Liturgical conditions of Catholic and Reformed celebrations and their relationships with architectural and acoustic characteristics of churches

Abstract

Liturgical differences between Catholic and Reformed celebrations in Switzerland were studied by a temporal analysis of 16 worships. The importance of speech, music, and silence and the participation of the priest, assembly and organist are analysed. Data from 190 churches show that Reformed churches present a smaller average volume, a denser occupation of space and a shorter reverberation time than Catholic churches. The geometrical and acoustical characteristics of Reformed churches favour speech intelligibility whereas music is advantaged in Catholic churches, which agrees with the observed liturgical differences.