When Brazil's famed Architect Oscar Niemeyer designed the chapel 16 years ago for Belo Horizonte (pop. 650,000), he was inspired by French Poet Paul Claudel's statement: "A church is God's hangar on earth." But to Belo Horizonte's Roman Catholic archbishop, Niemeyer's hangar looked more like the devil's bomb shelter —a parabolic vault of glass and stucco, with an emaciated Christ glaring from a huge fresco by Painter Candido Portinari. Worse, Architect Niemeyer and Painter Portinari were godless Communists. Despite protests by Belo Horizonte's Mayor Juscelino Kubitschek, Archbishop Dom Antonio dos Santos Cabral called the structure "unfit for religious purposes."
Weeds sprang up; the mosaic tiles began to crack and fall; paintings were stored. In time, art lovers persuaded the government to maintain the church as a national monument and "a milestone in modern religious architecture." Still the Catholic Church refused consecration.
Last week the 16-year controversy was finally ended. The old archbishop had gone into virtual retirement; Mayor Kubitschek was President of Brazil; and Architect Niemeyer was an ex-Communist. After a long talk with Brazil's national-monuments chief, Auxiliary Archbishop Dom João Rezende Costa agreed that the church has "great artistic significance and a spiritual atmosphere." Refurbished by Architect Niemeyer, the old chapel was at last consecrated by Archbishop Rezende Costa before an enthusiastic crowd of citizens. Said the archbishop: "Now we can feel the wonderful art created here in homage to the Creator." Said Architect Niemeyer: "Looks good, doesn't it?"