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A R T I C L E S
On the Solemnity of the
Apostles Peter and
Paul, Pope Benedict
XVI presented a Compendium
of the Catechism of the Catholic
Church to the Universal
Church. The “mini catechism,”
among the first publications of
this pontificate, contains some
fourteen works of sacred art that
will be included in subsequent
language editions of the text. In
introducing the new Compendium,
the Pope drew attention
to the catechetical significance
of works of sacred art. “Sacred
images,” he noted, “proclaim
the same Gospel message that
the Sacred Scriptures transmit
through words and they help reawaken
and nourish the faith of
believers.”
In recent decades, as Catholics
in this country witness a
diminishing, a stripping of sacred
images from cathedrals,
churches, and chapels, attempts
to speak of the catechetical value
of sacred art and architecture are
sometimes deemed wasteful, extravagant,
or irrelevant. Against
that backdrop, the inclusion of
sacred images in the new Compendium
is all the more significant,
as it invites architects, artists,
catechists, pastors, bishops,
parents, and teachers to reflect
anew on the relationship of art
and catechesis. Leaving aside
the vital issue of what constitutes
genuine sacred art, the
placing of sacred images within
a catechism raises specific questions
that this article seeks to reflect
on: What is the catechetical
value of sacred images? Why is
sacred art and architecture indispensable
to full instruction
in the faith? Might sacred images
serve as powerful means of
evangelization and catechesis in
our own day and age?
The Catechism of the Catholic
Church notes that sacred art is true and
beautiful when “its form corresponds to
its particular vocation: evoking and glorifying,
in faith and adoration, the transcendent
mystery of God—the surpassing
invisible beauty of truth and love visible
THE BEAUTY OF FAITH
SACRED ARCHITECTURE AND CATECHESIS
Jem Sullivan, Ph.D.
The Crucifixion, Old St. Mary Church
Philadelphia, PA
in Christ, who ‘reflects the glory of God
and bears the very stamp of his nature,’ in
whom ‘the whole fullness of deity dwells
bodily.’… Genuine sacred art draws man
to adoration, to prayer, and to the love of
God, Creator and Savior, the Holy One and
Sanctifier” (CCC 2502).
The catechetical function of
sacred art and architecture, affirmed
in this passage, is to lead
the faithful from seeing to contemplation
to adoration of God.
From a pedagogical standpoint,
a sacred image of Christ, the
Blessed Mother of God, or a
Christian saint provides an
earthly glimpse into eternal realities,
a “head start to heaven,”
so to speak.
The Catechism elsewhere
describes the goal of “liturgical
catechesis (mystagogy) … [as]
aims to initiate people into the
mystery of Christ by proceeding
from the visible to the invisible,
from the sign to the thing signified,
from the ‘sacraments’ to the
‘mysteries” (CCC 1075). Instituted
by Christ, the sacraments
are the privileged means by
which the faithful participate in
His saving mystery through the
ministry of the Church. Within
this sacramental economy, sacred
architecture and images,
which predispose one to the sacramental
presence of God, serve
as a “pre-sacrament,” a phrase
used by Pope John Paul II to describe
the sacred art and architecture
of the Sistine Chapel.
To limit the function of sacred
images then to mere decorative
or aesthetic representations of
socio-cultural ideals is to miss a
high note in the liturgical symphony
that is in fact composed
of sacred images, architecture,
music, and rites. For sure, sacred
images express human,
social, and cultural realities
and add aesthetic value to the
interior and exterior spaces of
cathedrals, chapels, and churches,
but they are also an indispensable
means to instruct the
faithful in the content of divine
revelation and to reawaken and
nourish their faith. With the aid
of sacred images, catechists, preachers, and
teachers of faith echo the divine pedagogy
of salvation history in which the witness of
divine “words” and “signs” or “word” and
“image” are inextricably linked.
Pope John Paul II drew attention to the
12 Sacred Architecture 2006 Issue 11
Photo: Stained Glass in Catholic Philadelphia