But just when it seemed to us that European church buildings are only relics of the past, we happened, on a Friday evening, by the Cathedral in Verona, Italy. Young people were overflowing this huge church. But the people were not there to be entertained or comfortable. Clearly, they had come to pray, to seek God, and to remember that there is more to life than self and fun. This cathedral was certainly more than a museum.
Churches are important in Europe.
As I wrote this article, we were riding in a train through Southeastern France, The Provence Region, between Lyon, France, and Torino, Italy. At one spot, a church sat alone on a small hill. All the earth around it had been bulldozed away to make way for a new highway. There is no way to get to the church, at least during construction, but the centuries-old church and the graveyard beside it had not been disturbed. Church buildings are sacred because of what they are, what transpires there, and what they represent.