www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Future Cathedral 'symbol of unity' - wheres tradition?

Apotheoun,

You could not have described it better. That anyone would reject the design shown on the dellachiesa site for that monstrosity is unbelievable.

Zenovia,

You speak of Wright\'s Annunciation GO Church [bluffton.edu] in Milwaukee as "beautiful"? To my eye, it best resembles a UFO; it, alongside St. Joseph\'s - the "Ukrainian Space Program" in Chicago [homestead.com] , could have been used in Star Wars and none would be the wiser that they were churches.

Many years,

Neil

Last night I saw - can't remember where - a cutaway of the new Oakland "Cathedral of Light". Looked like what you see when you open the gill flaps on a widemouth bass!

This monstrosity and Taj Mahony are two of the architectural fruits of Modernism. With the architects who design them and the bishops who commission them, it has nothing to do with glorifying God and everything to do with currying the favor of our decadent culture.

There is a passage in scripture that admonishes those who would seek the approval of men rather than the approval of their almighty and eternal God...

Sam

Put Coventry Cathedral [coventrycathedraltour.org.uk] on the list as well. They should just have rebuilt the old one.

Σώσον, Κύριε, καί διαφύλαξον η�άς από τών Βασιλιάνικων τάξεων!

Horrors...to both. There really needs to be a canon against modernism in Church construction.

Also, forgive me, but I cannot think of anything more distracting than having a dome rotating over my head while worshipping. The noise and the distraction while we are to be bowing our heads unto the Lord is absurd. Further, I suspect that passersby would wonder if we were preparing for lift off.

Gaudior, who requires some chocolate to recover from the shock.

I agree Sam, unfortunately I live in the realm of the Taj Mahony, and from what I can see our "new" church in my parish appears to be another "modern marvel" of today's times, those that resemble a auditorium.

There is a strong possibility that I will be fleeing down to the San Fernando Valley for worship... there are many options ... October will point the way.

james

John,

Let me guess. The SETI project is a fund raiser to pay for future sexual abuse cases, right? They could seel this to Com Ed or some other power company should they get sued again. Am I on the right track?

Dan L

Not quite, Dan...

http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=178025

That is the SETI project. I suspect that they have not only made contact, but hired their architects as well.

Gaudior, still appalled

Since both Oakland and San Francisco are in an earthquake zone, it is possible that nature herself will destroy the proposed monstrosity, thus allowing a future generation of Catholics to build a new and holy temple to the Lord.

ROFL!!!

Where's Samson when you need him?!?...I'm afraid that the Philistines are running the show!

My dear people, none of these surpass St. Mary\'s of Rockledge, FL [stmarysrockledge.org] for sheer ugliness.

The Marian Chapel looks like a dreary version of the British House of Commons.

I noticed the infamous "Christ the Diver" statue. What that place needs is some glass beads and a painting of John the Baptist on black velvet.

For those interested, I'm providing a link to the Oakland diocesan newspaper's article on the new "Cathedral" project:
New Cathedral Design [catholicvoiceoakland.org]

The hardcopy of the newspaper gives drawings of the interior of the building, but sadly the online version doesn't include those images.

Actually, it's probably for the best that the interior drawings are not included on the website.

While I have nothing against spending that much money on a construction of a building for the glory of God and a place of worship (actually it wouldnt bother me if they spent twice the money), the point is that it is not fitting for a Church.
Sure serve the poor and downtrodden of the world, but as I always say, "You will treat the poor as well as you treat God" in other words "junk for God, junk for the poor who are created in His image and likeness"
Stephanos I

All,

I feel I must add my two-cents here.

For as much as many of you are accustomed to the ancient and venerable Church architecture of yester-year, expressed both in the Eastern and Roman traditions, there is a vital point which I think many of you have missed.

This new Christ the Light Cathedral in Oakland and St. Mary's Church in Rockledge (which I have worshipped in) are still houses of the Lord whether one likes it or not!

If one bothered to look up the "Sacred Art" and "church Tour" section of the new Cathedral's website one could cleary notice that traditional elements that should be in a church are indeed included. Now, whether you don't like how these elements look is a different story.

From what I understood, there were organizational meetings involving the community and diocese to discuss the design and name of the Cathedral and by democratic process the community helped to decide what sort of Cathdral they wanted.

Sometimes what we would like, or what we think works for us does not work for everyone. In other words, I strongly feel that the Catholic people of Oakland, in general (because we will always have people who will not like a certian design whether traditional or modern) appreciate the Cathedral as a beacon of light for their community.

There was a time when I wanted to be an architect but I ultimately chose the field of Theology and Religious studies instead. But the love for architecture and especially all edifices built to glorify our Lord and Savior, still runs deep within me.

I hope you all remember that God dwells with everyone, and is especially present in the Eucharistic sacrafice. So whether you are in the ultra-modern cathedrals of Oakland, Los Angeles or Tokyo, or even Rome's St Peters Basilica or a tiny Eastern Catholic chapel in Eastern Europe or in a mass under tree's in Sudan-those are all temples to God meant to serve his people wherever they may be.

God Bless

ProCatholico