US AMBASSADOR Philip Goldberg and architect Tina Paterno with Recollect friars

Corrosion due to 300 water leaks is eating up the San Sebastian Church in Manila, the only all-steel church in the Philippines and one of only a very few in the world.

A P4.3 million scientific study in support of the restoration and conservation of the church located in Quiapo, Manila, has concluded that the gothic structure is suffering from heavy corrosion as a result of extensive and severe water infiltration, said architect Tina Paterno, executive director of the San Sebastian Basilica Conservation and Development Foundation.

Although destroyed by the earthquake of 1880, the church under the care of the Augustinian Recollects was declared a minor basilica in 1890 by Pope Leo XIII. This was the year when the prefabricated steel sections were shipped from Europe to Manila so that the Recollects were able to erect the all-steel gothic structure, said to be the only all-steel structure in Asia. The new church was consecrated the following year.

Designed by the Spanish architect Genaro Palacios, who was supposedly inspired by the gothic cathedral of Burgos, Spain, the conceptualizing of the steel structure reportedly also had the participation of Gustav Eiffel, builder of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Like a shipwreck

In a press conference held at the church itself, Paterno placed the cost to check the corrosion, restore the structure, and conserve its liturgical art and other appurtenances at upwards of P100 million.

A US$97,000 grant by the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) funded the technical study.

As the only all-steel building in the Philippines, and one of just a handful of all-steel churches in the world, the San Sebastian Basilica in Manila, is an engineering marvel, said US Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg.

I am proud that the United States Embassy was able to support the first phase of the restoration of this amazing structure, he added.

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Rust corroding all-steel San Sebastian Church

Faith Community Church's newly constructed building near the corner of El Fuerte and Poinsettia Lane in Carlsbad.

CARLSBAD Faith Community Church is holding an opening service Sunday in its newly constructed building near the corner of El Fuerte and Poinsettia Lane in Carlsbad.

The 18,000-square foot sanctuary with 250 seats was completed this month and includes a childrens wing.

The congregation broke ground on the church last March and construction began shortly after.

At a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Carlsbad Chamber on Thursday, Pastor Doug Baker briefly recapped the history of the church over the last 18 years, including its numerous moves up the coast, renting facilities from Del Mar to Encinitas before finally landing in Carlsbad and building their own campus debt free.

A ribbon cutting for Community Faith Church's new building was Thursday at 2700 Rancho Pancho in Carlsbad.

Faith Community Church formed in November 1996 as a coastal offshoot of Emmanuel Faith Community Church of Escondido, with the mission of Reaching the Coast for Christ.

The church first held services at The Del Mar Hilton, then at Ada Harris Elementary School in Cardiff and later at the Encinitas Community Center. Over the past year, the congregation gathered at Bressi Ranch Clubhouse, Boys & Girls Club in Carlsbad.

Were a non-denominational Christian church where everyone is welcome, said Justin Windham, associate pastor of Outreach & Discipleship. We look forward to serving the community in any way we can.

Sunday services are 10:30 a.m. at 2700 Rancho Pancho, Carlsbad.

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New church opens in Carlsbad

Church of Our Lady of Peace To Serve Christian Community of Sharm El-Sheikh New York, February 20, 2015 (Zenit.org) Oliver Maksan | 927 hits

"The Church in Egypt has been strengthened by the murder of our brothers in Libya." Such was the reaction by Coptic Catholic Bishop Youssef Aboul-Kheir of Sohag to the beheading of 21 Orthodox Coptic men in Libya by ISIS.

The guest workers in Libya "suffered a holy death with prayers on their lips. They went to their deaths just like the early Christians, the bishop said in an interview with Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need.

As fate would have it, ISIS released a gruesome video of the executions on the very day,

Feb. 15, 2015, that Egypts Catholic Coptic Church celebrated the consecration of the first ever church in Sinai, in the community of Sharm El-Sheikh, Our Lady of Peacea name chosen by Susanne Mubarak, wife of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Mrs. Mubarak, who was educated by Catholic nuns, ensured that construction of the church could proceed after years of delay and opposition by local political leadership.

This is a great day of joy for Catholics in Egypt, the local ordinary, Coptic Catholic Bishop Makarios Tewfik of Ismailia, said at the consecration ceremony. We have a number of places of worship in Sinaia famous tourist destination where hundreds of hotels line the coast known for its spectacular coral reefbut these are chapels or even just rooms in normal houses. The church of Our Lady of Peace is the first proper church building that was built for the sole purpose of worshiping God, he said.

