Wednesday, September 15, 2010

What happens to the statues when a parish closes?

What happens to the art and statuary when a parish closes? I used to assume that these things were saved and moved to other churches, or church property. Not necessarily so. Sometimes there is ecclesiastical recycling and sometimes parishioners manage to save things but usually most of the stuff in a closed parish just gets thrown to the four winds. I've seen pews in restaurants, statues of saints as mere decorations in fashion magazines and tramps from Madonna (the singer), to Lady Gaga trying to be "edgy" whatever the heck that means with rosaries. I've seen altars, tabernacles and reqularies for sale on ebay and it's pretty disturbing.

One man has made it his mission to save church treasures. He's opened a museum. I thank him for his efforts but boy I wish more of our bishops were better stewards.