NEW CHURCHES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 May 1938, Page 5

NEW CHURCHES

OVER A HUNDRED IN SIX YEARS. CONSTRUCTION AROUND PARIS. One hundred and two churches have been built around Paris in less than six years, and Cardinal Verdier, Archbishop of Paris, will go down in history as the “building Cardinal.” Seven years ago Cardinal Verdier, seeking means to relieve unemployment, remembered a report showing that the suburbs of Paris had grown in the last few years to such an extent that there was barely one church for every ten thousand inhabitants. Architects were called in, and Cardinal Verdier became perhaps the busiest man in France. Three months later sixty sites had been chosen in the vicinity of Paris, and before the end of the first year men were busy digging the foundations. A first appeal for funds was made to Parisians, and within a month twenty million francs had been collected. This sum lasted a little over a year. Everywhere walls were going up and churches taking shape. But what would happen when the funds ran out? Everyone except Cardinal Verdier worried. A second appeal brought in over ten million francs. After this he and his principal assistants decided to preach every Sunday in all the Paris churches in favour of the great scheme. This brought in, and still brings in, an averange of a million francs a year. Finally Cardinal Verdier issued a loan for twenty million francs, and it was covered in less than four hours. Thanks to these efforts Paris and its suburbs now have at least one church for every three thousand inhabitants. In the building of the churches no distinction was made in religious or political belief or nationality of the workmen. In the case of architects it was felt that a religious restriction had naturally to be imposed, and only Roman catholics were employed. Encouragement was given to young, often quite unknown architects, some of whom had not even built a cottage but who had promising ideas. They were given a free hand, as were modern decorators and painters and sculptors. The work of these hundred and two church is too hew yet to be fully appreciated, but it will prove a great contribution to architecture and may well lead to a new style. For the first time architects have taken advantage of new possibilities offered by reinforced concrete, and certain bold experiments have already attracted considerable attention in the world of architecture. Some of the architects have refused to be inspired by the past or even to follow conventional lines in building churches. In more than one case, the whole spire icpiesents a huge, solitary figure of Christ or the Virgin Mary.

In interior decoration, many beautiful effects have been obtained, and modern stained glass windows of striking beauty are to be seen. One of the most interesting innovations is bas-reliefs in cement. The artist has to work at great speed on the wet cement before it can dry, and must complete every square yard in two hours. The most modern touch in all these hundred and two churches is in that of Dugny, near the Le Bourget airfield, where there is a statue of the Virgin and Infant Jesus, in whose, hands is the model of an airplane.