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The Italian group's church is the second of its kind after the inflatable church designed in Britain in 2003 for creating novelty weddings. (Google photo) |
CAIRO — In its tireless effort to reach out to the young, an Italian Catholic youth organization is using creative ideas, including an inflatable church that can be set up anywhere, including on the beach.
"We want to offer a sacred place where young people in search of God will find a welcome, wherever they happen to be," Father Andrea Brugnoli, head of the Sentinels of the Morning organization, told The Times on Monday, July 28.
The blow-up church, which comes complete with an altar, an apse and a confessional, is 30-meter long and 15-meter wide.
It takes only five minutes to inflate using compressed air and is open to air, with no roof or spire.
The inflatable church went on display to the public on Sunday, July 27, in the island of Sardinia.
The youth group, formed in 2000 with the blessing of late Pope John Paul II, organized the first service at the church on a beach at Cagliari, the Sardinian capital.
Father Brugnoli said the church had cost tens of thousands of euros but would "prove its worth as an investment."
This is not the world’s first inflatable church to be designed.
In 2003, another blow-up church was produced by British entrepreneur Michael Gill, but it was dedicated for creating novelty weddings.
Criticism
Brugnoli described the inflatable bouncy church as "a place of prayer, where we can worship the Most Holy together."
He added that since young people tended to stay on the beach late at night, services would be held until three or four in the morning.
Monsignor Giuseppe Mani, the Archbishop of Cagliari, visited the unusual church and supported the idea.
But not everyone agrees.
"A church is a place of awe, it is the house of God and the door to Heaven," ran one critical posting on the Cagliari diocesan website.
Opponents said that it was offensive to erect a church in the midst of sun loungers, beach umbrellas and men and women in "various stages of undress."
If sunbathers wanted to worship, they should "get dressed, leave the beach and go to a proper church," another posting on the diocesan website wrote.
The youth Christian group, however, is unnerved.
"Some say the next step will be inflatable Christians. But we are not put off," said Father Brugnoli.
"We believe we have done a beautiful thing, which we hope will please the Lord.
"There is no copyright on faith."
Organizers said the inflatable church would make its next appearance at resorts on the Adriatic coast.
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