Churches

A Church is a sacred building that has been consecrated and set aside exclusively for the worship of God, especially the Eucharistic Liturgy and the Sacraments.

The Church is also a sign and symbol of the Universal Church on earth, the Catholic Church:

"Often the Church has also been called the building of God. The Lord Himself compared Himself to the stone which the builders rejected, but which was made into the cornerstone. On this foundation the Church is built by the apostles, and from it the Church receives durability and consolidation. This edifice has many names to describe it: the house of God in which dwells His family; the household of God in the Spirit; the dwelling place of God among men; and, especially, the holy temple. This Temple, symbolized in places of worship built out of stone, is praised by the Holy Fathers and, not without reason, is compared in the liturgy to the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. As living stones we here on earth are built into it. John contemplates this holy city coming down from heaven at the renewal of the world as a bride made ready and adorned for her husband." - Vatican II, Lumen gentium, 6