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Differences between Catholic and Protestant church buildings

 
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roger.pape
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Joined: 17 Mar 2009
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Location: Liverpool, NY

PostPosted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 2:57 pm    Post subject: Differences between Catholic and Protestant church buildings Reply with quote

On one of my relatives' trips to Germany, the following question was posed to the tour group. "How can one tell the difference between a Catholic and a Protestant church building?" The answer given by the tour guide was that a Catholic church has a cross on the steeple whereas a Protestant church has a rooster.

While this answer is not completely accurate, the predominant number of churches with roosters on their steeples are Protestant. (There are some Catholic churches with roosters, such as St. Vitus' Cathedral in Prague.)

Why a rooster or cock? The most common reason given is that it is a reminder of Peter's denial of Christ just before the crucifixion. Many people claim that Protestant churches in Europe used the rooster symbol on their steeple to distinguish themselves from the Catholic churches. There is no known documentation to indicate that any particular parish used this as a reason, but it is often repeated in the folklore. Others claim that it was used simply as a weathervane. In any event, the practice was continued on a number of churches as they copied the designs of older churches.

As you know, the majority of Protestant churches also have crosses on their steeples. So a better answer to the question would be the following. "If the church has a rooster on its steeple, it is more likely to be Protestant. If it has a cross, it could be either Catholic or Protestant."
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