Inside the Basilica Cardinale, with the light of two suns shining through the windows. Curiously, outside the front door of the church it’s raining.

I spent recent lunch hours investigating how much of a Catholic presence there is in Second Life. There’s not a lot. A search for “Catholic” places yields only ten results, some of which I’m staying far away from.¹ A search for “Catholic” groups finds twenty-eight, some of which are not the least bit religious. Some do appear to be sincere, though, and one or two might be worth joining if I had more time, e.g., The Catholic Tolkien. Still, I’m more than a little leery of such organizations as Fr. Simoni’s “Second Life Catholic Church,” whose charter advertises Mass, Confession and sloppy proofreading.

During my investigations, I took numerous snapshots. Here’s a selection.

Catholica is the most-visited Catholic location. It features five churches, a Stations of the Cross, some shrines and a gift shop featuring authentic Catholic kitsch:

Cardinal Sin’s² Basilica Cardinale also has wares to sell:

The most impressive site, from a model-building perspective at least, is St. Benedict’s Monastery:

The Church of the Holy Cross, a Byzantine-rite site, is under construction. Notice that it really is out in the middle of nowhere:

Here’s St. Robert Cathedral:

For German-speakers, here’s Kirche St. Sixtus:

The Campivallensis Catholic Meditation Center isn’t really my kind of place, even if it does include a treehouse:

1. Here’s what turns up when you search for “jesuit” places (warning: offensive). (The Society of Jesus may be well-intentioned, though.) ↩
2. I presume the name is just a joke.↩

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