Press Releases
Saints of the Americas Celebrated in Peoria
Saints of the Americas Celebrated in Peoria
By Jack Wintz, O. F. M.
About a year ago, Sacred Heart Church in downtown Peoria, Illinois, reopened its doors after an 11-month renovation that dramatically changed its artistic appearance. Amazingly, almost everybody likes the new look.
Perhaps the most magnificent and unique features of the new church is the 29 [...]
St. Benedict’s Gives Church Fresh Anniversary Look
St. Benedict’s Gives Church Fresh Anniversary Look
By Stephen O’Kane
JOHNS CREEK – It was only four months ago that the interior of St. Benedict Church did not look much like a sanctuary at all. Extensive scaffolding had replaced the pews and the usual colorful decor of the church was swapped for bare walls and floors.
On Saturday, [...]
Rescuing, Restoring, Recirculating
Resucing, Restoring, Recirculating
ATLANTA – Rick Lair is a man on a mission. He drives 100,000 miles a year, buying, selling and delivering religious artifacts, in his quest to make sure they find the appropriate new home.
For more than a decade, his business, King Richard’s Religious Artifacts, has helped churches, schools, convents, hospitals and monasteries in [...]
Disposing of Catholic Sacred Articles on Ebay
Dispoing of Catholic Sacred Articles on Ebay
By Hugh McNichol
As a Catholic Church, we need to be quite sensitive about the disposition of sacred articles that are no longer being used in our parishes.
A trend developing is finding Catholic sacred articles on places such as E-Bay or other online salvage sites. The real problem with [...]
Glorious renewal of God’s house
Glorious renewal of God’s house
By Ann Carey
After decades of sparseness, new church construction and renovations reconnect with symbols and styles of the past
When the Second Vatican Council closed in 1965, a new liturgical movement swept the country that stressed the function of a church over its design. Accordingly, many of the churches built after Vatican [...]
Artifacts from St. John Cantius in Northampton serving new purpo
Artifacts from St. John Cantius in Northampton serving new purposes
By Chad Cain
NORTHAMPTON – St. John Cantius parish may have closed more than two years ago, but its spirit lives on via religious artifacts that have found homes in other Catholic churches, some of them hundreds of miles away.
An altar was removed Tuesday and hoisted onto [...]
New baptismal font dedicated at St. Mary’s Assumption
New baptismal font dedicated at St. Mary’s Assumption
By Beth Donze
On Dec. 2, Redemptorist Father Richard Thibodeau, pastor of St. Mary’s Assumption Church, blessed a new baptismal font commissioned by anonymous donors and crafted in Italy. The font mirrors the 1858 church’s German baroque style and incorporates numerous elements of its architecture. For example, the Carrera [...]
A church is reborn in Peoria
A church is reborn in Peoria
By Toni Cashnelli
The view from the choir loft at the renovated Sacred Heart Church.
Photo by Rick Lair
The goal of the renovation of Sacred Heart was a simple one:
“Fr. Larry wanted to make it look like a church again,” says Rick Lair, whose company, King Richard’s Religious Artifacts, played a major [...]
New altar arrives from overseas
New altar arrives from overseas
By Jerry Buxton
Sewerd — The waiting was over at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday. Father Rene Guesnier expected the new altar for St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church to arrive around 9:30, so it was not very late.
The new white marble altar arrived in a Ryder truck, brought all the way from King Richard’s [...]
Catholic treasures … returned to Catholic Churches!
Catholic treasures … returned to Catholic Churches!
As a Catholic Church, we need to be quite sensitive about the disposition of sacred articles that are no longer being used in our parishes. A trend developing is finding Catholic sacred articles on places such as E-Bay or other online salvage sites. The real problem with these sites [...]
Building a church … lets buy back our Catholic heritage!
Building a church … lets buy back our Catholic heritage!
A marble Angel of the Lord (1 of 2 angels)salvaged from the former Saint Aloysius Church in Philadelphia, being held hostage by King Richard’s Religious Antiques.Throughout the United States, there was a terrible practice of designing our Catholic Churches as “multi-purpose “buildings. Often such a designation [...]
Diocesan feast day chosen
Diocesan feast day chosen
By Dan McWilliams
Visitors to the Chancery office in Knoxville now have a tangible reminder of the newly designated diocesan feast day.
Workers in late August installed next to the front doors of the building a marble statue of the Blessed Virgin presenting the baby Jesus to the world. Inscribed beneath the statue [...]
St. Joseph in Charleston prepares for renovation of Pews
St. Joseph in Charleston Prepares for Renovation of Pews
By Amy Wise Taylor – The Catholic Miscellany
Charleston – St. Joseph Church will begin some long-planned interior renovations in July.
Father Gabriel J. Smith, pastor, said they are taking out their old pews and installing new ones. The process is expected to take about six weeks, but hinges [...]
Annunciation Parish transforms school into church
Annunciation Parish transforms school into church
By Terry Dickson
KILN – From the outside, Annunciation School resembles your typical school building.
However, take one step inside and you will hardly believe your eyes at the transformation that has occurred, as what once was an average, run of the mill gymnasium has become a beautiful worship space for Annunciation [...]
When Churches Close
When Churches Close
By Joseph Pronechan
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — When some churches were closed and their interiors sold, confessionals with donor plaques still on them turned up as telephone booths in an eatery. Donors’ relatives were understandably upset.
While objects from dismantled churches still appear on eBay and at antique dealers to some degree, most fine religious art, [...]
Stained glass
Stained glass “a way of sharing the faith”
By Leslie Renken
No one knows who made the first stained glass windows. Some of the earliest examples date to the first century, A.D.
And while the materials have improved since then, the tools used by stained glass artists have changed very little.
“We had an artist once who told me [...]
Recycled church artifacts become financial blessing
Recycled church artifacts become financial blessing
By Richard Robbins
Looking for a new processional cross for the chapel at the Geibel Junior-Senior High School, the Rev. Bob Lubic discovered a treasure trove of significant religious items, including stained glass windows, altar furnishings and a tabernacle.
“I was thrilled,” Lubic said. As school chaplain, Lubic has spearheaded the renovation [...]
All Souls Dedicates New Church
All Souls Dedicates New Church
By Betty Ann Weber
Sanford’s All Souls Church was 121 years in the making. On August 15th, parishioners honored that past and celebrated their future by dedicated a new church building for the historic parish. History records a trio of churches in Sanford bearing the name of All Souls. The first [...]
As City Parishes Close, Their Artifacts Find new Life in the Sub
As City Parishes Close, Their Artifacts Find New Life in the Suburbs
By Michael Alison Chandler
For the first 20 years of his life, The Rev. William P. Saunders recited the Lord’s Prayer in a church intended to be a Catholic school gymnasium. Although surrounded by cold, cinder-block walls, he found solace in the hand-carved crucifix and [...]