Touching Moment:
Pallotti Church is Dedicated

Provincial Father Helmut Scharler Celebrates Final Mass on February 6

It will be a moving moment for Rheinbach and the Pallottiners: On Saturday, February 6, 2021, at 11:30 AM, the Pallotti Church will be dedicated. A sacred space will be transformed into a secular building. A final mass will be held with the Provincial of the Pallottiners, Father Helmut Scharler, who will subsequently dedicate the church.

The Vincent Pallotti Church in Rheinbach is a true child of 1968. The foundation stone for this modern tent church was laid in 1968, just a few years after the Second Vatican Council, reflecting the spirit of renewal in the Catholic Church. It was consecrated in 1971. Now this consecration will be reversed, and the building will be returned to its secular purpose and dedicated, as it is referred to in theological terms. After that, the church will no longer be a sacred building, even though it will still appear as a church from the outside.

In 2017, the first Pallotti Church on German soil, located in Stuttgart-Birkach, was dedicated by Bishop Gebhard Fürst of Rottenburg, which belonged to the parish of St. John XXIII. Now, on February 6 at 11:30 AM, Provincial Father Helmut Scharler will celebrate the last service in the Pallotti Church in Rheinbach.

Relics to Be Removed from the Altar

After some welcoming words, the relics will be removed from the altar, the eternal light extinguished, and the tabernacle containing the Most Holy Sacrament and the figures of saints will be carried outside in a silent procession. The inventory of the church will later be used in various sacred locations: The statue of Mary will go to Cameroon, while the altar, pews, and organ will find a new home in Pristina, Kosovo. The steel cross above the altar and the tabernacle will be sent to Nigeria, where the Pallottiners will build a youth house.

This step has become necessary because the provincial assembly definitively decided in 2017 to abandon the Pallottiners’ location in Rheinbach. Since the Archdiocese of Cologne rejected the transfer of the church to the parish of St. Martin and the Pallottiners will no longer be present, the dedication is unavoidable. A “floating” church does not exist, as church law mandates dedication in this case. The building is the work of Düsseldorf architect Alois Möhring and was the center of the Vincent Pallotti College in Rheinbach.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, only about 60 participants will be able to attend this moving moment. Present will be the Pallottine brothers, the house staff, the local group of the Association of the Catholic Apostolate (Unio/UAC), and honored guests from the city and the parish. A small choir will musically accompany the celebration with the organ.

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The video of the dedication mass will also be available on the following websites after the conclusion of the service:
www.pallottiner.org
www.katholische-kirche-rheinbach.de/
www.youtube.com/channel/UC9hpDlNE3vbalRcion1KDDg

 

Report & Image: Alexander Schweda

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