Richard S. Vosko

Richard S. Vosko
Born	1943 (age 73–74)
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Roman Catholic priest & liturgical design consultant

Richard S. Vosko (born 1943) is an American Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Albany and liturgical design consultant who has overseen the redesign and renovation of numerous churches and cathedrals in the United States. Vosko has worked throughout the U.S. and Canada as a designer and consultant for worship environments since 1970.

He is the author of God's House Is Our House: Re-imagining the Environment for Worship (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2006) and Designing Worship Spaces: The Mystery of a Common Vision (Meeting House Essay #8; Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1996).

Vosko states that today's cathedrals should "resonate" with the makeup of the dioceses they serve." The role of the cathedral in today's society is different from the times that came before. "The vision of 150 years ago had to do with a reflection of their own understanding of the Church and its liturgy." They were churches "designed to house a liturgy of a different age and genre – a different, pre-Vatican II understanding of what liturgy is." Since then, the Church in America, originally conceived as a missionary country, has shed that identity by having more than 70 million members. "The reasons for retaining and building our churches have changed."

Vosko's perspective draws heavily from Environment and Art in Catholic Worship (EACW), a 1978 document drawn up by a standing committee of the Bishops Committee of the Liturgy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops(USCCB). Although the EACW was never voted on by the full body of bishops and did not carry the force of law, it was used as the standard for new church design and renovation for over 20 years. EACW’s status has been controversial since its inception not only due to its canonical standing but also its content. EACW uses as a basis the Second Vatican Council’s emphasis on Christ’s presence in the assembly celebrating mass and – in what some consider a stretch – shifts the basis for the design of the “liturgical environment” to the “the action of the assembly” of believers rather than the principles from liturgy, theology, or architecture. The EACW states: "Among the symbols with which liturgy deals, none is more important than this assembly of believers." Vosko states that the "new focus on the assembly" comes from the "recovered role of the people of God during acts of worship and not because of any subversive movement to discount the presence of God in the church." In Vosko's opinion, it is the assembly, not the church building, which must "transcend the ordinary."

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