Wreckovation At It's Best (Worst?)
I'll bet these clowns by-pass Jesus in their prayers, too

From Una Voce. Here's just a bit of the article;

The destruction of beautiful churches has been but one of the devastating results of the post-Vatican II era. High altars, statues, altar rails, and other beautiful ornamentation, are believed, by some, to be outmoded and unnecessary in light of the new reforms. The deception and manipulation of the devoted faithful by certain "experts" follows a numbingly familiar pattern. Construction teams are called in late at night while people are unsuspecting. It is insisted that the 100 year old altars were "unnecessary duplications", and a local church that prides itself on "welcoming, compassion, and openness" shuts its ears to the cries of the faithful as their sacred heritage is destroyed.

If a liturgical rite that was used for nearly 1400 years was nearly abolished, some of this comes as little surprise since there will be little sensitivity shown towards the sacred architecture of the churches built for the ancient liturgy.

(the following is an excerpt from a news report from the TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT Northern Cambria bureau)

NORTHERN CAMBRIA - PENNSYLVANIA, USA Parishioners of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church feel betrayed by what some term a desecration after the church’s nearly century-old altar was ripped out, broken apart and tossed into a Dumpster.

But [Pastor of St John's, Father] Connolly said the altar had not been updated since Vatican II, a meeting of bishops in Rome during the mid-1960s. He said it was a necessary change.

As word started spreading in the tightly knit Catholic community about the altar’s fate, more members came forward. More than a dozen St. John parishioners feel betrayed by Connolly and the diocesan bishop, the Most Rev. Joseph Adamec.

Joe Minarish Jr. joined Wadium and other churchgoers in expressing shock and outrage. But, said Minarish, others have been afraid to speak for fear of retribution from church officials. "They’re afraid they will be excommunicated or refused for burial in a Catholic cemetery," he said.

He said he believed the other 90 percent of parishioners are unhappy with the renovations and have been afraid to say anything until now. Wadium and Minarish said the real sin is the secret manner in which the renovation was decided. "The plans for renovation have been withheld from the parishioners, so that it was impossible to prevail upon the pastor and the bishop to consider an alternative," Benamati said in the letter.

Wadium, Minarish, Biros and another dissenter, Ed Kerchesky, said their requests for information from committee members and the priest went unanswered. "One member of the committee told us be was sworn to secrecy," Kerchesky said. "We asked Father (Connolly) to inform us in the church bulletin, but he never did."

Church member Robert Benamati was chosen by the group to write a letter to Rome outlining their discontent. It said that, "Connolly and the bishop acted in a deceptive manner to needlessly diminish the temporal goods of the parish." The plans for renovation have been withheld from the parishioners, so that it was impossible to prevail upon the pastor and the bishop to consider an alternative," Benamati said in the letter.

After five years of deception and lies by leaders of the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese, our worst fears became reality. On May 27 around 4 p.m., destruction of our sanctuary began at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, Northern Cambria.

Two contractors from C.E. Wood of Altoona appeared out of nowhere.

We-— Joseph Minarish, Helen Biros, Edward Kerchesky and Carol Benamati — parishioners stood there in disbelief at the sight of two workmen in steel-toed boots standing on our beautiful sacred altar. They were ripping, tearing and smashing at our nearly 100-year-old main altar with crowbars, sledge hammers and electric saws.

Alongside stood our parish priest, Rev. Gerard Connolly, TOR, looking on in approval. Gerard asked us to leave. We returned later with other parishioners equally upset at the destruction. Once again, Gerard demanded that we leave or he would call the police. We left.

Gerard went against his word. After leaving the premises of the church, we were standing on Elizabeth Street and the police arrived. The officer informed us that, upon orders from Gerard, we are not permitted to enter the body of the church.

Is Gerard so ashamed of what he is letting the contractors do to the sanctuary of our church that he did not want anyone else to see? The contractors appeared over and over again, in the early morning hours, late evening and after dark, when they were least expected.

The saddest of all is the way our altar was disposed. For over a week, the remains of our consecrated altar lay in a dumpster along with a bag of garbage and two old tires.

Where is the respect for God? Where is the respect for the people who worked so hard and sacrificed so much so that their future generations may know and understand the history of the church? Is this how we are to dispose of sacred objects?

Our sanctuary has now been destroyed and can never be replaced. Like thieves in the night, they came, they destroyed and they left.

Joseph Minarish
Helen Biros
Northern Cambria

(Excerpts from a news story By W. FOURNIER, TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT NORTHERN CAMBRIA BUREAU