Tag Archives: Catholic

Church made of snow and ice opens in Germany

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Church made of snow and ice opens in Germany | The Sideshow – Yahoo! News.

After weeks of preparation, the people of Mitterfirmiansreut, Germany, have opened a small Catholic church built entirely of snow and ice.

The snow church is part of a long-tradition in Mitterfirmiansreut dating back more than 100 years. The ritual harks back to when town authorities denied a formal request from residents to open their own traditional house of worship. So the petitioners decided instead to erect  a church out of nothing but snow and ice.

“It was meant as an act of provocation,” Catholic Church Dean Kajetan Steinbeisser told ABC News. “Believers from the village got together and built a snow church because they didn’t have a church here.”

The ice sculpture reportedly cost more than $200,000 to create and was delayed for several weeks by unseasonably warm weather. Thousands of visitors are expected to visit the mini-cathedral before it begins to melt away.

The structure–nicknamed “God’s Igloo”–was made with 49,000 cubic feet of snow. It’s roughly 65 feet in length, and even has a tower.

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Religion in Wyoming’s history

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Religion in Wyoming’s history.

Over the past two centuries, Wyoming has undergone an enormous amount of religious change. From the religions of the many Native American tribes who lived in this land to Protestant and Catholic missionaries and settlers, to Mormons and to Chinese Buddhists and Daoists, the people living in Wyoming have adhered to and been influenced by many different religious views and practices.

A new book by long-time Wyoming resident and pastor Warren Murphy brings together into one narrative the stories of religious activity in Wyoming with the state’s history for the first time. This work, “On Sacred Ground: A Religious and Spiritual History of Wyoming,” is written for a popular audience and begins with the first endeavors of Christian missionaries and continues to current religious developments.

There are many stories here about many religions, religious organizations and their representatives, too many even to mention here. But I want to focus a single feature to which Murphy frequently returns, namely, the alternating fortunes of Protestantism and Catholicism in Wyoming.

Today, even the most casual tourist to Wyoming knows that Father Pierre Jean De Smet conducted the first Catholic Mass in 1840; it is carefully labeled on the state’s official road map near Pinedale. It is less well-known that the first Protestant service took place nearby five years earlier in 1835. The Congregationalist minister Samuel Parker, along with his Presbyterian associate Dr. Marcus Whitman, preached to both the mountain men and the Indians gathered there at a rendezvous.

Why is De Smet’s mass so well remembered and Parker’s services not? Perhaps because Parker did not stay in Wyoming; at the end of that summer, he continued on to present-day Washington state. Even though Whitman went back east to find more missionaries for the Western frontier, when he returned with them in 1836, they too journeyed on to the Northwest. Other Protestant missionaries did the same in 1837 and 1838.

So when De Smet arrived in 1840, there were no Christian missionaries in Wyoming. De Smet by contrast remained in the area for more than a decade and led Catholics missions among the Indians. In fact, when the U.S. government called the tribes together for the Treaty of 1851, they requested De Smet’s presence to help with the negotiations.

The years 1867 to 1869 caused a major change in Wyoming’s character. The railroad was built across the southern part of the territory, the federal government officially designated Wyoming as a territory, and the reservation system was established for the Native Americans.

Now the tables shifted. In 1871, the Board of Indian Commissioners met to assign different denominations to supervise the reservations. Even though De Smet was assigned to the commission, the Catholic Church received responsibility for only four reservations while the Protestants acquired the other 38. The Episcopal Church alone received seven, including the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.

The railroad brought many new settlers of European descent to Wyoming and the white population increased significantly. The missionary boards shifted their emphasis to this growing immigrant populace. Presbyterian minister Sheldon Jackson founded new churches in Cheyenne, Laramie and Rawlins in 1869. The Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians and Congregationalists were also active. Cheyenne’s St Mark’s Episcopal Church, begun in 1869, became the first church building erected in Wyoming.

By 1890, 43 church buildings had been erected in Wyoming, most along the train line paralleling the state’s southern border, but several were built in the state’s northern areas. Even though most of these churches were Protestant, a census taken at the time indicates that the vast majority of declared church members identified themselves as Catholics, some 8,453 people, while second place went to the Methodists with just 1,322. The Episcopalians were third with a mere 467.

Despite this, the 13,000 church members made up only a fifth of Wyoming’s population. Nearly 80 percent of Wyoming’s citizens were unchurched.

By the 21st century, these figures have shifted somewhat. The recent American Religious Landscape survey indicates about 50 percent of Wyoming citizens follow Protestant beliefs, about 25 percent adhere to Catholic beliefs, and 5 percent to Mormon beliefs. But 20 percent of the state’s citizens still indicate “none of the above” when asked about their religious orientation.

