Pater-noster built churches, and Our Father pulls them down.

The saying contrasts two names for the same prayer to make a pointed claim about language and religious institutions. Latin is credited with helping churches flourish, while English is blamed for weakening them.

Its force lies in the reversal: making a familiar prayer understandable is presented not as a benefit, but as a threat to the institutions around it. The claim is polemical rather than a neutral account of what happened to church buildings.

Use it when discussing an argument that a change from Latin to English in worship diminished the standing or support of churches. Its sharp contrast makes it better suited to quoting or examining that argument than to stating an undisputed fact.