In this post I am in no way dissing my lovely Protestant brothers & sisters whom I do love dearly, (my dad is Anglican!), but merely reflecting on the choices of the Anglican hierarchy regarding their large Cathedrals, which does genuinely upset me!
*****
My parents have a guest staying at their house, so on Sunday we took them out to see the "sights & sounds" of our home-town, and I yet again was faced with one of my MAJOR pet-peeves regarding Protestant Churches.
Now, I'm half-Italian so I've seen a lot of Churches in my time. I spent my honeymoon in Rome and must've gone into about 20 Churches.
You see a pretty Church hundreds of years old, beautiful stained glass windows, statues of Jesus, Mary and the Saints inside, mosaics on the wall, paintings...etc....and if you want to go in, you just walk in, freely.
Even in St. Peter's in the Vatican, the biggest Church by volume in the entire world...anyone can just walk in, have a look, pray.
Protestant Churches? I don't know about the rest of the world, but in England the situation is very different.
Let's take pretty much any big Anglican Cathedral in the country. You walk towards the entrance way......and then you see it...possibly the last thing you would expect to see blocking the entrance way to a Church.....a TICKET BOOTH.
Yes, you have to PAY to enter most old Protestant Churches in England.
I have never, in my life, seen anyone expect visitors to pay to enter a Catholic Church. It would never ever ever ever happen.
And it's not cheap either to get into these Protestant Cathedrals, St.Paul's in London is 9 POUNDS per person (that's like 20 US$)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I mean....SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!! To enter a CHURCH?!!!!!!!!!!!
The Church we tried to get into with my parents was "only" 4.50pounds per person (like, 10$).
I was honestly in the mood to give the ticket people a piece of my mind about....
a) having to PAY to visit a CHURCH
b) ...on a SUNDAY!!
and, the irony of all ironies, the crowning fact which *really* bugs me..
c) most of the Protestant Churches were STOLEN FROM CATHOLICS DURING THE REFORMATION!!!
Yes, any gorgeous Catholic Churches were all taken during the Reformation, in the majority of cases the statues of Mary and any Saints were smashed up (you can even see the empty ledges inside and outside the Churches which used to have statues on).
*AND* any reliques of CATHOLIC SAINTS that weren't burnt or destroyed are now kept as Protestant property and you have to pay to see them in Protestant Churches!
I know my Parish Priest refuses to pay to enter any Protestant Church (& usually states why very clearly at the ticket desk). (He also once found them selling copies of the DaVinci Code in the guest shop of a Protestant Church (I forget the name of the Church...it also used to belong to the Catholics) (but I guess that is a rant for another time!))
But really, when you think about it, I guess it doesn't seem so odd to them to ask people to pay to enter.
The way Chris tried to rationalise it to me is that the Churches are, after all, are old stone buildings which need money for repairs. They have nothing alive or excessively precious inside (I interject...unlike Catholic Churches which have the living Christ in every tabernacle)...so really it's just an empty shell that needs money for the up-keep.
Protestant have no reason to enter a Church to pray outside of their services because there is nothing in there that they dont have in their living room (unlike Catholic Churches which have the living Christ in every tabernacle).
I just get upset at the fact that these Churches were built for the celebration of the Holy Mass, and were built for Jesus to dwell within, and instead Catholics were kicked out....and you have to pay to enter.
okay rant over!
(oh, and in the end we didn't pay to go in!)
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6 comments:
The biggest irony is that Protestants accused Catholics of selling indulgences during the Reformation. Now Protestants are selling worship to God!
We have the REAL PRESENCE they have the REAL ABSENCE
To be fair, one has to pay to get into St Mark's in Venice UNLESS you go to early Mass which is celebrated at the High Altar and you get to see the treasures of the Church close up. The Church's biggest treasure of course is Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, but I guess most punters come to see the stones rather than the Cornerstone.
But I agree it is sad to see and I agree with Danny - a big irony
I lived in the UK for three years. We visited churches in the UK, Ireland and the Continent. One difference I noticed between the big (stolen!) churches in the UK and the Catholic ones (esp. in Ireland) was this: the smell! Those Catholic churches had that nice, traditional smell. People used the church; we spent some time in a lovely church in Waterford, where Adoration was going on. Contrast that with those (stolen!) churches in the UK: even those still in Sunday use had a musty, museum type of smell. It's as if the Presence has a tangible effect on the atmosphere. (Well, of course!)
It was a pity to see all the statues and colored windows gone, broken by the "hero of the Fens", Cromwell. It's more of a pity that there's a similar, puritanical movement among some Catholics (on both sides of the Pond) to get rid of statues and artwork in the churches now!
One last comment. I did not like the misrepresentation of Catholic faith that I saw in the C of E churches. There were rude comments made about relics - both by tour guides and on informational signs in the churches. Just because there has been abuse in the past (selling relics, etc.) and just because they don't understand how we perceive relics, doesn't mean that they should belittle our faith for it. As the liberal churches bend over backwards to be understanding of pagans and non-western religions, you'd hope that they would provide the same benefit of the doubt for Catholic teachings that they don't agree with or understand.
[Relics, bad! Prayer labyrinths, good!]
I still keep British Catholics in my prayers. I felt the anti-Catholic bias in a more personal way there, than I do at home in the US.
xxx
Danny, Amen!
It is really sad that most of the protestants churches in Europe where indeed stolen from Catholics.
Hey guys, thanks for your comments!
Just my 2 cents...
Fr.B....I know it must be tough for the CofE to get enough money to keep the old Cathedrals and things going (especially if they get no money from the government), however, the prices for entering these Churches are huge (I mean, 9 POUNDS to get into St. Paul's?! That's like 2 cinema tickets!). And also charging on a Sunday doesn't seem quite right either.
**Also, I would like to clarify for readers that although Fr.B refers to "The Eucharist" in Anglican Churches, due to their complete schism from Rome Protestants lost valid ordination and so are not able to consecrate the hosts. Some Anglicans, like FrB, disagree with this, but that is the Catholic stance**
Also, Paulins....I last went to San Marco's in Venice in summer 2003 & I didn't have to pay to get in...
You only have to pay if you want to go upstairs to view some of the old documents and get a good look down on the Church.
Finally, somethin I should've clarified earlier...
they don't make you pay to enter the Protestant Church if you are going for a service
(so, for like 1.5hours a week it is free)
Thanks for your comments!!
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