Artistic activity in the Church and ecclesiastical norms 2

Artistic activity in the Church and ecclesiastical norms 1

The Second Vatican Council also gave impetus and concrete indications for sacred art: "The Church seeks with special interest that sacred objects serve the splendor of worship with dignity and beauty, accepting the changes in matter, form and ornament that progress of the technique introduces over time. Consequently, the priests decided to determine the following on this point: "The Church has never considered any artistic style as its own, but, accommodating itself to the character and conditions of the people and the needs of the different rites, it has accepted the forms of each time, creating over the centuries an artistic treasure worthy of being carefully preserved.

The art of our time and that of all peoples and regions must also be exercised freely in the Church as long as it serves sacred buildings and rites with due honor and reverence, so that it can add its voice to that admirable concert that the great men have embraced the Catholic faith in past centuries.

The ordinary, when promoting and favoring authentically sacred art, seek noble beauty rather than mere sumptuousness. This must also apply to sacred clothing and ornamentation. Bishops should carefully ensure that those artistic works that repugnant faith, customs and Christian piety and offend the authentically religious sense are excluded from temples and other sacred places, whether due to the insufficiency, mediocrity or falsity of the art.

When building temples, ensure that they are suitable for celebrating liturgical actions and for the active participation of the faithful. The practice of exposing sacred images for the veneration of the faithful must be firmly maintained, with everything in mind that they are few in number and maintain the due order among them, so that they do not cause strangeness to the Christian people nor encourage a less orthodox devotion." (Const. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 123-125).