After the large neo-Gothic church dating from 1907 had been completely destroyed by the severe front-line battles of 1944-45, a new place of worship was erected in 1953. When you look at the parish church from outside, you immediately recognise the influence of Italian architecture: first, for example, the campanile or free-standing bell tower, the many small round-arched windows in the facade and the tower and, at the main entrance, the large arcades with small arcades above them (a design which reminds of ancient Roman aqueducts).
The giant stone sculpture above the main entrance, which depicts the church patron John the Baptist, was chiselled on location from a single piece of stone.
The large wall painting in the chancel depicts Christ, crucified, on Mount Calvary. Mary, his mother, and the disciple John stand beneath the cross. However, this picture is also a depiction of the Last Judgement: on the right of the cross, the people who have done good (among them Pope Pius XII), and on the left, the powers of evil: war, national socialism (led by a warlord on horseback) and communism. This picture is a reference from the post-war era, from the time of the Cold War.
All the ceramic works in the interior of the church (way of the cross, side altars, main altar, preaching stool, tabernacle, font, candelabras for the Easter candles) are early works by the young Belgian artist André Pirlot.
The church windows were made according to designs by the Raeren artist André Blank. It was his intention that those who came to the church should be led out of the darkness and into the light by the play of light and colours. That is why the windows get lighter and lighter the further you proceed into the church.
