John XXIII (Greifensee)
The Roman Catholic Church of John XXIII. is located in the Limi , a historic building in the town of Greifensee . In this church building, the ideas of the Second Vatican Council were implemented in a special way.
history
prehistory
In 1350 the St. Gallus Chapel was built in Greifensee , which was integrated into the eastern corner of the triangular defensive wall of the town and replicates the approximate floor plan of the town in the middle of the 14th century. After the Reformation in Zurich, the St. Gallus Chapel was used as the reformed church in the town. Catholic services were banned in the canton of Zurich until the beginning of the 19th century . The Edict of Tolerance of the Zurich Government Council of September 10, 1807 allowed a Catholic community in Zurich for the first time. The so-called First Zurich Church Law in 1863 recognized the Catholic parishes in Zurich as well as in Winterthur , Dietikon and Rheinau (the last two were traditionally Catholic places). On the basis of association law, Catholic branches could then be established throughout the canton. With the help of support associations such as the Piusverein (founded in 1857) and the Catholic Society for Domestic Missions (founded in 1863), further pastoral care stations and later parishes in the canton of Zurich were established in quick succession in the 1860s: Männedorf (1864), Gattikon-Thalwil / Langnau (1864), Horgen (1865), Pilgersteg-Rüti / Wald (1866), Wald and Bubikon (1873), Uster (1876), Langnau (1877), Rüti (1878), Wädenswil (1881), Bülach (1882) , Wetzikon (1890), Bauma (1894), Adliswil (1894), Pfungen (1895), Dübendorf (1897) and Küsnacht (1901). So it came about that by 1900 there were already 20 Catholic parishes in the canton of Zurich, including the parish of St. Andreas in Uster, from which the parish rectorate Johannes XXIII in the second half of the 20th century. was created in Greifensee.
Theological background and naming
The emergence of the Catholic community in Greifensee is closely linked to the ideas of the Second Vatican Council. As a result of the council , people began to understand Catholic worship as a community event. The altars were rearranged so that the priest no longer read mass in Latin with his back to the congregation , but celebrated the Eucharist together with the people in the respective national language. In order to bring the congregation and the priest closer together, the churches were adapted. B. in the church of St. Franziskus Wollishofen , where the orientation of the church was rotated by 90 degrees in 1973, so that the longitudinal building became a transverse building. When new churches were built, care was taken to implement the theological principles of Vatican II in the design of the church. The Church of John XXIII. in Greifensee is a prime example. For this reason, the congregation also gave itself the name of the Pope who initiated the Second Vatican Council: John XXIII.
Development and construction history
While in other parts of the Zurich Oberland more and more Catholic workers immigrated in the course of industrialization in the 19th century and the establishment of Catholic communities seemed urgent, Greifensee was able to largely maintain its rural character including the long-established Reformed population into the 20th century. In 1930 Greifensee had around 300 inhabitants, of which only 8 were Catholics. However, when building activity started north of the small town of Greifensee from the 1960s, the number of Catholic residents increased from 57 in 1966 to 271 in 1968 and 744 in 1970 to 1216 in 1974. Started with the permission of the pastor of Uster committed Catholics to develop an independent parish life in Greifensee from 1969. From 1969 onwards, religious instruction in Greifensee was organized independently and regular Catholic services were held in the Landenbergsaal . Since there was no money for their own pastor and the parish of Uster had no capacity, the Catholics of Greifensee organized their parish life themselves. In 1974, the Bishop of Chur , Johannes Vonderach , appointed Greifensee parish rectorate and the parish of Uster approved a part-time position for a pastor for Greifensee. Between 1984 and 1985, the Limi was converted into a parish center and church according to plans by the architect Germann.
Together with the parish of Brother Klaus Volketswil and the parish of St. Andreas Uster, the parish rectorate belongs to Johannes XXIII. to the parish of Uster, which with its 15,711 members (as of 2017) is the largest Catholic parish in the canton of Zurich after the parish of Winterthur. The Greifensee Parish Rectorate is responsible for a total of 1,390 Catholics (as of 2017).
Building description
Exterior
Located in the middle of the town of Greifensee, the Limi is only a few meters away from the once Catholic St. Nicholas Chapel, which is now used as a reformed church. From the outside, the former glue boiler with drying tower cannot be seen that inside there is a church with an associated parish center. The two-story building has brick walls, which are plastered on the ground floor, and from the upper floor in its center a wide but stocky tower, which was built in timber frame construction. In the middle of the tower, a wooden cross by Primo Lorenzetti is attached to the facade, which refers to the Christian orientation of the building. On the right side of the Limi you can get into the center through an inconspicuous door.
