COURT URGED TO OK CATHEDRAL'S DEMOLITION.Byline: ByRick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer The Catholic Archdiocese arch·di·o·cese n. The district under an archbishop's jurisdiction. arch  di·oc of 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. urged the state Court of
Appeal on Tuesday to overturn an injunction blocking the demolition Demolition is the opposite of construction: the tearing-down of buildings and other structures. It contrasts with deconstruction, which is the taking down of a building while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use. of
St. Vibiana's Cathedral, saying city preservation laws conflict
with the church's right to religious freedom.
``As a church, the archdiocese should have the right to decide when and how it wants to practice its religion,'' said archdiocese attorney John McNicholas. The three-judge panel delayed action Noun 1. delayed action - a mechanism that automatically delays the release of a camera shutter for a fixed period of time so that the photographer can appear in the picture until July 30, leaving in question what the archdiocese and Cardinal Roger Mahony His Eminence Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony (born February 27, 1936) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as the fourth Archbishop of Los Angeles, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1991. will do. Mahony has said he wants assurances by July 22 that he can demolish de·mol·ish tr.v. de·mol·ished, de·mol·ish·ing, de·mol·ish·es 1. To tear down completely; raze. 2. To do away with completely; put an end to. 3. St. Vibiana's and replace it with a $45 million Cathedral Square Cathedral Square is often the name of the square located in front of the main cathedral of a city. Among others, Cathedral Square can refer to:
``We are studying what the court did and will have no comment until we can talk further with the attorneys,'' said the Rev. Gregory Coiro, spokesman for the archdiocese. Mahony was out of the city and unavailable for comment, Coiro said. The judges closely questioned attorneys for the archdiocese and the Los Angeles Conservancy The Los Angeles Conservancy is the preeminent historic preservation organization in Los Angeles, California. It works to document, rescue and revitalize historic buildings, places and neighborhoods in the city. , which is seeking to block demolition of the 120-year-old cathedral. But, at the end of the hearing, they ruled they wanted additional documentation before deciding whether to overturn an injunction issued against the archdiocese in May by Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien. Both McNicholas and conservancy attorney Jack Rubens said they were uncertain what the court would decide. ``They asked tough questions of both of us,'' McNicholas said. ``They were obviously well-prepared and wanted to go through the process in detail.'' Rubens said the delay will give the conservancy time to respond to new arguments filed by the city that the state's environmental quality laws would violate religious freedom of the church. Justice Charles Vogel closely questioned Rubens about the impact of the city's historic cultural laws and whether it infringed on the property rights of the archdiocese. ``How does one with property avoid the honor of being a historic monument and what if the church indicates it no longer wants this honor?'' Vogel asked. Rubens said it was an issue laid out in state law and that the conservancy was trying to get the church to follow the law and perform a full environmental impact review. Once that is done, and a year passes, the church would still be able to go ahead with any of its plans. ``Construction is not planned for at least a year, so the church can comply with the law and then do what it wants,'' Rubens said. ``What we have seen is the year allows a cooling off period and in many cases the property owner finds ways to keep a building.'' Vogel was equally stern with McNicholas, who argued the church should be exempt from the city's cultural heritage laws on freedom of religion grounds. ``It seems this is a frontal assault The military tactic of frontal assault is a direct, hostile movement of forces towards enemy forces in a large number, in an attempt to overwhelm the enemy. This is often referred to as a "suicide strike," because it is often a commander's last resort when he has run out of on the cultural heritage laws,'' Vogel said. Justices Elizabeth Baron and J. Gary Hastings raised questions over the danger to the public from the quake-damaged building. ``What we have is a cathedral and school that have been closed, barricades erected and one lane of Main Street closed to the public,'' Baron said. ``The only way people can see the church is from across the barricades.'' Rubens said that was a decision made by the church after it received an abatement A reduction, a decrease, or a diminution. The suspension or cessation, in whole or in part, of a continuing charge, such as rent. With respect to estates, an abatement is a proportional diminution or reduction of the monetary legacies, a disposition of property by will, when order to repair its bell tower and that it did not need to take such actions. But McNicholas said the entire complex has been red-tagged by the city Department of Building and Safety and the church did not want to open itself to any liability. The Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. is scheduled to consider a proposal
today that would remove the cathedral as a historic monument and
approving a document saying that a more detailed environmental review is
not needed for demolition.
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