On April 2, the National Catholic Reporter published an article titled, “A Latin Mass community moved in. Then wrecked a historic Vatican II altar.” The accompanying photo shows a forlorn seventy-one-year-old parishioner at Cleveland’s St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church examining one of the pieces of a wooden altar which appears to have been taken apart and placed in a storage room. The only thing missing is the man looking into the camera with a tear rolling down his face.
According to the Reporter, the altar had been “built by a priest and once used by a cardinal who’s on the path to canonization” and was damaged after the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest—which exclusively celebrates the Latin Mass—came to the parish at the invitation of Cleveland’s bishop.
Forgive the spit take, but the irony here could be cut with a knife. It seems the story’s author, who graduated from college in 1978, has a short memory—seeing as how throughout the 1970s, stunningly beautiful and historic high altar pieces were suddenly removed from churches, particularly in the U.S., in the wake of the so-called “Spirit of Vatican II.”
In fact, you may recall—and the reporter who wrote this article should certainly recall—that following the global promulgation of the reformed liturgy in 1969, many bishops and priests took the first opportunity to strip historic churches’ sanctuaries of these high altars, some over a century old. They couldn’t wait to do it despite the fact that bishops and priests who were already canonized had used these altars. These beautiful gifts to God were often replaced by altars resembling wooden tables placed in the middle of the sanctuary, while intricate frescoes were covered over with white paint and cloth banners hung in place of sacred images. I can only imagine what some of those parishioners thought as they walked into Mass that first Sunday after the “renovation.”
Some have actually referred to this post-Vatican II time period as a “wreckovation,” and looking at selections of before and after photos, it’s hard to argue. Meanwhile, the accompanying article back then (the article could be written today, even) might have had a line in it like, “This altar was built by the hands of immigrants and paid for with the meager wages of the poor. Canonized saints celebrated Mass there. But now it’s in pieces and headed for the landfill.” (Adding to the irony, NCR’s article references the 1892 establishment of St. Elizabeth by Hungarian immigrants.)
Damaging or destroying sacred artifacts—especially a consecrated altar, provided it was not de-consecrated by the Church—should never be condoned. It’s not for me to say, but perhaps the Institute should even apologize to St. Elizabeth’s parishioners. To decry such treatment of a 56-year-old “historic Vatican II altar,” however, as if it was done simply because of its association with the Council is disingenuous and, at best, historically ignorant. At worst, it’s just one more dose of propaganda from the typically selective National Catholic Reporter.