Oakland Cathedral revisited: "There is no prayer there"

American Papist ^ | October 7, 2008 | Thomas Peters

[NYer]

The comment thread on my original post about Oakland's new "Cathedral of Light" has about 90 comments at this point. My editorial observations were minimal, but that didn't stop several people from claiming positions for me (and strongly disagreeing with ... the positions they thought I held).

This thoughtful post by "Vitruvian Duck" gets closer to identifying the concerns I had when I first saw pictures of the cathedral. He received his Masters degree from the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, one of the best (if not only) classical schools of (Church) Architecture in the country.

He visited Oakland recently and made observations philosophical and personal:

"... of modern society we can say 'there is no prayer there'. Men and women bustle about downtown skyscrapers, office workers drone on in the vast oceans of concrete found in office parks across the country.

Rarely, if ever, do they hear the ringing of the bells marking the liturgy of the hours. Rare is the visual reminder that they are called to higher things as they drive past a church, and when we build churches like the new Cathedral of Christ the Light, we are accentuating the problem. Our churches are not inviting people into them. Most of the time, people don't even know what that building is, and what it's for. 'Is it a dentist's office?' 'Is it a museum?' 'Is it a hospital?' 'Oh, that's a church?! I never would have guessed!'

... during the 2 hours or so we were exploring the Cathedral, I didn't see a single person in prayer. Not so surprising. I don't feel compelled to pray at office buildings, either."

Christians are called to be salt and light to the world (Mt. 5:13-16), and I just can't help but feel that this Cathedral of Light is salt that has lost its flavor.

Ph/t: Margaret Cabaniss of Inside Catholic.

[RichInOC]

Well, it’s less ugly than Our Lady of the Angels, I’ll give it that.

[Revolting cat!]

The problem may be that there is no modern church architecture. All new Catholic churches that I have seen, even in Catholic countries, are ugly modern structures.

[Revolting cat!]

I tell you this, even if this is beautiful by current secular architectural standards, it will not age well. It reminds me of the post-stalinist architecture in Russia and elsewhere, that was superior to what preceded it and hasn’t aged well at all.

[Aquinasfan]

Here's a link to what the cathedral looks like from the inside including the image of Christ.

It looks like the inside of a grain silo. Not that there's anything wrong with grain silos, but grain silos aren't churches.

[Aquinasfan]

Here's a link to what the cathedral looks like from the inside including the image of Christ.

It looks like the inside of a grain silo. Not that there's anything wrong with grain silos, but grain silos aren't churches.

[AnAmericanMother]

Pretty ugly.

Doesn't look much like a church. Inside or out.

It's not as Brutalist as the LA Cathedral. Looks more like an office building than anything else.

[Desdemona]

Are we sure those are windows and not solar panels?

Seriously, that place could be a solarium.

[Northern Yankee]

Saw the pictures. It doesn't look very holy.

During the summer I am able to get to daily Mass. There is nothing that I like more than walking into our parishes around town; smelling the candles, and seeing the altars in traditional style. The candles, altar, Tabernacle, votive candles, the Crucifix in prominent display, statues of our Blessed Mother, and the Stations of the Cross.

These images invite us to holiness.

[NYer]

The candles, altar, Tabernacle, votive candles, the Crucifix in prominent display, statues of our Blessed Mother, and the Stations of the Cross.

You are absolutely right. "Smells and bells". The aroma of incense also helps to draw us into prayer. When you consider the cost of building a 'cathedral' today, the bishop would be better off restoring the original structure.