Church Buildings as Heritage

St. Joseph's Church, Donsol, Sorsogon, Philippines

The Holy Father in His Angelus address on Monday has spoken on the importance of taking care of the Holy Places of worship. A zenit report says thus:"The honoring of this sacred edifice was a way of expressing love and veneration for the Roman Church, which, as St. Ignatius of Antioch says, 'presides in charity' over the whole Catholic communion," Benedict XVI said. The material temple, the Pope noted, is important because it is an expression of that "spiritual edifice," which is the Christian community. " This is a very significant statement from the Holy Father. This is the first time that the Holy father has spoken about the importance of physical churches. In places where material poverty abounds like the Philippines, the building of magnificent houses of worship may sound extravagant. But taking a look at it and in reality these beautiful churches are expressions of charity. The Christians, despite poverty, were able to pool resources to build these beautiful churches which has served many generations and serve as testament to the love and faith of the Filipino people. Everywhere in the Philippines we have this beautiful baroque churches as landmarks. I hope that our pastors and church authorities will exert every effort to preserve and protect the patrimony of the Church. Indeed God does not live in temples made of stones, but these temple of stones have been the gathering places of faithful Christians whose hearts and bodies are the living temple of the Holy Ghost. The physical temple is an expression of the Christians love for God and their proclamation of the greatness of God for all humans to see.