How Do Churches Get Their Names?
Tech bites on the church...enjoy... =)
How does a parish decide what to name the church? How was a name decided for a local church, say, 100 years ago?
Canon law is minimal on the naming of churches. Canon #1218 says only that each church is to have its own title which cannot be changed after its dedication. Commentaries then direct the reader to the current liturgical books which are more explicit on the titles of churches and are to be followed.
The Ritual for the Dedication of a Church states that every church to be dedicated must have a titular. This titular may be the Blessed Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ invoked according to a mystery of his life or a title already accepted in the liturgy, the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Virgin Mary (likewise invoked according to some appellation already accepted in the liturgy), one of the angels or a saint inscribed in the Roman Martyrology or in a duly approved appendix (to the martyrology). A blessed may not be a titular without an indult from the apostolic see.
The ritual also indicates a church may have only one titular unless it is a question of saints who are listed together in the calendar of observances (for example, Cosmas and Damian, Peter and Paul). The ritual then gives to the bishop the responsibility of dedicating to God new churches built in his diocese.
The chancellor of the archdiocese in which I live tells me that, from a canonical point of view, the bishop alone has the authority to establish a parish. Part of the act of establishing a parish would include the dedication of that parish to God under a particular title. It is, therefore, the bishop who has the final say about the name of a new church. In practice, I am told, the bishop sometimes asks the founding pastor to recommend a name. In this instance, I would surmise that the pastor may sometimes consult the members of the new parish on a patron or title.
But sometimes the bishop has his own list of favorite names. Or he may want to be sure names are not duplicated. And it may be that someone who contributes greatly to the building of a church requests that it be dedicated under a particular title.
It's hard to say how particular churches came to be titled in the course of history. But the chancellor reminded me that after the definition of the Immaculate Conception (in 1854) many churches were named for Mary under this title. I'm sure the same was true of the dogma of the Assumption (an ancient dogma solemnly defined in 1950). And often enough after a new saint is canonized a church will be named for that saint, for example, St. Elizabeth Seton or St. John Neumann.
When religious orders build churches, those churches may well be named for their founders or saints of their order.
In some ways naming a church is like naming a baby--lots of people can get into the act.
How does a parish decide what to name the church? How was a name decided for a local church, say, 100 years ago?
Canon law is minimal on the naming of churches. Canon #1218 says only that each church is to have its own title which cannot be changed after its dedication. Commentaries then direct the reader to the current liturgical books which are more explicit on the titles of churches and are to be followed.
The Ritual for the Dedication of a Church states that every church to be dedicated must have a titular. This titular may be the Blessed Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ invoked according to a mystery of his life or a title already accepted in the liturgy, the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Virgin Mary (likewise invoked according to some appellation already accepted in the liturgy), one of the angels or a saint inscribed in the Roman Martyrology or in a duly approved appendix (to the martyrology). A blessed may not be a titular without an indult from the apostolic see.
The ritual also indicates a church may have only one titular unless it is a question of saints who are listed together in the calendar of observances (for example, Cosmas and Damian, Peter and Paul). The ritual then gives to the bishop the responsibility of dedicating to God new churches built in his diocese.
The chancellor of the archdiocese in which I live tells me that, from a canonical point of view, the bishop alone has the authority to establish a parish. Part of the act of establishing a parish would include the dedication of that parish to God under a particular title. It is, therefore, the bishop who has the final say about the name of a new church. In practice, I am told, the bishop sometimes asks the founding pastor to recommend a name. In this instance, I would surmise that the pastor may sometimes consult the members of the new parish on a patron or title.
But sometimes the bishop has his own list of favorite names. Or he may want to be sure names are not duplicated. And it may be that someone who contributes greatly to the building of a church requests that it be dedicated under a particular title.
It's hard to say how particular churches came to be titled in the course of history. But the chancellor reminded me that after the definition of the Immaculate Conception (in 1854) many churches were named for Mary under this title. I'm sure the same was true of the dogma of the Assumption (an ancient dogma solemnly defined in 1950). And often enough after a new saint is canonized a church will be named for that saint, for example, St. Elizabeth Seton or St. John Neumann.
When religious orders build churches, those churches may well be named for their founders or saints of their order.
In some ways naming a church is like naming a baby--lots of people can get into the act.
posted by See Tho Zhang Jacob at
11:25 PM
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