Sunday, December 30, 2007

Troubles for Church Meant to Commemorate Pope John Paul II

WARSAW, Poland - Financial problems are threatening the completion of a Warsaw church meant to commemorate the late Pope John Paul II and the fall of communism.

Plans for the Church of Divine Providence have faced a series of setbacks since its cornerstone was laid in 1791 — occupations, world wars and decades of communism

The yet-unbuilt church won a new patron in the years after communism — the Polish-born Pope John Paul II — and hopes arose that it would be built swiftly. But nearly five years into renewed construction, financial problems are thwarting completion of the massive basilica.

"If we fail to raise enough money, we will be forced to suspend the building work," said the Rev. Janusz Bodzon, vice president of a church foundation overseeing the project...


What the finished building will look like:



I suggest the following redesign:


5 comments:

Adrienne said...

This is the work of the Holy Spirit. That church is beyond ugly (IMHO) and should not be completed.

Vincenzo said...

adrienne wrote:
"This is the work of the Holy Spirit. That church is beyond ugly (IMHO) and should not be completed."

That occurred to me also. Add minarets and it could pass for a mosque.

Anonymous said...

My first thought was a mosque also, if they want Catholics to pay for the building they need to use your redesign vincenzo--it's beautiful.

swissmiss said...

I wonder if they used the same architect as the Eckankar folks did (we're lucky they are just down the road in the western suburbs). Check out their temple here, kind of the same streamlined design and UGLY.

Londiniensis said...

The real tragedy is that the design which won the competition in the first place blended breathtaking (and uplifting) modern originality with substantial echoes of traditional Polish church styles at its four "transepts".

Cardinal Glemp personally vetoed the design and chose this brutal monster which has more in common with the totalitarian ethos of Poland's recent Soviet overlords than with the millenial (since AD 966) Polish Catholic tradition.

To add insult to injury Cardinal Glemp has overriden the express wishes of two recently deceased priest-heroes and had them buried in the crypt of this monument to his arrogant folly, wishing it to become a new Polish "pantheon", which Poland neither wants nor needs - the crypt of Wawel cathedral and Powazki cemetery, to name but two, already fulfil this function, as do many other hallowed places on Poland's blood soaked soil.