One good piece of news is that the Egyptian Coptics want to put back the full altar rail. Why? To delineate the sacred from the secular. Seems to me, we as Catholics did this once upon a time. Has anyone notice how few changes any of the Eastern Catholic churches made after the Second Vatican Council.
Tags: Church Closings, DoR History
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I miss the full altar rail too.
A question: are these Copts Catholic?
No, they are Coptic Orthodox.
Here's some information on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_orthodox
~Dr. K
No, they are Orthodox Copts. Their website is rochcopts.org.
What a crime to let this church go. It would have been more suitable as a Cathedral than the one we had "renovated." What a glorious and beautiful church.
Tom,
After Rochester's original cathedral, St. Patrick's, closed in 1937, it was between SSPP and Sacred Heart (Blessed Sacrament was a distance 3rd). SH won out.
wow. I can't see how Sacred Heart won out. Maybe in its current form I can't see how it was a better choice. Of course, not being from here originally, I don't know the back story.
Still a shame. Nice to know the Coptics are taking care of the place. Wish our own diocese practiced such respect for the sacred.
SH won out due to what else, diocesan politics.
SSPP would have had to move the apse back a good 40 feet or so to make a larger sanctuary. SSPP sat 1,100 people.
Ah. Big surprise. Though the politics of the 30s had to have been different than today.
I'm guessing that SH needed less work? Or they decided to live with it until the most recent renovation?
Sacred Heart was fairly new, only about 10 years old at the time. There was a renovation in the mid-50s at SH. The most recent wreckovation was a total disaster that we will have to live with for who knows how long.
I'm surprised St. Michael's was not given consideration as it is the most magnificent church in the diocese. Parking might have been an issue. They would probably have had to knock down a few of the buildings to make more room.
~Dr. K
Good question. I'm not sure. Hands down it is the most magnificent Domus Dei that we have in the DoR.
Stunning beauty! No wonder Bishop Clark let this church go, it reminds us of the beauty of the Latin Mass and tradition. Our churches are being stripped bare and remodeled with the hope that we'll forget about our past, but this will not happen no matter how hard they try.