THE TELEGRAPH: The Vatican has expressed alarm over the "immoral" trend for churches to be converted into bars and nightclubs.
The head of the culture department, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravisi, cited a church in Hungary which was deconsecrated and sold off to become a strip club.
"It has now become a nightclub and a stripper performs her finale on the altar each evening," he said.
The archbishop, who is president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said dwindling numbers of worshippers meant some churches had to be sold or even demolished.
"Faced with falling number of worshippers, a phenomenon which we are also unfortunately witnessing in the centre of Rome, churches without any artistic value and which need significant work can be sold or destroyed," he said.
But he said dioceses should exercise "great caution" in ensuring that the buildings were not used for immoral purposes.
The Roman Catholic Church was offering no specific guidelines and each case should be carefully assessed on its own merits, he said. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Friday, November 27, 2009
