In this church, only the football god is honoured

Accelerating church closings in Austria and Germany

Sports hall, restaurant, club: What can become of churches?

In order for churches to be better attended, they sometimes need new functions.  This poses challenges for dioceses

Last year, more than 72,000 people left the Catholic Church.

An indoor football pitch in Wettringen, a parish in North Rhine-Westphalia, measures nine by 18 metres.  Nothing special really, yet it attracts attention.  For where cheers echo from the vaulted ceiling today, not so long ago it was the prayers of believers.

"In this church, only the football god is honoured"

an actual quote from a promotional video

When God was honoured

Church being used for an artists market

The football pitch is located in the former church of St. Joseph's House in Wettringen.  A good two years ago, a tenant took over the church, rolled out artificial turf, placed two goals under a catch net cage and declared it the "Soccer Church".  According to the website, the building had previously been empty for nine years.  Now children and adults play not  only football but also volleyball or badminton; art exhibitions take place in summer.

In Germany and the Netherlands, the conversion of churches has been a topic for a long time, says Anna Minta, an architectural historian at the Catholic Private University in Linz.  In addition to the Soccer Church, restaurants such as the Don Camillo in Hesse, which was once a house of prayer, are proof of this.

More extreme examples can be found in Nottingham, England, where there is a cocktail bar instead of a church.  But also in Dublin with The Church, where Irish people do not celebrate masses but parties.

Departures from the church and lack of priests

This is made possible by expensive maintenance costs for the often-ageing buildings and poorly attended church services.  Austrian dioceses are also confronted with these realities.  Last year alone, more than 72,000 people left the Catholic Church.  In 2020, the figure was just under 59,000.

However, the Dioceses are not only losing the faithful, but also the priests. The current church statistics show "slightly declining" numbers.  According to Minta, in many places there is a need to merge services from different parishes.  Nevertheless, the Dioceses pass on only a few churches to other denominations or "profane" them, that is, desacralize them.

Passing on churches

Harald Gnilsen is the Building Director of the Archdiocese of Vienna. In the last decade, a maximum of ten churches have been handed over in Vienna and eastern Lower Austria, far fewer have been profaned, but one was handed over only recently.  The new concept for the use of the Augustinerkirche in Klosterneuburg includes gastronomy, commerce, living, working, art, culture and open spaces.  Sounds contemporary.

So the question arises whether such conversions could be the future of houses of prayer?  After all, churches in Austria occupy large areas - mostly in prime locations.

Gnilsen waves it off: "I don't think so, I'm too much of a Christian for that." Besides, there have always been profanations in history.  At present, the churches are too big but they are nonetheless oases.  "You go in and find yourself," he says.

According to Anna Minta, a church is profaned by a letter from the bishop in charge, in which he pronounces the profanation.  Relics and sacred objects are removed during a farewell mass.

Use of profaned churches

According to the Catholic Press Agency, the Austrian Bishops' Conference, the highest organ of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria, does not have a specific guideline on profanations.  According to reports, the Dioceses follow the German guidelines or a document of the Pontifical Council for Culture from 2018.

This recommends that the conversion be "planned together with the parish".  Moreover, a sale should only be considered as a last resort.  However, according to Fabrizio Capanni, the cultural advisor, the guidelines are not binding; the final responsibility lies with the respective bishop.

Incidentally, Minta knows that Catholic churches prefer to be passed on to Christian congregations. For this, the Church does not have to be desecrated.  It would be different with concert halls, museums or libraries.  However, this also raises the question of reconstruction.

Many churches are protected monuments, which means that only additions that can be dismantled are allowed.  This also applies to restaurants.  In principle, the architectural historian could well imagine that.  After all, restaurants are places where people come together.

"Radical conversions that contradict Christian social teachings, such as a casino or a brothel, are more difficult.  The church is then in a dilemma.  After the sale, it can no longer determine what happens.  That is why it is currently struggling with concepts to obtain a say in the use of the building.

"Churches are a document of time"

"The church landscape will change greatly and many places of worship will be given up," Minta, an architectural historian, is convinced.  It is important to question whether a church is seen as a place of faith or as an art-historical document.  Because: "All churches are a document of their time."

While Gothic, Baroque and historicist buildings are preserved simply because they are listed, the "concrete sheds" built from 1945 onwards are endangered.  At that time, the church had tried to position itself in the new era with new materials and spatial concepts.

Initiatives could also make church spaces more attractive, Minta said.  They would already offer space for contemporary art and secular panel discussions.  Then there would also be no need to drive around the cross with the church and profane the building.

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