Father Bolos Garas, the local pastor will celebrate three services in the church every Sunday. I am a Coptic Catholic priest. However, there are very few Coptic Catholics here, just a handful of families. Most of our faithful are tourists or foreign workers. For this reason, I not only celebrate Sunday Mass according to my Churchs rites, but also according to the Roman rites, in both Italian and English, he said. The English-language service will primarily cater to Filipinos, guest workers in the local hotel industry, while a sizeable community of Italian retirees who spend winters in Sharm El-Sheikh will hear Mass in their own language.

Patriarch Ibrahim I Sidrak, head of the 200,000-member strong Egyptian Coptic Catholic church, presided over the consecration ceremony.

Meanwhile the brutal killing of the 21 men hangs like a cloud over Egypts Christian community, which already faces home grown Islamic extremism "I am afraid of the Salafists in the country, said Bishop Aboul-Kheir, who added that they speak with forked tongues. The Muslim Brotherhood is opposed to society anyway. So there exists an internal danger in Egypt itself." Egypts Christian leaders are concerned that extremists may be voted into power during upcoming parliamentary elections.

The new Parliament should ensure that Christians will finally be able to live as equal citizens," the bishop said, stressing that, among other rights, religious liberty for all should guarantee the freedom to construct new churches. The prelate called on the countrys Muslim community to choose moderation. Its highest theological and intellectual forum, he said, the Al-Azhar University, is regarded as a moderate force. However, he continued, there are many aspects of the institutions teachings and programs that are anything but moderate. For example, the use of force in cases that are considered apostasy by Muslimsincluding their conversion to Christianityis justified. This contradicts moderate views.

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In Wake of ISIS Horror, Egyptian Christians Consecrate First-Ever Church in Sinai

It is known as The Cathedral of the Marches and attracts 65,000 visitors from all over the world every year.

And when the Ven Colin Williams got the chance to become rector of St Laurences Church in Ludlow five years ago, it wasnt a hard decision to make.

I knew Ludlow a little bit because I used to live in Liverpool, and that was just about near enough for me to get to for walks across the Long Mynd, he says.

So when I saw this job advertised, I thought it seemed ideal.

St Laurences, which has stood in the market town for 800 years, is one of the greatest parish churches in Britain.

In 1999 it became one of just 18 churches to be given a five-star rating in Simon Jenkins acclaimed book Englands Thousand Best Churches.

It is also the 13th most popular free visitor attraction in the whole of the West Midlands.

We get people from most of the countries in the world, and we also get visitors from all over the UK, he says.

I think places like Canada and the US are where the largest number come from, but we also get quite a few from Western Europe.

Mr Williams, who worked as a solicitor before training as a priest in the early 1980s, says it is both daunting and rewarding being responsible for such an important part of English history.

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St Laurences Church in Ludlow - the Cathedral of the Marches

Rochester, NY (PRWEB) February 19, 2015

Tailored Lighting, makers of SoLux natural daylight sources, was commissioned to illuminate new icons painted by Tom Clark in the Holy Spirit Greek Orthodox Church located in Rochester, NY.

In 1998, the parish entered the present location, the former South Avenue Baptist Church. Construction of an iconostasis and the placement of icons in the altar area transformed the sanctuary into a home of Orthodox prayer and worship. An icon (from Greek eikn "image") is generally a flat panel painting depicting Jesus, Mary, saints and angels.

Peter Los, of Holy Spirit contacted Kevin McGuire, President of Tailored Lighting and inventor of SoLux, to re-light the church after installing SoLux lighting in his own home. "The lighting in our church is fabulous. It really brings the best out of the icons on the walls...The icon of Christ with the gold leaf around it looks great - before it was completely in the shadow." James Palis another parishioner involved in the re-lighting of the church commented, "I think the lighting is an incredible enhancement to the iconography and the ability to dim (the lighting) was essential to the Lenten and Holy Week services."

Tailored Lighting also used SoLux lighting in the church to demonstrate a unique lighting technique. SoLux lights illuminated the stained glass windows still preserved from their baptist beginnings from inside the church and the resulting images were observed by passersby on the city streets of Rochester. According to Kevin McGuire, "SoLux lighting provides a presentation of stained glass surpassed only by natural daylight. By lighting the stained glass from inside the church with SoLux, the community can share in the beauty the parishioners see. Perhaps as more churches incorporate what I call the "communification" of their church by installing SoLux to illuminate artwork, both inside and out, more people will want to enter these welcoming doors of faith."

