No Place for God: The Denial of Transcendence in Modern Church Architecture

by Moyra Doorly

Once modern science declared the emptiness and meaninglessness of a strictly material universe, it was only a matter of time before architects would adopt the new understanding of space, that is to say that no space is special because none is any different or better than any other. In their quest to adapt to and speak to the present age, Catholics over the last forty years have unquestioningly allowed the trends in modern architecture to fashion their churches, and the outcome has been the construction of the ugliest and emptiest churches in history, according to author Moyra Doorly, an architect from England. In No Place for God , Doorly traces the principles of modern architecture to the ideas of space that spread rapidly during the twentieth century. She sees a parallel between the desacralization of the heavens, and consequently of our churches, and the mass inward search for a god of one's own. This double movement -- away from the transcendent God, who reveals himself to man through Scripture and tradition, and toward an inner truth relevant only to oneself -- has emptied our churches, and the worship that takes place within them, of the majesty and beauty that once inspired reverence in both believers and unbelievers alike. In non-technical language accompanied by photographs, Doorly explains what has gone wrong with our churches and suggests a simple way to begin rectifying it.

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Architecture, Theology

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Amanda Sloan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic visuals and thought provoking words on modern church architecture

[Margaret Hovestadt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It fell flat. Half the time I felt like they were speaking 2 different languages. Moyra argued solely from SSPX sources at certain points, which made the bias very obvious. I feel she could have argued better if she used more sources. And Father Aidan almost seemed too sympathetic. At times he would drive a point home, but it left me wanting more.

I think the format was what made the book feel weak. They were a series of letters debating points, but the debate part was set aside in favor of a more friendly format.

[Catholic Birder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a helpful exchange, but I also went into it knowing it would not be a scholarly, academic exchange. Fr. Nichols is at times a little more affirming than I think he needs to be, but this is probably him being polite more than anything. I found the SSPX position to be lacking and often very superficial. A good resource for Catholics interested in upholding Vatican II, but you could go much deeper.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are better books on this topic.

[Tyler Talbert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth reading

[Steve Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simplistic and overstated in tradition. Needing development.

[Terry · Rating 1 out of 5]

The testimonials on the back cover indicated great promise for this book as a potential guide to the many issues surrounding modern Catholic Church architecture. One would have hoped for a piece of sound scholarship to guide the interested but uninformed faithful through the range of views and provide pointers for further reading to develop one's own thinking, informed by references to magisterial and conciliar document references, even if the treatment was described as "non-technical" by a critical reviewer. Instead, the reader is treated to a shrill polemic against Relativism and its evils, and on the loss of traditional liturgical orientation, holy images, and other sundry liberties taken by those presumptuous enough to invoke the "Spirit of Vatican II" and invite everyone to "gather round" the altar.

The author missed a true opportunity to demonstrate her understanding of both Church doctrine as it intersects another area for which she holds credentials: architecture and architectural criticism. She missed an opportunity to begin to suggest solutions. While a practicing Catholic faithful to the teachings of the Church would not argue fundamentally with her echoing teachings of the Pope on Relativism, many would question, after 40 pages or so, the point of her continuous ranting against it and her perhaps even valid points about the generic, white box/shopping mall/art gallery quality of modern churches. She offers no solutions drawn from contemporary practitioners of church design nor from her own expertise, and simply contents herself and apparently expects her readers to also content themselves with the notion that only a return to pre-Vatican II configures, pre-re-ordered Churches are worthy of the name Church.

I would not burn this book, but I would suggest that those interested in the problems of modern Catholic Church design look elsewhere.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting dialogue. I'm sympathetic with SSPX in what they are often annoyed about, but, frankly, I find their response a absurd. It's an ultra-right version of the sentimental emotionalism that you often find with people of the left - who ultimately hate truth. Father Aidan was extremely generous in his response and this left me a bit annoyed. On the one hand, it's very edifying that Fr. Aidan approached his opponent with so much respect, but since I'm not a holy person, I wished he had gone for the throat a bit more. Don't get me wrong, Fr. Aidan delivers many logical hammer-blows, but it's too kind for my sarcastic tastes.

[Ruth Paszkiewicz · Rating 2 out of 5]

A more appropriate title would be 'no place for Vatican II' as the author spends the majority of the book expressing her dislike of changes to the church liturgy than actually discussing architecture. The dismissive and aggressive tone is off putting and highlights the bias in the text which never manages to construct a proper argument. This book never fulfills the promises of the title and blurb and all architectural examples which are actually discussed are done so fleetingly.