So the 20th century brought about a significant increase in Christian beliefs, both in real numbers and in percentage terms, a development described in Murphy’s book. But Wyomingites still reveal a high percentage of people unassociated with formal religion.

Note: This column is indebted to Warren Murphy’s book, “On Sacred Ground: A Religious and Spiritual History of Wyoming,” 2011; available through Amazon.com.

Flesher is director of UW’s Religious Studies Program. Past columns and more information about the program can be found on the Web at http://www.uwyo.edu/relstds. To comment on this column, visit http://religion-today.blogspot.com.

Wyoming churches prepare for Catholic Mass changes

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Wyoming churches prepare for Catholic Mass changes.

Wyoming churches prepare for Catholic Mass changes

LANDER — There are words and responses in the Catholic Mass that even those who venture into a church but once or twice a year know by heart.

The priests greets the congregation: The Lord be with you.

The parishioners respond: And also with you.

Except starting Sunday, for the first time in decades, the response will differ.

The Lord be with you.

And with your spirit.

The changes are happening internationally. They reflect a more literal translation of the church’s original writings in Latin, said Peter Kwasniewski, professor of theology at Wyoming Catholic College in Lander.

It’s the same Mass that has been celebrated since the 1970s, Kwasniewski said. The difference is the translation is now more accurate.

At the college, where students take a minimum of two years of Latin, the transition to the new wording has offered class discussions on translations and the meaning of the words originally written in Latin.

“What we’re aware of is that the new translation is much more accurate,” Kwasniewski said.

The changes are long overdue, he said.

“When there is a book for worship, it seems what we pray should be in meaning as close as possible to the actual book,” he said.

Before Catholics receive communion they say: Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

As of Sunday the response will be: Lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

This reflects back to Luke Chapter 7 in the Bible, when someone actually says, “Lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof …” Kwasniewski said.

The church created the current translation in the 1970s with the idea that keeping the language common and simple would make the service more easily understood, Kwasniewski said.

But language used to worship should be different than the way we talk to friends in social settings, he said. Worshiping should involve more elevated words and phrases to reflect its importance.

“God is not easily understood,” Kwasniewski said. “He’s a mystery.”

The looser translation also changed the meaning of some phrases, he said.

In the middle of the Mass there is the phrase: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of power and might.

The new translation Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts, actually means something else, Kwasniewski said

Changing the greeting at the beginning of Mass — and with your spirit — reflects the Catholic belief that the priest is empowered, Kwasniewski said.

The changes have meant additional work for Wyoming priests, who have spent months studying the new translation and working to prepare churchgoers, said Rob Spaulding, associate pastor at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Cheyenne.

Even though the changes are small and subtle, Mass is going to sound different to people, he said.

“The reality is, that because you are dealing with people’s faith and prayer life, anything you do is going to have a strong response,” Spaulding said.

Some parishioners are excited, while others are worried it’s more important to understand the prayers, and the new wording will make that harder.

Spaulding, and other priests in the church, are charged with helping people understand the new translation. For several months, he and several priests, all ordained within the past five years, have met regularly and talked about all of the changes. It has brought them back to critically thinking about the prayers they say in church, what they mean and why they are included, he said.

“Mass isn’t changing. Our beliefs aren’t changing,” he said. “It’s simply a change in the language.”

Sunday marks the first Sunday of Advent and is considered a new year in the Catholic Church, which is why the date was chosen to change to the new translation, Spaulding said. It begins the preparation for Christmas and a new cycle of readings for Mass.

Preparation for the changes has been under way for awhile throughout the church. Music had to be rewritten, religious education classes revised and new texts ordered. And many churches have been transitioning with a few of the new translations in the weeks leading to the official change.

“We’ve been getting a small dose of it every week,” said Susan Simon, a parishioner and sacramental preparation coordinator at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Cheyenne.

She likes the changes and the idea the words reflect a truer meaning, she said.

Those who attend Mass regularly shouldn’t have a problem easing into the new language. The challenge will be for those who attend only a few times a year, such as at Christmas. Churches are preparing ways to reach out to those who will get their first dose of different responses on Christmas eve.

“Change isn’t always easy for everyone, but I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Simon said. “I think after a few months it will come easily for people.”

One area of Wyoming churches where change is not happening is in the Spanish Masses that several churches around the state offer weekly.

The Spanish translation is true to the original text, said Florante Marcelo, associate pastor at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church in Jackson, who performs the weekly Spanish Mass at the church.

“Not even a single word” is changing, he said.

The changes, while challenging, are beneficial to priests, as well as the church.

“I just realize the value of languages,” he said. “It truly brings you back to the meaning of the reading.”

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