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Inflatable churches… I’m not making this up
You just knew a lot of churches were filled with hot air, right?
Blow-up church looks to lure beachgoers
Thu Aug 7, 2008 4:51am EDT
ROME (Reuters) – Catholic nuns and priests in Italy are following their flocks to the beach this summer, establishing an inflatable church and a beach-convent in the sands to lure sunbathers.
The 30-metre (98 ft) long blow-up church—staffed by priests ready to take confession—will debut on Saturday on the Adriatic coast in the Molise region, an organizer said.
"There will be four or five people singing, with music about God," [innovative!] said Chiara Facci with Catholic group Sentinelli del Mattino. Night time activities, which will not include Mass, [?!?] will run from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The first attempt to inaugurate the inflatable church last month on the holiday island of Sardinia failed after strong winds forced organizers to relocate, she said. [I remember something about opening the windows and letting some fresh air in, but this is something entirely different.]
Big cities like Rome and Milan empty in August, when Italians head to the beach for summer holidays, leaving streets empty and many businesses closed. Churches are hardly immune, and also see their congregations thin.
On the Mediterranean coast, nuns from a convent near the southern Italian city of Naples have relocated to beach cabins to join holidaymakers saying the rosary. An adjoining altar was set up under two tents.
"The concept of a beach-convent is something that is appreciated by vacationers and the nuns themselves," [I think I’ll just leave that one.] priest Antonio Rungi, who helped spearheaded the initiative, told Italian news agency ANSA.
(Reporting by Olivia Scarlett and Phil Stewart, editing by Mary Gabriel)
Are there pictures anywhere?
Comment by Bob — 8 August 2008 @ 12:20 amOk, how is this “legal” in the Catholic church? I don’t get it. Isn’t that heretical what they are doing?
Comment by Atlanta — 8 August 2008 @ 12:43 amPu-leeze!
Comment by Supertradmom — 8 August 2008 @ 12:59 am“Isn’t that heretical what they are doing?”
How is this heretical? I do not see this action as being contrary to the faith. Odd maybe; bordering on sacrilege perhaps too; but not heretical.
Comment by Jonathan Bennett — 8 August 2008 @ 2:13 amputs face into hands and sobs/giggles
Sad and ludicrous at the same time…
Comment by Devin — 8 August 2008 @ 2:28 amIn the early 20th century in England the Catholic Missionary Society had a series of vans they would take into rural areas. Open the back doors of the van and a chapel all ready – statues, lights, etc.
Many of these on the road missioners became bishops (Cardinal Griffin of Westminster, Archbishop Dwyer of Birmingham). I think they would understand the motives behind the beach mission.
Comment by Peter W — 8 August 2008 @ 2:55 amLighten up folks!
This happens all over the Mediterranean in the holiday season (well, perhaps not as wacky as INFLATABLE churches, but pretty close). I’ve attended Mass in marquees, on boats, in shopping centres, in the paddock of a local stud farm in Andalucia (and yes the horses were there as well). And I can assure you that these celebrations of Holy Mass – and they are holy – are PACKED with holidaymakers and vacation workers (waiters, hotel porters, taxi drivers, etc). For the clergy it’s hot, difficult and busy – one seaside town I know if in Spain ups the number of Masses every weekend from three to TWELVE during summer weekends – and those priests are really devoted.
God bless them, I say. Didn’t Christ himself preach from a boat when the crowds got too big?
Comment by Christabel — 8 August 2008 @ 3:37 amThere is obviously a need to build a proper church near the beach. An inflatable church is inappropriate.
Comment by Jane — 8 August 2008 @ 5:47 amup, up and awaaayyy in my beautiful, my beautifulll…...
Comment by Pater, OSB — 8 August 2008 @ 5:53 amDidn’t Christ himself preach from a boat when the crowds got too big?
First of all, yes, but he didn’t encourage worship there.
Second of all, didn’t he also say something about “building your house on sand?”
Comment by Andy — 8 August 2008 @ 6:08 amI don’t get all the negative press about this. What these nuns and priests are doing is making sure the flock gets the sacraments and the word. In other words, they CARE about the souls of these people. And, Andy, the point is that Christ WENT to the flock to gather
Comment by Dan — 8 August 2008 @ 6:16 amthem in and that is exactly what these nuns and priests are doing. I think you are taking
the “house built on sand” issue a little too far, no??? It’s nice to see so
many people “pontificate” about the wrongs of others who are doing what they
can to bring Christ to the flock while they sit and do nothing. Interesting.
First off, Mass is not being offered there. I think its a good idea and don’t really see how its different than using a tent in a mission land. If only we were all courageous enough to bring the faith so openly into such public places!
Comment by QC — 8 August 2008 @ 6:20 amAnd another thing, it might bring new members into the Church who otherwise have
Comment by Dan — 8 August 2008 @ 6:20 amnever been taught the faith or been to church.
What Dan and Christabel said.
Comment by Paul Stokell — 8 August 2008 @ 6:35 amI don’t have a coveted D.Min., but I remember hearing in one of my classes about “where two or three are gathered in My name.”
I first heard of the inflatable church a few years ago on the Ship of Fools web site. There’s a link with pictures here.
Comment by Steve Cavanaugh — 8 August 2008 @ 6:46 amHmm, it could be a bit ‘old school’? Catholics boys and girls roaming on the beach and those who fail to have a near occasion of a bathing suit can offer the good Sisters a reason to grab them by the hair on their neck and enter a confessional? :-)
Comment by MD — 8 August 2008 @ 6:46 amRight on MD.
Comment by Dan — 8 August 2008 @ 6:50 amMixing half-naked sunbathers with priests and nuns on a beach? Clearly firing on all cylinders there. Night-time activities from 10pm – 1am, not including Mass, eh? Including (!) music about God!
Comment by Jeff Pinyan — 8 August 2008 @ 7:04 amIt seems to me, the issue here is whether we are getting “hung up” on the idea of the inflatable church or whether we are evaluating what is done there.
Let’s remove the inflatable church from the equation. What are these priests and nuns doing here? hearing confessions, praying the rosary and the like. There are no masses held in this Inflatable Church, which would I believe be against the laws of the Church.
So, if they had rented some sort of cottage on the beach and set it up for these purposes, would we be appalled? Or would we view it as a welcome outreach to these people?
It se