Lavish ceremonies, harsh criticism await new $200m cathedral in LA

BOSTON GLOBE ^ | August 31, 2002 | Kathleen Sharp

[Siobhan]

There are a number of very beautiful minimalist abbeys and churches in the world. This Los Angeles "vision terrible" is not one of them. My nephew Kevin likes to say, "It's more than bizarre. It's brassiere!"

[Theresa]

"There are a number of very beautiful minimalist abbeys and churches in the world. This Los Angeles "vision terrible" is not one of them. My nephew Kevin likes to say, "It's more than bizarre. It's brassiere!"

Whatever. Like I said, it is futile to argue taste.

[Theresa]

Oh who cares what you think anyway? Don't be a Catholic if you don't like it. Nothing we do will please you except that the RCC would go away forever. That's not going to happen so post your critical little posts to your hearts content it's a free country.

[drstevej]

Teresa: One of the reasons the Church did not undertake reform, which everyone agreed was necessary, was because there was no money for it.

Drstevej: What reforms did the church desire to undertake that was prevented by insufficient funds? Leo X was a pauper? (then I cited evidence of Leo X's wealth)

Teresa: Oh who cares what you think anyway? Don't be a Catholic if you don't like it. Nothing we do will please you except that the RCC would go away forever. That's not going to happen so post your critical little posts to your hearts content it's a free country.

Drstevej: Does this mean you can not substantiate your statement?

[Siobhan]

It is never futile to discuss beauty or the visual expression of faith. That you lack the desire or perhaps the ability to discuss the subject is your problem not mine.

[Theresa]

"Does this mean you can not substantiate your statement?"

No. I have a book that I got the information from but I am too lazy to transcribe it. And what is worse is that I have a wierd handicap in that I can't transcribe worth a darn. It would take me an hour and the result would be a mess.

There is a new Protestant church that was built in my area. It is HUGE! The parking lot alone is acres! It is called The Father's House. What do I care how much MONEY they spent on it. It's their business. For that matter there is a huge new Baptist church in my neighborhood. I say GOOD! It shows they are energized for their faith. It did not enter my mind that it was bad for them to spend money on a big building. I was just glad there was another house of worship in the neighborhood. It means there are more angels around to watch over whole area! ;O>

[Theresa]

"It is never futile to discuss beauty or the visual expression of faith."

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I learned this first hand because of the many times I have done some artwork I thought was terrible and sure enough somebody else really liked it and actually gave me money for it. So I always save my work because I figure SOMEBODY will like it, even if I don't.

[Theresa]

"I think if a church is going to go for a simple look then it is important that the lines be elegant. I would prefer a prettier and more symetrical exterior."

Yes good point about the exterior. It's cold looking. But the more I look at the interior, the more I like it. But as I said, I do like minimalism. It makes me feel peaceful and free. I don't like the crucifix at all though. It is too stark, the corpus looks like it has been in a fire and is covered with soot. A bronze corpus would have been perfect.

[Theresa]

"Theresa, I agree with you. I have visited modern "empty" churches and chapels in the US and overseas that, IMHO, had their beauty and great atmosphere for prayer."

Yeah! Variety is the spice of life.

[Siobhan]

No, Theresa, you are dead wrong. Beauty is not merely in the eye of the beholder. It is an echo of God's own beauty in a fallen world. But never mind, Theresa, I won't belabor this with you. I can only encourage you to read Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

[Theresa]

"No, Theresa, you are dead wrong. Beauty is not merely in the eye of the beholder. It is an echo of God's own beauty in a fallen world. "

It's just one church. Mass can be said in a tent on a battlefield with bombs going off all over and death in the air. It can be said in a hovel in New Guinea, and in the 9th century in a village church infested with rats where everybody has bad teeth, dirty clothes and BO.

"But never mind, Theresa, I won't belabor this with you. I can only encourage you to read Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Catechism of the Catholic Church."

You are being unrealistic. There are thousands of Catholic church buildings and a billion Catholics and somewhere there will be some ugly church buildings, some wonderful ones, some okay ones and so on. That's life.

[Siobhan]

No, that is not life. Those are merely the low standards you have chosen to embrace.

[Theresa]

"Those are merely the low standards you have chosen to embrace."

In may parish there are two huge tapestries. They are hand needlepointed by who knows how many little old ladies. It must have taken a long time to do them. And they are not very good. In one, Jesus looks like a caveman. In the other, Mary's hands look like claws. What are we supposed to do about this kind of thing? Rip it down and disparage that labor of love by the people who worked on it as a gift to the parish? The world is full of people with talent and not so much talent. A lot of the time those without talent don't know it. And those without taste don't know it. That IS life and God loves them all.