SoLux is a patented light source sold by Tailored Lighting Inc., Rochester, New York, 14624. SoLux provides an unparalleled replication of natural daylight. Use of SoLux in many of the world's top museums including the van Gogh, Musee d'Orsay, MoMA, and Guggenheim is testament to its unmatched color quality and safety. SoLux also has eight times the life and twice the efficiency of standard incandescent sources and is dimmable. For more information visit http://www.solux.net or call (800-254-4487).

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Iconic Church Artwork Illuminated by SoLux Natural Daylight Light Bulbs

Photo: Facebook/TB Joshua Ministries

TB Joshua. The influential Nigerian preacher is under fire for the collapse of a six-storey guesthouse in his church compound in September 2014.

A court in Nigeria has ruled against TB Joshua and the Synagogue Church of All Nations following successive delays in their case against the Lagos Coroner's Court.

Joshua filed suit in November last year, alleging that Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe of the Coroner's Court had exceeded his jurisdiction by repeatedly summoning the influential pastor to appear and testify as part of an investigation into the September 12, 2014 collapse of a guest house at his church complex that killed more than 100 people.

According toSahara Reporters, the church had also filed a similar suit in the Federal High Court in Lagos but it was dismissed.

According to Information Nigeria, Ikeja High Court Judge Lateefa Okunnu fined TB Joshua and the Church N25,000 (around $125, 81) for further delaying the proceedings of the suit.

Vanguardreported that Joshua's counsel, Prince Lateef Fagbemi told the court that Magistrate Komolafe was only limited to "(determining) the cause of death and identify the body (or bodies) of the deceased" as, mandated by the Sections 32 and 33 of the Lagos State Coroner's Law 2007, but had in addition to this been hearing evidence on the building's construction.

The Lagos State Government defended Magistrate Komolofe, stating that the Coroner's Court can investigate the causes of the deaths that it examines. It said that the Magistrate "has all the powers of a magistrate to summon and compel the attendance of witnesses" as part of its investigation. The State then moved to have the case dismissed.

The case had been adjourned and was due to resume hearing on Tuesday, but Fagbemi filed a motion and a consolidated Reply on Points of Law on Monday shortly before. The Lagos State Government's legal team requested another adjournment to examine the new applications.

Information Nigeria reports that Justice Okunnu then levied the fine against the church for instigating the delays, noting that the case was repeatedly adjourned upon request of TB Joshua and the church. She then told them to file an affidavit of compliance before the case resumes hearing on Friday.

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Court fines TB Joshua for delaying proceedings after church complex collapse

Published on February 17, 2015

The bell from St. Marys Polish Church, which was destroyed by fire late last year, is now half-buried by snow. Church officials hope to begin the rebuilding process by this summer.

Laura Jean Grant - Cape Breton Post

Published on January 12, 2014

Tom Urbaniak

Published on December 31, 2014

In the midst of the horror of the fire at the St. Mary's Polish Church parishioners were overwhelmed with hope at the site of the sign in front of the church that had some how escaped the flames. The sign was saved and is said to be a part of plans to rebuild.

Greg McNeil - Cape Breton Post

Published on December 31, 2014

Many parishioners from the St. Mary's Polish Parish came out the afternoon of the fire that destroyed their church. All showed varying elements of grief as evident by this image that shows one woman consoling another who was overcome with sadness at the site of the fire.

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St. Mary's Polish Parish taking steps toward rebuild

INDIANAPOLIS | A philosophical dispute at the Statehouse over the role of the free market in setting pay rates for public construction projects could soon translate into smaller paychecks for thousands of Indiana building trades workers.

The Republican-controlled House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 8-4 on party lines Tuesday for House Bill 1019, which eliminates the common construction wage used for state and local government building projects worth more than $350,000.

State Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, the sponsor of the measure, believes it is wrong to have five-person boards made up of union and nonunion contractors, along with two local taxpayers decide how much each position on a public construction job should be paid.

"In my view, this sets up an artificial wage and I just think it's better for us to go to the free market," Torr said. "If the committee set a higher wage rate, then the workers on the job benefit but the taxpayers don't."

Torr estimated, based on the savings realized in other states that eliminated their prevailing wage laws, Indiana local governments could spend between 10-20 percent less by ditching the common construction wage.

