Words Fail: ‘Sacred Art’ in Austrian Chapel

They must think we’re all idiots…

Words Fail: ‘Sacred Art’ in Austrian Chapel

What you see in the above image is not vandalism. It is much worse.

The red doodling on the walls and the ceiling is the work of Austrian artist Otto Zitko, perpetrated in 2003. He was commissioned to deface the holy space like this, apparently by the pastor.

The location of this frightful abomination is a side chapel, dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle, that is part of St. Andrew’s parish (Sankt Andrä) in Graz, Austria. It lies within the diocese of Graz-Seckau, where “Bishop” Egon Kapellari was in charge at the time this blasphemous work was carried out.

The diocese, now headed by Mr. Wilhelm Krautwaschl, is not even ashamed of this profanation of the sacred. On the contrary, they showcase the “artwork” on their web site as part of a page advertising church tours in the diocese.

More photos of the professionally vandalized side chapel are available at the following web site, which is devoted exclusively to the art at St. Andrew’s parish:

• Andreas-Kapelle (Andrä Kunst)

The explanatory message found on the above-linked page notes that Zitko had been “invited to ‘charge’ the 11-meter-high chapel space with a graphic network, giving it an existentially appealing density.” No doubt there is something incredibly dense about this — although we suspect it is a bit short on appeal, existential or otherwise.

As for the profound meaning of the doodled lines, the page explains: “The color and form of the spatial drawing suggest the association of a blazing fire. The biblical images for this range from the burning bush to the Pentecostal fire that seized the apostles. Fire and the Spirit are synonymous to indicate the presence of God” (translation by DeepL). There you have it — it’s really all very edifying, if you’re gifted and hip enough to understand it. (And you simpletons thought it was just a dumb doodle defacing the sacred! How dare you!)

Here is a view of the ceiling, by the way:

If this is sacred art, one would hate to see the profane kind…

What? You can’t see the burning bush? Or the descent of the Holy Ghost? Or St. Andrew’s fishing net? What is wrong with you?!

The explanatory message concludes: “The pictorial work of Otto Zitko has changed the basic character of St. Andrew’s Chapel.” Now that’s something we can agree on!

But who was the individual who commissioned this garbage back in 2003? Assuming it was the pastor, without whose permission this obviously would never have taken place, then we know it was “Fr.” Hermann Glettler, who was in charge of St. Andrew’s from 1999 to 2016.

Hermann Glettler — if the name sounds familiar, there is a reason for that. In 2017, “Pope” Francis promoted him and appointed him “bishop” of Innsbruck, Austria. In other words, he put the fox in charge of the henhouse.

Glettler is one of the world’s worst, there is no question about it. He is in love with blasphemous and sacrilegious art. Here are some examples of what he is responsible for:

• Despicable “Art” Installation at Austrian Church for Lent
• “Jesus Clock” – Blasphemous Art in Austrian Church
• Novus Ordo Bishop puts Slogan on Cathedral Facade: “As long as God has a Beard, I am a Feminist”

Some people are vying for the hottest place in hell.

The profaned parish church of St. Andrew in Graz has a lot more unholy and “artistic” things to offer (hey, what’s wrong with tic-tac-toe church windows?), but we will leave them for another post, or rather, series of posts. There’s just too much stuff.

For a quick preview, the Novus Ordo table (“altar”) in the main sanctuary is another spiritually uplifting work — one might say it is a distinct call to more reflection:

If you now feel the urge to contact “Pope” Francis about this outrage, don’t bother.

He’s too busy protecting people from the Traditional Latin Mass.

Image sources: Wikimedia Commons (Herzi Pinki; cropped) / andrae-kunst.org / sanktandrae.graz-seckau.at
Licenses: CC BY-SA 4.0 / fair use / fair use