The Catholic faith does not remain abstract, but takes concrete form in space and time. The most basic element is the local Eucharistic assembly embedded in a specific place, namely in a church in a parish. However, secularisation is not leaving these structures unscathed. Many countries in Europe and North America are experiencing the merger of parishes and the relegation to profane use of churches. The speaker analyses these phenomena from a canon law perspective. On the one hand, the law provides the ecclesiastical authority with instruments to implement restructuring. On the other hand, it gives the Christian faithful the opportunity to defend their needs, especially the right to assistance from the sacred pastors out of the spiritual goods of the Church, especially the word of God and the sacraments. In a large number of recourse proceedings, individual believers and groups challenged measures taken by the ecclesiastical authority. The speaker examines the judgments issued by the highest ecclesiastical tribunal, the Apostolic Signatura, in cases of parish mergers and the relegation of a church to profane use. Which reasons are sufficient and which are not? Last but not least, this also raises the question of how to deal with the temporal goods. However, given the rather rudimentary provisions in the Code of Canon Law, the tribunal decisions leave considerable leeway. By contrast, the 2020 instruction "The Pastoral Conversion" by the Congregation for the Clergy reveals greater severity. Overall, the topic shows a struggle over space and a contest between lay people and the ecclesiastical authority for new solutions. The speaker, thus, provides a vivid example of the interaction between law and space.