Since its founding in 1905, Catholic Extension Society has helped build and repair more than 13,000 church structures in America. So, we have learned a thing or two over the years about the importance of sacred spaces. The nationwide impact of those efforts can be seen on the map below.
The recent celebration of the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, after its catastrophic fire in 2019, is a powerful example of just how essential sacred spaces are to humanity. Notre Dame has captured the hearts and minds of people of many nations, believers and non-believers alike.
Why? The answer is simple. A sacred space is not a luxury item, but rather a response to a basic human need.
In addition to food, shelter, and clothing, humans naturally crave and require beauty in their lives as a matter of survival. Beauty, which is made accessible to us in sacred spaces, elevates our gaze to see that there is a deeper dimension to our lives than what appears on the surface. Sacred spaces allow us to locate the divine in our midst.
Notre Dame Cathedral’s towering gothic arches invite its visitors to keep looking upward toward greater heights. Its architecture is the perfect metaphor for the transcendent impact that all sacred spaces have on humanity. “Keep your head up!” they tell us.
Beauty must not be reserved for a privileged few, but should be made accessible to all. Especially the poor, marginalized, the suffering and downtrodden. That belief is what drives our mission at Catholic Extension Society.
Pope Francis understands this well, which is why he famously offered the homeless a private tour of the Sistine Chapel, whose famous ceiling is below.
He personally greeted them with these words:
This is everyone’s house. It is your house.”
Everyone needs a place where a veil is lifted between time and eternity—where we can see anew that we live in a world “charged with the grandeur of God,” as the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote.
Sacred spaces are vehicles that take us on a journey to discover the divine that resides all around us and deep within us in the temple of the human heart. And this realization changes our perspective on everything.
And so, we are not surprised that people around the globe are rejoicing that a sacred space called Notre Dame Cathedral is restored to its full beauty.
Our “Notre Dames”
We have that same joy at Catholic Extension Society each time we help build or repair a sacred space among the poor in the poorest regions of our country. We are not necessarily building structures anywhere near the scale of Notre Dame Cathedral. In fact, the structures we help build are often quite simple, architecturally speaking. But the effect of these sacred spaces on the lives of their communities is equal to (if not greater than) that of Notre Dame Cathedral.
Several years ago, we witnessed the crush of people waiting to enter their newly constructed church for the first time in Hidalgo, Texas. Nearly a third of the people live below poverty, and this beautiful church of Sacred Heart, pictured below, stood as a permanent reminder that this was truly “their house” where God’s presence and beauty would dwell among them. No wonder they were giddy as they crossed the threshold for the first time.
We also remember the re-dedication of St. Peter Claver Church in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2023 — a parish founded many years ago by emancipated slaves. They were building a new church to accommodate their growing and diverse community. It would become a beautiful new home to not only its Black Catholic founders, but also its growing Filipino, Korean, and the Congolese communities.
The artwork reflects the beauty and diversity of its people—like the portrait of Our Lady Queen of Angels where Mary is depicted surrounded not by triumphant angelic hosts, but by children of every race, ethnicity and ability, including those with autism and Down syndrome. The artwork in their sacred space is an outward expression of what they conceived to be the most beautiful and blessed.
Every new church that we help build and repair carries this depth of meaning for its people. In other words, every church we build is like another Notre Dame Cathedral. All over this country we have built these “Notre Dames,” which are greeted with elation, tears of joy and songs of praise.
Continuing to build
In this coming year, more sacred spaces (more “Notre Dames”) are set to be re-opened. In one of Oklahoma’s poorest counties, a community of believers at San Juan Diego Mission has been worshipping in a run-down storefront for decades. After years of dreaming and saving their pennies, they are finally ready to construct their own sacred space to call home, with some help from Catholic Extension Society.
Likewise in Wenatchee, Washington, a community of mostly agricultural workers has grown so large that they no longer fit in their 180-seat church. On weekends, when 1,400 people regularly show up for Mass, more people fit outside than inside. So, they must expand their sacred space so that all may enter.
We anticipate supporting 40 more sacred spaces like these in 2025 alone.
Sacred Spaces are a prophetic message to future generations, and a love note to generations passed. They offer us beauty, which is essential to our survival, as they help us transcend a world where there are often-sobering realities. They are where we find our existential bearings amid the twists and turns of life.
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