Art historian to offer talk, tour of the cathedral

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SALT LAKE CITY — St. Catherine of Siena/Newman Center is sponsoring a talk by a renowned Catholic architectural historian and academic as the final event of its nine-month Liturgical Renewal Initiative.

On Thursday, April 4, Dr. Denis McNamara will speak on “How To Make A Church ‘Look Like’ A Church: Sacramental Theology of Church Buildings” at the Newman Center. McNamara has authored several books on Church architecture and co-founded the Liturgical Institute at Mundelein Seminary with Msgr. M. Francis Mannion, now pastor emeritus of St. Vincent de Paul Parish. His academic specialties include the theology of liturgical art and architecture, classicism and sacramental aesthetics.

Inviting McNamara to speak was an outgrowth of discussions regarding a new crucifix, a replica of the cross of St. Catherine of Siena, that St. Catherine’s will receive this year, according to Director of Campus Ministry Father Lukasz Misko, OP.

“The conversations about this new crucifix started over a year ago, [and] made us realize that members of our community sometimes do not grasp fully the ‘language’ of sacred buildings,” Fr. Lukasz said.  “We have heard arguments for and against having an actual crucifix displayed in the church and, more broadly, arguments for and against certain symbolic language of a church building. It was in that context that I decided to invite Dr. McNamara, one of the leading voices in American Catholicism on church architecture, to come and engage our community in a conversation about what kind of buildings can fulfill the role of hosting the assembly of the Church.”

The day following his talk, McNamara will conduct a tour of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, where he will explain the sacramental symbols and architectural traditions of the cathedral.

“Dr. McNamara would like to show us, in the example of our very own cathedral of the Madeleine, how old and new liturgical traditions interweave in this unique sacred building,” Fr. Lukasz said.

The Liturgical Renewal Initiative began in August and will finish up with McNamara’s talk and tour. It has included reflections on the liturgy before Masses, monthly viewing parties of Bishop Robert Barron’s six-part video series “The Mass,” and book club readings. Tim O’Malley, PhD, author of one of the book club choices, “Bored Again Catholic,” spoke in September as part of the series.

The initiative came about as an effort to unite the parish, which had seen somewhat of a division among those who choose to worship in a more traditional way versus the more contemporary approach common among other parishioners, parish council member Michael Mozdy said.

“We didn’t want to see things evolve into factions; we wanted to create unity among our parishioners, so we determined that a deep dive into the sacramental aspects of the liturgy would be really great so we can all have the same vocabulary and understanding of the liturgy,” he said.

WHAT: Dr. Denis McNamara  will present a talk on the sacramental theology of church buildings

WHERE: St. Catherine of Siena/Newman Center, 170 University St., Salt Lake City

WHEN: Thursday, April 4, 6:30 p.m.

On Friday, April 5 at 4 p.m., Dr. McNamara will lead a tour of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, 309 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City, to explain its sacramental symbols and architectural traditions. Both events are free and open to the public.