the Catholic University School of Theology to consider preparing seminar style presentations on these topics at the beginning of the Symposium, to create a foundation for the more designerly activities of the rest of the event.
PCSA LEADERSHIP
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ARCHITECTURE
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- Anonymous
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SACRED ART
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"The complete absence of images is incompatible with faith in the Incarnation of God. God has acted in history and entered into our ´sensible´ world, so that it may become transparent to him. Images of beauty, in which the mystery of the invisible God becomes visible, are an ´essential´ part of Christian worship".
- Pope Benedict XVI, The Spirit of the Liturgy
Artist
Painter, Studio de Sa
Co-Chair, PCSA
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SACRED MUSIC
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“The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy.”
- Pope Paul VI, Sacrosanctum Concilium: Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
Composer
Director, Institute of Sacred Music
The Catholic University of America
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THEOLOGY
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- Anonymous
Pastor
The Basilica of Saint Mary, Alexandria VA
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