New Perspectives For The Reuse Of Catholic Churches In Europe: From A Common Problem To A Common Good

The redundancy of places of worship is emerging in Western Europe as a crucial challenge in the field of law and religion in the coming decades. With 600,000 places of worship scattered throughout Europe, it is easy to understand the impact on different religious and civil communities. Examining three traditionally Catholic countries, namely Belgium, France and Italy, the issue presents itself as a common problem, albeit in various stages of seriousness and addressed in different ways. Because of secularisation, of the reduction in the number of priests and the demographic crisis, buildings intended for Catholic worship are less and less used. The comparison shows three elements which influence the legal instruments for the management and reuse of these assets, namely: 1) the system of relations between state and religious denominations 2) the regime of ownership, public or private, of places of worship 3) the legislation on cultural heritage. However, two trends can be distinguished, one towards the privatisation of ownership, the other towards its valorisation as a common good. The latter perspective seems to be in line with both the Catholic magisterium on subsidiarity and the Council of Europe’s Faro Convention, which emphasises the role of communities in preserving cultural heritage.