Prakfalvi Endre: Roman Catholic Churches in Unified Budapest - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2003)

The Parish Church of St. Anthony and Franciscan Monastery, 1934

■ The main fapade from the eait

out by the fact that "its world-view embraces the architectural modernity that gives expression to the spirit of contemporary life". The fundamental mission of a Catholic church is the offering of sacrifice to God and the spreading of His word—services performed at the altar and the pulpit—and it is these functions that the architectural frame is meant to serve. His views were shared by the theologian Antal Somogyi, who argued in the columns of Tér éi forma (Space and Form, 1934) that, "there is not a single detail in the whole church which would be alien to the essence of the faith. Quite the contrary—what the believers see here was all born of the ancient spirit of Catholicism. We are all very happy with this church. What we cannot understand is how anyone could denounce this art as destructive."

Rimanóczy needed all the support he could get. As was reported in the daily papers (Az Sót, Pe&ti Hírlap; 14 and 15 October 1933) even the laying of the foundation stone for this allegedly Bolshevik-Soviet-style building had been postponed, and the municipal department whose jurisdiction extended to the case had forced the designer to alter the original concept, and that in spite of the fact that the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Art had found the designs of superior quality and in agreement with all liturgical regulations. The choice of style had

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