By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | Archbishop Thomas Wenski has taped a segment (see above) for the U.S. bishops' Beauty Heals campaign. He taped the segment at Corpus Christi's Chapel-Museum of La Merced in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood.

La Merced, created in the spirit of an old Peruvian church, is the first building of a planned Colonial Florida Cultural Heritage Center to be built on the Corpus Christi campus.

The chapel itself, especially its main altar, recreates the baroque style where "everything is movement," according to Father José Luis Menéndez, pastor of Corpus Christi and an avid collector of Church art and historical documents. Baroque churches invite visitors to "go to the mystery and the presence of God," he said. 

La Merced also houses an impressive collection of Spanish colonial art, featuring works from throughout South and Central America and the islands, particularly the art centers of Cuzco and greater Peru, and Mexico City in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. 

The chapel is currently being used to record the archdiocese's Spanish-language television Masses for shut-ins. It is also the site for the Martha/Mary Concerts series.

The Beauty Heals campaign is a response by the U.S. bishops' Committee on Religious Liberty to the recent vandalism of churches and their sacred art. The campaign gives Catholics the opportunity to bear witness to their hope in the Lord whose beauty is revealed on the Cross.

Beauty Heals invites Catholics - and people of all faiths - to learn about works of devotional art significant to local churches and how they inspire Catholics to live beautifully.

To learn more about La Merced and Father Menéndez's plans for the Colonial Florida Cultural Heritage Center, go to corpuschristimiami.org/culturalcenter.