WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO GOD’S HOUSE

As bishop Fulton J. Sheen warned architecture is a reflection of a philosophy of life. The basic philosophy of the contemporary world is materialism, or the denial of the spirit. If there is no world above that which can be seen, touched and scientifically analyzed, then there never can be ornamentation, for ornamentation is symbolism or the communication of the non-material through the material. Ornamentation would imply there is another world beyond this. But then contemporary church architecture is not about the world beyond this one.

We don’t build houses for God anymore. We erect “Worship Environments” which are perfect reflections of the Godlessness of our times.



Suppose you had a choice, where would you go for Mass?
To the house of God?

or to the House of Man?

Compare the “Sacred Spaces” on the left to the “Worship Environments” on the right:




The three primary elements of the church building are verticality, permanence, and iconography. None of our contemporary churches meet those criteria. As buildings go they may not be particularly ugly; in fact some would make great conference centers, theaters or law courts. But they are ill suited for church. Canon Law defines church building as “a sacred building destined for divine worship." There is nothing about God or worshipping God or about holiness in these “Worship Environments”. Without exception every contemporary church fails to reflect God or our Faith. What do they symbolize? Sometimes they symbolize man, but most often nothing. When faith in the spiritual is lost architecture has nothing to express or to symbolize.

Ugh the ugly ones! From the hideous, to the banal, these come from the nightmare of some “architect”, but mostly from the limited vision of building committees.






But building hideous new churches wasn't enough. Wreckovation committees took care of the rest. Notice how out of place and jarring the modern elements are in these traditional environments. These are the visual reminders that modernism has been at war with Catholic tradition. It has no respect... it seems to say we have taken over... what used to be no longer matters. But the charlatans who have done this to God's house have done more than just wreck our churches! They have helped to reinvent the Catholic Faith. Because what was done to the churches has also been done to the liturgy and to the Faith.

as it was as it is





Now meet Church Wreckovator Fr Richard Vosko


Fr Richard Vosko “…has been making a comfortable living for the past 29 years, traveling the United States and Canada—parish by parish—promoting his liturgical indoctrination program for the renovation of traditional Catholic churches as well as for the design of new Catholic churches.

He bills himself as a "Designer and Consultant for Worship Environments," and teaches in a Chicago-based training program for the certification of new consultants.”

Except Fr. Vosko is no architect: article

In fact all Fr. Vosko has to offer is an agenda, which is "Re-imagining the Environment for Worship". He wrote a book about it. It has a telling title: ‘God's House is Our House’. (emphasis mine) Here is another six page expose on Fr Vosko.

Read Fr. Michael S. Rose:

Church Building - The Highest Form Of Architecture
Taking A Tour Of The House Of God
Revival Afoot: Traditional Sacred Architecture