2002 LOCAL NEWS: HALLELUJAH NEW CATHEDRAL BORN IN CITY OF ANGELS.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer It was built to be the grandest church in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and the first new American cathedral in 30 years. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is a cathedral church of the United States in the City of Los Angeles in California. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles[1] and seat of its archbishop, Roger Cardinal Mahony. opened its 25-ton bronze doors on Sept. 3 for a 3 1/2-hour dedication service broadcast around the world. ``Many motorists will travel the (101) Freeway and see this towering monument to God,'' Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said during his first homily homily (hŏm`əlē), type of oral religious instruction delivered to a church congregation. In the patristic period through the Middle Ages the focus of the homily was on the explanation and application of texts read or sung during the at the Bunker Hill cathedral. ``The cathedral is our perch - from here we glimpse a great city. ``Hearts will catch up where eyes have set their gaze - at long last, there is a radiant church at the center of Los Angeles.'' Dedication of the angular home of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles drew the cream of Catholic clergy and some of the most powerful figures in Los Angeles. For the nearly 3,000 visitors who filled its pews, the service also debuted the $193 million edifice designed by modernist Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo. It would, according to its makers, serve as ``a house of prayer for all peoples.'' The ocher ocher (ō`kər), mixture of varying proportions of iron oxide and clay, used as a pigment. It occurs naturally as yellow ocher (yellow or yellow-brown in color), the iron oxide being limonite, or as red ocher, the iron oxide being hematite. cathedral, 98 years in the planning, soars 12 stories above a 2 1/2-acre plaza and contains 11,800 panes of translucent alabaster alabaster, fine-grained, massive, translucent variety of gypsum, a hydrous calcium sulfate. It is pure white or streaked with reddish brown. Alabaster, like all other forms of gypsum, forms by the evaporation of bedded deposits that are precipitated mainly from that fill the interior with soft sunlight. From tapestries along its walls hang the likenesses of 135 saints who gaze toward a great wooden cross atop a red marble altar. Near the cardinal's cathedra cathedra throne indicative of religious power. [Folklore: Jobes, 307] See : Authority , or bishop's chair, stands an organ containing 6,019 pipes and 183 trumpets. Some Catholics criticized the cathedral, built to last 500 years, as too costly, saying its resources would have been better spent on programs for parishes and the poor. Others denounced its austere design. But many said the 48,000-square-foot church would serve as the spiritual center of Los Angeles - not only for 4 million area Catholics, but for all faiths. Carol Schatz, president of the Central City Association, called the cathedral a crown jewel Crown jewel A particularly profitable or otherwise particularly valuable corporate unit or asset of a firm. Often used in risk arbitrage. The most desirable entities within a diversified corporation as measured by asset value, earning power, and business prospects; in takeover in a downtown renaissance that includes the Walt Disney Concert Hall This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details. This article has been tagged since September 2007. and Museum of Contemporary Art. ``I am Jewish,'' Schatz said. ``... The community has been lacking a spiritual center that would bring together peoples of all races, faiths, ethnicities, religions for extraordinary occasions.'' For Mahony, the cathedral would act as a ``journey into light'' at its 5 1/2-acre complex at Temple and Grand streets. The church replaced St. Vibiana's Cathedral, condemned and deemed too costly to repair in the wake of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. During its Labor Day dedication, Mahoney led 565 cardinals, bishops and priests into the cavernous sanctuary to the tune of Beethoven's ``Ode to Joy.'' What followed was a multicultural blessing climaxed by a triumphal pealing of bells. Days later, the church would host a memorial service for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan Paweł II) born Karol Józef Wojtyła issued his own personal blessing of Our Lady of the Angels at the heart of the City of Angels. ``On this happy occasion, I make my own the words of St. Paul, with a slight adaptation,'' said the pontiff through an emissary EMISSARY. One who is sent from one power or government into another nation for the purpose of spreading false rumors and to cause alarm. He differs from a spy. (q.v.) . ``To all the beloved of God in Los Angeles, call to be holy, grace to you, and peace.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The angular lines of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, which opened its 25-ton bronze doors on Sept. 3, loom over the 101 Freeway and the city landscape. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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