Liturgical Designer Rolf Rohn recently completed a master plan for the restoration of the historic Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Manhattan. This comprehensive plan encompassed interior decoration, sacred art, new and restored statuary, and liturgical furniture. His vision extended underground, reviving the tradition of Christian burial in the catacombs with the introduction of columbaria, as featured in the New York Times.
Columbaria are respectful structures with niches for placing the cremated remains of loved ones in urns or other approved containers. These structures can be situated outdoors or within a mausoleum. Rohn designed an environment harmonizing with the upper cathedral area, adding niches around existing family crypts to increase the number of potential interments and enhance the Basilica's revenue opportunities. The project will be completed with comprehensive landscaping of the exterior cemetery grounds, including additional columbaria nestled between the crypts of bishops, priests, and others buried there in the 1800s.
Today, there is a growing interest in this type of interment among more parishes as they contemplate their future. The concept of Christian burial has evolved, now embracing cremation. Rolf's extensive travels in South America, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and the Philippines have shown him how even the poorest parishes benefit from columbaria beneath and around their churches. These structures provide a living endowment for maintaining church properties while uniting generations of families within the dioceses.
Creating these sacred resting spaces requires a professional who adheres to rules for settings, artwork, codes, and aesthetics, with careful consideration of costs, timelines for growth, and the distribution of funding, endowments, and maintenance. Rolf has developed and will be implementing an interment concept for St. John Neumann Catholic Churchin Austin, TX, and has designed and executed one for the Northside Catholic Cemetery in Pittsburgh, PA.
If you are interested in learning how columbaria can help secure your parish's future, please reach out to us for a free consultation.
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