People who walk inside the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Conewago, just outside Hanover in Adams County, are encountering and being moved to prayer by many historic 19th-century treasures of Catholic art on its ceilings and walls that have not been seen in generations.
The unexpected discovery of these treasures, and the in-depth restoration work to return them to pristine condition, has led to Preservation Pennsylvania naming the Basilica as a recipient of their Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Award, to be bestowed on October 16 at an event in Pittsburgh.
“The building is entirely painted over, all this incredible artwork and these frescoes on the walls and ceilings and supporting decoration,” said David Riccio, the president of John Canning, Jr. Historic Preservation and Restoration and Canning Liturgical Arts, who did the restoration work.
“Church should make you think of Heaven, because that’s where we’re heading,” said Father Dwight Schlaline, the pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“You share why beauty strikes people and why it moves them, to loving and worshiping God,” he said.
Worship on that site began in 1730 when the Jesuits established Conewago Chapel. The first stone church was built on the site in 1787.
Much of the artwork within the basilica comes from artist Franz Stecher, an Austrian who was commissioned to create numerous faith-centered works of art in his final years before he passed away in 1853 at the age of 39.
“He did most of the work,” said Father Schlaline. “The Last Supper painting was Stecher. Most of the Trinity images, that’s Stecher. The St. Francis Xavier image is him. A lot of his artwork is what this project has restored, what he had done here.”
Incredibly, six decades of worshipers never had the chance to see much of Stecher’s work, as a majority of it was covered up. Father Schlaline said Canning’s restoration began with the Sacred Heart painting, the painting of the death of St. Francis Xavier, and the Assumption painting, “I asked, ‘What do we do about the rest of the building? I see plaster coming off the walls. What can we do?’” Father Schlaline said. “They said, ‘What do you want to do?’ I said, ‘I’d like to fix it.’ They said, ‘Why don’t you restore what’s underneath that painting, the paint that’s on there?’”
“The entire room was painted over. All the original decoration, all the original artwork was completely overpainted,” Riccio explained. “Unfortunately, that is common in America where we just obliterate beautiful artwork in antiquity.”
Riccio and his team undid what those crews had done in the 1960s to cover the original artwork.
“We were able to miraculously peel back layers of paint and find, in many areas, pretty pristine decorative painting that we could salvage and put back on display. When you look in the sanctuary proper, all those walls are original decoration. Even the gold leaf. We were able to peel that off, clean it and do repairs,” said Riccio.
“Same thing with the ceiling. It was completely overpainted, a wonderful painting of the adoration of the Eucharist with all these angels surrounding it – 100% painted over. We peeled that back and repaired it.”
He said they also restored the initial Stations of the Cross, which had oak frames that were placed in storage with damage caused by water, termites, rodents and field animals.
“Father showed them to me one day and asked, ‘Is it possible that these can be restored?’ Absolutely,” said Riccio.
“There’s a lot of missing pieces that had to be hand-carved by our wood conservator who’s from Milan, Italy. It’s so seamlessly integrated that they look just like these wonderful historic Stations.”
Riccio said that in 50 years, the studio had never been able to do the kind of work they did at the Basilica.
“The time isn’t permitted. The technical issues are not possible to achieve. And the funding is often not available,” he said.
“Working with Father Schlaline, in presenting these ideas, he immediately said, ‘We can actually bring back the original. This is incredible. Let’s do it.’ Father got a consensus from the parishioners that they would want to raise money, and I’m so grateful they took our advice and went for it. If it costs more money, it was on me. It was on my company, and I will run the risk.”
The risk has brought reward – and award – for what Riccio believes to be one of the most comprehensive church restorations in America in recent years, and one that Father Schlaline says has restored a greater sense of pride in the church and a greater sense of worship.
“People are lifted up by this art, recovering and restoring what was there and what our ancestors left us in such incredible beauty and with such incredible hard work,” he said.
“So when you focus on making it beautiful and especially in our case, restoring the beauty that was there, you’re sending a message, you’re sending a vibe out there. You give your best to God.”
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of seven Diocesan pilgrimage sites designated for the Jubilee Year. The 2025 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards will be presented at Carrie Blast Furnaces in Pittsburgh on Thursday, October 16.
(Jay Sorgi is a freelance reporter for The Catholic Witness. Photos courtesy of John Canning, Jr. Historic Preservation and Restoration and Canning Liturgical Arts.)
By Jay Sorgi, The Catholic Witness