Interior and artistic equipment
On the ground floor there are various rooms that are used for parish events. A staircase leads to the upper floor, where the church of John XXIII is located. It is a rectangular room with large windows that let daylight into the interior of the church. The middle area of the room has a slightly higher ceiling. Columns carry the weight of the tower. In the center of the room is the altar area, which, however, is not raised from the church floor by any elevation. In this way the equality of priest and community is expressed. As a sign that the Eucharist is the center of the community, the chairs for the worshipers are set up in a semicircle around the altar . The floor, the altar and the ambo are made of different types of wood. This expresses the community's bond with creation. Because the windows are not fitted with stained glass, there is a direct view from inside the church to the outside. The immediate proximity of the Catholic Church to the Reformed Church and Greifensee Castle underscores the community's desire for solidarity with other Christian communities and the willingness to get involved as a Catholic Church in society.
Works of art and their symbolism
The cabinet maker Primo Lorenzetti created with the church Johannes XXIII. a total work of art, the individual elements of which are linked by their symbolism. The holy water font is located in front of the entrance door to the church on the first floor . A metal hemisphere holds a glass bowl in which the holy water is located. Like all other interior elements standing on the floor, this object also consists of two types of wood: the vertical parts are made of elm wood , the horizontal parts are made of ash . In the middle of the front wall hangs an isosceles cross, which is matched by the cross on the facade on the outside wall of the church. On the side of the altar area on the wall there is a quote from the letter to the Galatians (Gal 5, 13): “You are called to freedom - use it for service and love one another.” The altar is a simple wooden table that reflects the communion character of the Eucharist underlines. The construction of the table and all liturgical furniture is based on the square, the circle and the infinite series of numbers pi. The square “is the symbol of the fixed, unchanging and eternal . The circle, on the other hand, is the simplest form of depicting the infinite , the eternal. "
Tabernacle by Primo Lorenzetti
Block inlay on the tabernacle
The negative of the block inlay
Holy water font
Petrified tree slice
On the left side of the altar is the tabernacle , which, like the altar and the two candlesticks, was made by Primo Lorenzetti. The connection between square and circle can also be seen in the tabernacle. The front of the tabernacle consists of a block inlay made of different woods. In the center you can see the trunk of an apple tree from the Zurich Oberland, which symbolizes paradise . A Christ thorn protrudes from above in the middle. Two more Christ thorn rays lead into the outer area of the block inlay. The three Christ thorn rays refer in their trinity to the Trinity and are reminiscent of the meditation image of St. Brother Klaus . The Eternal Light consists of a spherical vessel, which in turn is enclosed by a cube (consisting of six squares). This structure is held in place on the ceiling by metal threads which together form a triangle. “Sphere as a symbol of perfection , of the divine, and the squares of the cube, symbols for the earthly , merge in the eternal.” The materials in the room also have a clear language: Everything that stands on the floor consists of the warm colors of the wood . In contrast, all other room elements are kept in white. This gives the room a character that is rare for Catholic churches: the color white makes the room appear "bright instead of mystical, the wooden elements give the room something mountainous."
In 2012 the congregation acquired a cross of light by the artist Ludger Hinse , which is attached to the wall behind the altar during Advent, Christmas and Easter.
organ
On the back wall of the church there is an organ that can be locked with a cabinet door. It was built by the organ builder Kuhn in 1973.
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- Pairing : I / P
All registers are divided at h 0 / c 1 .
literature
- Episcopal Ordinariate Chur (ed.): Schematism of the Diocese of Chur. Chur 1980.
- Markus Weber: The Catholic community Johannes XXIII. in Greifensee. Study of a special implementation of the Second Vatican Council. Friborg 1996.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Markus Weber: The Catholic community Johannes XXIII. in Greifensee. Pp. 8-10.
- ↑ Bischöfliches Ordinariat Chur (Hrsg.): Schematismus. P. 212.
- ^ Henri Truffer: Association of Roman Catholic Parishes of the City of Zurich. Zurich 1989, p. 192.
- ^ Christian Renfer: Catholic Church Bülach. Pp. 4-5.
- ↑ Markus Weber: The Catholic community Johannes XXIII. in Greifensee. Pp. 5–7 and 9.
- ↑ Markus Weber: The Catholic community Johannes XXIII. in Greifensee. Pp. 11-16 and 33.
- ↑ Catholic Church in the Canton of Zurich (Ed.): Annual Report 2017. p. 84.
- ↑ Markus Weber: The Catholic community Johannes XXIII. in Greifensee. P. 9.
- ↑ Markus Weber: The Catholic community Johannes XXIII. in Greifensee. P. 25.
- ↑ Markus Weber: The Catholic community Johannes XXIII. in Greifense. P. 27.
- ↑ Markus Weber: The Catholic community Johannes XXIII. in Greifensee, p. 28.
Coordinates: 47 ° 21 '54.1 " N , 8 ° 40' 35" E ; CH1903: 693496 / 246,758