By Fr. Thom Hennen
Question Box
Q: Can Catholic church buildings be renamed? What happens if a church is severely damaged or destroyed by fire or natural disaster?
Canon 1218 in the Code of Canon Law states: “Each church is to have its own title which cannot be changed after the church has been dedicated.”
Therefore, a pastor or even a bishop could not simply decide that a church building which was dedicated, for example, to St. Polycarp would now be called “St. Hedwig” because he happens to like St. Hedwig or because of a rise in popular devotion to that saint. (By the way, those are real and wonderful saints, if not among the most popular choices for confirmation names).
Renaming parishes is a different matter. Canonically, parishes are comprised of specific geographic areas. While people live and belong wherever they would like these days, these parish “zones” still exist. In fact, the Diocese of Davenport has recently been working on an updated map of all of our parish boundaries. This does not prevent someone from attending and registering in whatever parish they like, but it does give us a better sense of our “neighborhood” when it comes to our evangelization efforts.
While the name of a parish and a church building associated with it are usually the same, this need not be the case. As we have seen more consolidations of parishes in recent years, we have also seen several renamed parishes in the Diocese of Davenport: Divine Mercy Parish of Burlington-West Burlington; Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace Parish of Clinton; Holy Family Parish of Fort Madison; Ss. Mary & Mathias Parish of Muscatine; Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish of Lost Nation and Holy Family Parish of Riverside (Riverside, Wellman and Richmond).
Most recently, the parishes in Ottumwa (St. Mary of the Visitation and St. Patrick) are planning to merge and have chosen the name St. Joseph Parish. Ultimately, the naming of the parish is up to the bishop but, typically, the people are consulted.
In all of these cases a new parish entity is created but the individual church buildings retain their names. In the case of the Clinton parish, a new church was built.
Choosing names such as “Holy Family” or “Holy Trinity” when several parishes merge, rather than choosing one of the saints for whom the churches were named, may seem an easier choice. It avoids the appearance of “winners” and “losers” in the consolidation. Having said that, we have a wealth of newly canonized saints in the past few decades. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have new or consolidated parishes named for Ss. Louis and Zelie Martin (St. Therese of Lisieux’ parents), St. John Paul II, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Katherine Drexel, St. Josephine Bakhita, or soon-to-be St. Carlos Acutis?
What about those churches that are no longer usable due to deterioration or disaster? In those cases, when a new church is built to replace an existing church, the church may be renamed.
Not very many people know that our first cathedral was named for St. Margaret of Scotland, as this was the church chosen as the cathedral by our first bishop, Bishop John McMullen in 1881. When the parish outgrew that space, it was decided to build the new cathedral next door and to name it for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was an increasingly popular devotion at the time. Rome allowed for the name change but insisted upon a St. Margaret Chapel, in honor of the original church building and first cathedral on the site.
In the end, what’s in a name? Would not a church by any other name be as beautiful?
(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and vicar general for the Diocese of Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)
