CARDINAL SAYS NEW CATHEDRAL TO LINK SECULAR, SACRED L.A.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

Within the $163 million splendor of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Cardinal Roger Mahony toiled away one day last week in a white T-shirt, happily toting a bucket of light bulbs.

Mahony, known as His Eminence to millions of Los Angeles Roman Catholics, had just installed a dozen energy-efficient elevator bulbs in a cathedral he envisions as a ``journey into light'' when he was spotted at the back of the cathedral during a tour.

The 48,000-square-foot edifice - the first major cathedral built in America in 30 years - will be dedicated Labor Day and open for its first regular Mass at 7 a.m. Sept. 3.

Its mission: To serve as the spiritual light - and center - of Los Angeles.

``Over the years, earthquakes have taken down the great churches of the city, and people have moved to the suburbs,'' Mahony said as he helped put finishing touches on the cathedral.

``This isn't being built for the Catholic community - this is being built for the whole community. The cathedral is a cathedral of the people.''

At the rear of the church, Mahony paused before a majestic tapestry of Jesus washing the feet of John the Baptist. Below him, pews to seat 2,600 worshippers flow toward the altar the cardinal designed.

Above him, 95 feet from its limestone floor, soars a ceiling of hemlock. Sunlight floods the sanctuary through 11,800 panes of translucent alabaster.

To Mahony, it's the mother church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles - and a vital link between a secular and sacred City of Angels.

But whether Our Lady of the Angels can serve as the ecumenical heart of a sprawling, diverse city has been subject of much debate.

For downtown boosters, the cathedral's grand plaza, 150-foot bell tower and bold design will draw thousands of tourists each year to Bunker Hill.

With 9 million Catholics in California - and 1.5 million tourists from Mexico - the church will be an instant icon for visitors to Los Angeles, they say.

They also see it as a common gathering spot for people of all faiths following such tragedies as the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, or the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

``It is intended as a community edifice, in the larger sense, to celebrate something of universal value,'' said Michael Collins, executive vice president for the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau.

``It isn't a function of its theology - it's the geographical spiritual center for the city of Los Angeles.''

Mara Medina, a religious studies professor at California State University, Northridge, said the church will serve as a ``significant site'' for 4 million area Catholics, of whom 70 percent are Latino.

But she doesn't see many heading downtown.

``The reality is that communities are very segregated here. Folks of economic strata in the surrounding area don't go downtown, they go to their local parishes,'' she said. ``I don't see it as a vibrant center, attracting people.''

Others objected to the idea that any cathedral costing $163 million - all in private donations - could serve as a spiritual base at the expense of hungry and homeless residents.

Or that any cathedral could ever hope to become the spiritual home of the one of the most religiously diverse cities on Earth.

``We feel that it's a waste of money, that the money could be better spent, that there are plenty of churches downtown already,'' said David Gardner of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker Community, an organization for the homeless that is not affiliated with the church.

Amir Hussein, a CSUN religious studies expert on Islamic communities and interreligious dialogue, called Mahony ``incredibly, incredibly arrogant and condescending'' to suggest the cathedral could possibly represent all faiths.

``It's a Catholic cathedral. It's not a mosque, it's not a Buddhist center. If you wanted to build an interfaith center, that would be something else.''

Some, however, cited cathedral donors such as the late Jewish philanthropist Lew Wasserman as evidence of multicultural support.

``Mahony has been an exemplar of (religious) pluralism - of recognizing there are other traditions that can be treated with respect, and indeed, with love,'' said Rabbi Harold Schulweiss of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino.

Carol Schatz, president of the Central City Association, called the cathedral a crown jewel in a renaissance of downtown.

``I am Jewish,'' Schatz recently told ``Tidings,'' the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. ``I think Cardinal Roger Mahony is absolutely on point when he says the community has been lacking a spiritual center that would bring together peoples of all races, faiths, ethnicities, religions for extraordinary occasions.''

Mahony, for his part, takes all the criticism in stride.

``You can just feel the spirit,'' he said, ruminating upon God, whom he credits with inspiring the cathedral's' design.

With boyish enthusiasm, he strikes from the cathedral's 25-ton bronze doors designed by noted Los Angeles artist Robert Graham, up the ambulatory, past separate chapels, a 17th-century Spanish altar and 25 tapestries bearing the life-size likenesses of 135 saints.

In the cathedral's nave, Mahony crossed into the transept and showed off the organ, consisting of 6,019 pipes and 183 tin trumpets.

``The cathedral creates a common ground, a common place,'' Mahony said.

``It seemed to us that, by having a cathedral, it would remind us that God is always in our midst, that people would find God's love and healing in different ways.''

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8 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 3 -- color) A ceiling made of hemlock wood soars 95 feet above the limestone floor of the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, scheduled to open Labor Day.

(4 -- color) At the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, observation windows looking out over the Hollywood Freeway feature angels etched into the glass.

(5 -- color) The crypt area at Our Lady of the Angels cathedral, scheduled to open in a few weeks, is located directly beneath the altar.

(6 -- color) A pond in the ``cloister garden'' at Our Lady of the Angels cathedral in downtown Los Angeles provides a cool, quiet respite.

(7 -- color) The 48,000-square-foot Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels - the first major cathedral built in America in 30 years - will hold its first regular Mass on Sept. 3.

(8 -- color) A detail of a tapestry that hangs on the interior of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral shows a depiction of saints and everyday people.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer