Robert Barron says 1970s church-design guidance fuelled 'Protestantisation'

What was said

"And there's a document, a really bad document came out in the '70s. And it was Art and Environment in Catholic Worship. And one of the lines in that document was, "The church building is but the skin of the worshipping assembly." Like a tent, see, a tent. But what's a tent? It's it's ephemeral. It's there for a second and then you knock it down and maybe put it up again. What matters is the pilgrim people on the move, right? See, that's stupid. That's just stupid."

Bishop Robert Barron says the 1970s document “Art and Environment in Catholic Worship” wrongly de-emphasised Catholic church buildings and sacred art. He argues it encouraged a view of worship spaces as temporary and treated decoration as a distraction rather than a sacramental sign.