CCC 1179 The worship “in Spirit and in truth”1 of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. The whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. What matters above all is that, when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the “living stones,” gathered to be “built into a spiritual house.”2 For the Body of the risen Christ is the spiritual temple from which the source of living water springs forth: incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit, “we are the temple of the living God.”3
CCC 1180 When the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted,4 Christians construct buildings for divine worship. These visible churches are not simply gathering places but signify and make visible the Church living in this place, the dwelling of God with men reconciled and united in Christ.
1 Jn 4:24.
2 1 Pet 2:4-5.
3 2 Cor 6:16.
4 Cf. DH 4