1. Modern churches

2. Sacral structures are not only acts of man's religiousness, but an expression of many factors, dependent on the place and time of their erection. Temples are cultural phenomena that integrate tradition with modernity. Further discussion of this issue in relation to the architecture of Catholic churches leads to the recognition of three - distinguishing - complementary attributes of this nature: duality, universalism, continuity. They constitute a specific character of modern Catholic churches - and enable their identification out of diverse sacral structures of other Christian creeds as well as their comprasion with the architecture of different religions. The duality of the Catholic churches architecture stems from the interwining elements of matter and transcendetalism found in their space - the reality of profanum with the reality of sacrum.Such ontological dualism is embedded in the archetypes of worship sites, determining the shape of the evolution of the sacral architecture of Christianity and setting its place in modern-postmodernist-cultural conditions. The universalism of the Catholic churches architecture is rooted in the essence of the message that Christianity has brought into our civilization. This is expressed by symbolic meanings attributed to the elements of the spatial structure of churches: the foundations, walls, pillars, roofs, spires and the light - which is the metaphysical creator of architecture. In the intricate mosaic of diverse concepts of the churches erected in the last half a century - starting with examples inspired by modernism, through structures built directly before the Second Vatican Council's reforms, to the temples erected at the turn of the millenium - it is difficult to indicate leading tendencies, not to mention more coherent stylistic trends. Their common features may only be detected from the perspective given by the perception of modern churches as integral elements of our cultural space. Excerpt from the article published in the journal: Zeszyty Naukowe. Architektura / Politechnika Śląska autor - J. Rabiej, Department of Architectural Design and Fine Arts, SilesianUniversity of Technology

3. Hallgrimskirkja church - Iceland

4. Saint-Pierre de Firminy Church Firminy, Rhône-Alps region, France Designer: Le Corbusier

5. Jubilee Church Dio Padre Misericordioso in Rome, Italy has a very dramaticarchitectural formconsisting of three concrete shells reminiscent of the sails of a ship.

6. Parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Mother of the Church Bialystok, Poland

7. Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Kluczbork; Poland

8. Church of Our Lady of Victory - Bydgoszcz, Poland

9. Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow-Lagiewniki, Poland

10. Modern church architecture - Maramures; Romania

11. Church of St. Jadwiga the Queen Wrzesnia, Poland

12. Church of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs - Bydgoszcz, Poland

13. Modern church of the Virgin Mother of the Church in Tczew, Poland

14. Church of the Holy Spirit - Wroclaw, Poland

15. Modern church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the Czech Republic in Chuchelná.

16. Modern church architecture – Opusztaszer; Hungary

17. Church of Saint Francis of Assisi - Wroclaw, Poland

18. Church of the Good Shepherd - Lublin, Poland

19. Church of Sts. Bogumil - Gniezno, Poland

20. Church of Sts. Roch Bialystok, Poland

21. Church of Sts. Roch - Bialystok, Poland

22. Church of Sts. Roch - Bialystok, Poland

23. St. Nicholas – Burnage; England

24. Church of Christ, Hope of the World, Donau City; Vienna; Austria

25. Church of Christ, Hope of the World, Donau City; Vienna; Austria

26. Church of Sts.Joseph the Worker and St. Barbara in Zgorzelec, Poland

28. St. Mary's Cathedral – Dome, San Francisco,USA

29. St. Mary's Cathedral – Tokyo; Japan

30. St. Mary's Cathedral – Tokyo; Japan

31. Heviz modern church; Hungary

32. Church of Our Lady Queen of the World in Radom, Poland

33. Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Grajewo, Polandbr />

34. Parish Church of the Holy Spirit in Debica, Poland

35. Church of Sts. Lawrence Wroclaw, Poland

36. Church of Sts. Lawrence Wroclaw, Poland

37. Temple at Viikki in the eastern part of Helsinki, Finland.

38. Church of the Sacred Heart - Munich, Germany One Building inside the another building - a real church is located inside the housing,beyond the hugegate

40. Church of the Sacred Heart - Munich, Germany

41. Divine Providence Church in StalowaWola, Poland

42. TemppeliaukioKirkko – Helsinki; Finland

43. Church of the Ascension on Ursynow, Warsaw, Poland The simplicity of the form goes together with significant symbolism.The cross just above the main entrancecreates evocative gates to the house of prayer.

44. Church of Christ the Redeemerin Czechowice-Dziedzice,Poland

45. Church of the Holy Cross in Debica, Poland

46. Orthodox church of Holy AugustinKazotic Zagreb, Pešćenica, Croatia

48. Church of Christ the King - Wroclaw, Poland

49. Cerkiew Świętej Trójcy w Hajnówce, Polska

50. Church of Divine Providence- Wroclaw, Poland

52. The 12-story Cathedral of Christ the Light along Lake Merritt in the downtown section of Oakland, Calif.

53. A Light-Filled Cathedral Radiates Hope

55. Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Wladyslawowo, Poland

56. Parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace - Wroclaw, Poland

58. The end Music - W. A. Mozart; Concerto no 21 in C Illustrations - taken from an accessible websites Presentationmade by - Anna