By Katie Vasquez
As the faithful gather in the Oratory Church of St. Boniface in Downtown Brooklyn, some find they are celebrating midday Mass in the dark.
A veil of shadow covers a corner of the church: construction on a new building next door has blocked the natural light.
“Those three windows there literally right now are completely dark, because behind them is corrugated steel. It looks like a garage door. It’s part of the whole New York City fire code,” explained the administrative vicar at the Oratory Church of St Boniface, Father Anthony Andreassi, CO.
It’s a disappointing sight for people in the pews who regularly admire the view.
“I was a little upset because every church has its art and being part of this church, it made me feel very uncomfortable that there is three windows dark. You cannot see the art at all,” said parishioner, Robert.
“I think it’s a shame you can’t see them, and these over here look so beautiful,” said parishioner, John Baldo.
At one point in time, the church was the tallest building in the neighborhood but now it’s dwarfed by towering skyscrapers.
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It was built in 1872, as German immigrants wanted a parish in that particular part of Brooklyn.
“Many of the stained glass windows in here either have German scripture verses in them or the saints depicted had a particular attachment to German immigrants at that time. Of course, the church is dedicated to Saint Boniface, who was a great missionary who was really English, but he was a monk bishop who brought the faith to Germany,” said Father Andreassi, CO.
There is a light at the end of this tunnel, however: the project next door is on parish land, meaning the church will be able to use the bottom four floors for parish space and Catholic campus ministry.
“We keep reminding them: ‘Just give us a little more time,'” Father Andreassi told Currents News. “There’s a wonderful project that’s happening on the other side of the windows, and then we’re going to be able to bring light back to the windows.”
The church has had conversations with lighting experts about installing backlighting to the windows once construction is completed, in order to make them even more vibrant.