"When we have local governments concerned about the property tax caps trying to save every dime they can and school districts clamoring for more money for public education, it would seem to make sense for us to go to the free market and let folks bid and have the best at the lowest price," Torr said.

Jason Horwitz, a public policy consultant at the Anderson Economic Group of Michigan, told the committee the total savings statewide likely only would be about $50 million, or 6 percent, and possibly less because Indiana already has such a high threshold for projects to use the common construction wage.

Nevertheless, Republican city councilmen from Fort Wayne and Terre Haute, and representatives from the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Builders and Contractors trade association insisted it still is worth eliminating a system the state and local governments have used since 1935.

"Government should not be in the business of fixing prices and mandating wages," said J.R. Gaylor, president of ABC of Indiana and Kentucky. "The market should be the solution to that."

In response, nearly two dozen building contractors, representing billions of dollars in annual projects, each told the committee they want the common construction wage preserved.

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House panel OKs repeal of common construction wage

SHENANDOAH Demolition of a century-old church building that housed a convent and an archival center for a possible future saint began last week.

Workers began taking down the three-story building that was constructed as a convent and rectory during the leadership of the Rev. John Dobrowski, who became pastor of St. Casimir Church on Nov. 29, 1912.

From the time of its construction, the convent was the Shenandoah home of the Bernardine Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis and was being used as such until last year when structural problems caused the sisters to leave.

The half of the building closest to the church that had served as the parish rectory was the Ciszek Center, the headquarters of the Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League, which was formed in 1985 to promote the cause for canonization of Ciszek, a Shenandoah native who was a prisoner in the Soviet Union for 23 years. The cause officially began in 1989 five years after Ciszeks death in the Ruthenian Byzantine Eparchy of Passaic. After the retirement of the Most Rev. Michael J. Dudick as bishop, the cause moved to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown in 1998 through the support of the Most Rev. Thoma J. Welsh, bishop. It was after the diocesan change that the headquarters was moved from Sugarloaf to Shenandoah.

The cause for canonization is currently being reviewed in the Vatican.

In addition to memorabilia of the life of Ciszek, the building also held a Perpetual Adoration chapel. The prayer leagues board president is Monsignor Ronald C. Bocian, pastor of Divine Mercy Church in Shenandoah, with St. Casimir Church as a worship center. Attempts to contact Bocian for information on the demolition were not successful.

Prayer league board member Elaine Cusat said the league is in transition with its location due to the need to move.

Were projecting well be getting ready with a new center in the spring, Cusat said.

The new center will be located in the former Annunciation BVM Church rectory on the 200 block of West Cherry Street near Divine Mercy Church and Trinity Academy.

The Bernardine sisters have moved into the former St. Stephen Church rectory, which is now called the Father Ciszek Convent, 18 E. Oak St., Shenandoah. The convent is also the temporary mailing address for the prayer league.

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Structural problems force demolition of church building in Shenandoah

ST. JOHN the Baptist Church, which was built by Franciscan missionaries during the Spanish colonial period, in Camalig, Albay, has been declared a historical landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. MICHAEL B. JAUCIAN

Imelda Moraleda has bound her life and faith to the massive stone church built by Franciscan missionaries during the Spanish colonial period in the 1800s in Camalig town in Albay province.

The church is indeed a very old church that provided us refuge during the war, says Moraleda, 84, who goes regularly to the St. John the Baptist Church, which was recently declared a historical landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).

Describing the place of worship as God-given, she recalls that during World War II in 1942-1945, it sheltered town residents during the Japanese occupation and when the Americans came to liberate the country.

She was a teenager then during the war years and was asked to play the piano during the daily Mass, while Japanese soldiers watched the parishioners every movement. There was no way to escape the garrison of the Japanese soldiers, which was just located at the back of St. John the Baptist Church, she remembers.

The NHCPs board of commissioners approved the declaration of the church as a historical landmark after noting its significant contributions to Camaligs history.

The marker is very educational on the part of the tourists as it will give them an idea of how Christianity started, said the agencys executive director, Ludovico Badoy, who attended the unveiling ceremony on Dec. 14, 2014.

The Franciscan missionaries administered the church for over 400 years, from 1579-1983, according to the marker. Originally, it existed as a structure of wood and nipa from 1579 to 1580.

The second church was made from stone by prisoners in 1605. It was, however, destroyed by successive eruptions of Mayon Volcano from 1766 to 1814.

Strongest in region

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Old church a testament of history, faith