Posted on 11/11/2007 3:50:19 PM PST by NYer
Oakland... the final frontier.Father Paul Minnihan, provost of the cathedral, said the planning team selected the date to avoid conflicts with such weekend events as weddings and quincieneras. The group also considered an evening event, but decided an afternoon would allow for the possibility of a procession to the cathedral from another venue. “Safety was a concern,” he said....in related news, in the hometown of the Cardinal of the South, work's even further along on Houston's $61 million Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, with dedication slated to take place next 2 April.
He said the planning group also “seriously weighed the reality of the members of our diocese who work, but we placed our hope in their ability to take time away from work as we do when there are significant events in our lives.”
Two other dedication-related events have been planned.
On Sunday, Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. there will be a ceremony opening the cornerstone of St. Francis de Sales Church, which was set at 21st Street and San Pablo Avenue in Oakland on Sept. 13, 1891. The church became the first cathedral of the Oakland Diocese when it was established in 1962.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake severely damaged the cathedral and it had to be torn down. The new cathedral at the corner of Grand Avenue and Harrison Street is its replacement.
On Sunday Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, the mausoleum underneath the new cathedral will be dedicated at 2 p.m. At that time, the remains of Oakland’s first bishop, Floyd Begin, will be re-interred. He is currently buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward.
Built to provide a suitable hub for the South's largest local church, odds are that consecration duties for the 2,000-seater will likely fall to the project's visionary: the first archbishop of Texas' mother diocese, Joseph Fiorenza.Now you can book your flight reservations.
Another ugly, overpriced aircraft hangar that’s about as spiritually uplifting as a Costco warehouse. The Catholic hierarchy in this country are a bunch of criminals and traitors, sorry.
Ugly, ugly, ugly. I appreciate progressive architecture, and I’m not averse to even the most cutting-edge experimentation, but surely we can do better than these. The Oakland job looks like a blimp hangar; the Galveston specimen could be anything from a bank branch to a mini-mall.
A Catholic Church is not just any building. It should be the best, most beautiful building we humans are capable of building. We should stick to tried-and-true architectural styles until our culture is regenerated and capable of once again producing men of vision and good taste.
Ugly hearts = ugly buildings.
What a splendid name.
What a splendid site.
What a wonderfully splendid design.
I rejoice with you.
I can also worship in a home or warehouse. But I have learned to respect
Cathedrals
. . . especially good ones . . .
as soring testimonies in space and durable materials . . .
as much as anything is durable in this time/space dimension.
Love the shape and use of light.
Congratulations.
Praise God!
Wow. That first one is especially ugly. I went to their website and read their mission statement. I hate mission statements.
Are you praising the first or the second one? I guess its proof that different architectural styles for Churches move different people in different ways. I’m more of a fan of the more classical (Baroque, Gothic, Romanesque), but I can see how the Cathedral of Light style could be inspiring. Doesn’t do it for me, but for others, it does.
The most beautiful, spiritual-feeling church was a little church in a small town in Pennsylvania. It had wonderful, carved Italian marble statuary and a truly unique alter and communion railing. Unfortunately, one day I passed by and found all the statues, alter, railing, even the baptisimal font strewn out front, mostly in pieces.
Oh, how sad the day that that the Catholic Church decided to replace our alters with tables and remove most of the statues. We were told it was so the priests would face the people, and to modernize the Church. I think that took so much away from the atmosphere of peace and beauty. But it also took more.
In this little town so many townspeople were truly traumatized because their grandparents, great-grandparents, and other relatives had all saved to donate money to purchase the lovely Italian marble pieces. They were all so proud of their "gifts" to the church, it was a sign of their faith to them. When those things were just tossed outside,broken and in pieces, I think some of the great love people had for the church was tossed and broken also. It was a pity.
Shuller’s Crystal Cathedral gets lots of cryticism
from Evangelicals who . . . in my view . . . tend
tend
toward
the spiritually haughty, self-righteous, puffed up, consider themselves super pious etc.
Then righteousness becomes worshipping in a barn.
I’m all for putting funds to helping the poor and community.
NEVERTHELESS, IF
IF
A CONGREGATION’S MEMBERS
FEEL IN THEIR HEARTS
That
THEY want to glorify God in stone, glass, wood, concrete . . .
By all means, let them do it.
All the more soaring and well lit, all the better.
##########
On the other hand, IF
it is keeping up with the Jones’ and their big edifice down the road . . . then that’s another issue and not to be encouraged, imho.
As usual, I think it’s an attitude of the heart.
But, if one is led to build a Cathedral, then I think the choice of architect is crucial and he needs to be a man of God, too, imho, or not even be in the leadership at all on the project, much less the lead architect.
my 2 cents.
I would agree that the Architect should be a Christian. Gothic Cathedrals were considered “Prayers in Stone” in their days.
Just because some in the Catholic hierarchy have made some mistakes, does not mean that ALL are traitors or criminals.
I don’t think we need to slam any denomination because of a few individuals.
And, please don’t worry anyway. The Pope is asking some of these bishops and Cardinals to retire early, and he is replacing them with highly orthodox individuals.
** but I can see how the Cathedral of Light style could be inspiring.**
I would like to visit it. I bet the inside is quite beautiful bathed in the light of a sunrise or a sunset. But light is one of my things.
Agreed.
I would like to visit it. I bet the inside is quite beautiful bathed in the light of a sunrise or a sunset. But light is one of my things.
= = =
Agreed.
I think light is one of God’s special things, too.
I pray that it gets to open with a chorus of angels.
I think it is true that the destruction of churches was done not only by ignoring theology, but by totally ignoring all the human history that went into them.
Interestingly, since the Motu Proprio has come out and it seems that some parts of our history might come back again, there has been a positive rush in some quarters to get rid of anything from the past.
We have had a Communion rail in our Cathedral forever, and while it’s not used, nobody has ever suggested removing it - until now. The pastor suddenly thinks he has to consolidate the victories of the Vatican II crowd by destroying the church as fast as he can. He knows that he’s on the losing side and that orthodoxy will triumph, but he wants to salt the earth before he goes.
Houston 1, Oakland 0.
I’m reminded of pictures in recent issues of “The Voice of the Martyrs,” showing the Christians in Africa and Asia worshipping in the ruins of their church buildings - which were just cinder-block boxes, anyway.
I realize it’s not a simple either/or ... beautiful buildings or beautiful souls ... but I do think it’s obvious which is more important.
You nailed it.
QUITE SO. QUITE SO.
I’m just keenly aware of how
priceless
hope is.
And even for a poor person to be able to come however often per week to a
soaring, full-of-light
edifice TO AND TO THE GLORY OF GOD . . .
can infect with sufficient hope for the week.
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