http://www.losangelesmission.com/ed/articles/1999/1299mg.htm
 ARTICLESDecember 1999 ARTICLESLETTERS FREE BOXES |
A Trendy Though Profane UseCARDINAL MAHONY SELLS ST. VIBIANA'SBy Maggie Garcia A November 2, 1999 article in the Los Angeles Times announced the sale of St. Vibiana's Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles for $4.65 million dollars. The developer that bought the earthquake damaged cathedral, Tom Gilmore, announced that he wanted to convert the cathedral, its rectory, and school buildings into a "trendy residential loft district." "This is really a chance of a lifetime," he said. "I don't think that there are a lot of guys who go out and buy a cathedral". Gilmore's plans for the Cathedral and adjacent buildings include classroom space for Cal State Los Angeles, housing a charter school, a small hotel, a new apartment building and a restaurant. The proposed complex has been dubbed "Cathedral Place" and will cost, Gilmore estimates, about 40 million dollars. Construction is not scheduled to began for another year. Gilmore said that it is estimated that the cathedral itself will require at least $4 million in seismic repairs. According to the Times, Gilmore formed a corporation to purchase the cathedral. The corporation made a "sizable down payment and will pay interest to the archdiocese for two years." After that, the remainder of the $4.65 million will be paid off. Gilmore is looking towards both public and private financing for the project. The sale of the cathedral was announced at a November 3 news conference heavily attended by city leaders, including Mayor Richard Riordan, who said that Cathedral Place would be another magnet which would draw people downtown. "With this project, Gilmore and Associates will safeguard the legacy of our beautiful cathedral which has given us so much for so many years." Mayor Riordan had assisted Cardinal Mahony in his quest to raze St. Vibiana's. After the 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the cathedral, Cardinal Mahony began the process of tearing it down. The Los Angeles Conservancy, however, filed suit to stop the demolition of St. Vibiana's. The Conservancy won the lawsuit and the archdiocese appealed to the California Court of Appeals, which reaffirmed the lower court's ruling in favor of the Conservancy. On July 26, 1996 Cardinal Mahony issued a decree stating that "the Cathedral of St. Vibiana has suffered a loss of sacred character." In order to satisfy canonical requirements, the cardinal listed three reasons for his decree. His first reason was, because "the damage to the Cathedral of St. Vibiana is so extensive that it can in no way be employed for divine worship... since July 2, 1996, the City of Los Angeles has declared the Cathedral a 'public nuisance'.... Long before that I had recognized that further use of the Cathedral of St. Vibiana posed an extreme danger. Hence to protect the faithful it was necessary to cancel all services and forbid any access to the Cathedral. It has been closed since May 22, 1995." Mahony's second reason in the decree states that, according to an earthquake evaluation report issued by Nabih Youusef & Associates in September of 1995, "during a major earthquake in the downtown area, the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana would suffer extensive structural damage with possible collapse." The decree goes on to state that, according to the report, "the foundations beneath the exterior walls are constructed of rubble with questionable support capacity." The "unreinforced masonry walls ... would perform very poorly" in any earthquake. The third reason given by Mahony in the decree was that ...it is not possible to repair the damage to the Cathedral and to restore it without exorbitant costs. The Earthquake Evaluation Report of Nabih Youssef & Associates citing the cost estimates of Peck/Jones [contractors], indicated that to repair and retrofit the cathedral would cost at least $20,900,000 [The cost of the new cathedral is approximately $163 million dollars]. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has no source of funding for such a huge amount. Even if such a large sum of money was available, to use it to repair the current Cathedral would be very poor stewardship of the resources of the people of God of this Local Church. Even completely retrofitted, the present Cathedral would remain the type of building that would be easily damaged in future earthquakes. Nor is the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana of a size and liturgical design to serve the current needs of the Archdiocese. Thus in accord with the provisions of Canon 1222, section 1.1, I have concluded that it is 'impossible' to repair the Cathedral. The cardinal concluded the decree stating that "for the reasons summarized above, I have determined that the Cathedral of St. Vibiana has, in fact, lost its sacred character. Thus ... I hereby relegate the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana to profane use." Cardinal Mahony sought a canonical opinion from the very Reverend Lawrence A. DiNardo. A canonical opinion dated January 8, 1997, revealed that, initially, Cardinal Mahony sought to discover whether or not the archdiocese could sell the cathedral to "another religious group," and so the opinion issued only concerned itself with the possibility of selling St. Vibiana's to "another religious group." The opinion states that "there are no canonical prohibitions which would prevent the ultimate sale of the former cathedral to another religious group. However," the report continued, "several canonical issues must be resolved prior to the consummation of any sale." The first issue involved removing all sacred objects "since they cannot be sold or given to any other entity except another public juridic person. Second a determination must be made as to whether or not any of the ecclesiastical goods were given to the former cathedral with restrictions by the donor as to its use. If so, the intention of the donor must be fulfilled or commuted by agreement with the donor if possible. Third, since the transaction would seem to be an act of extraordinary administration, Canon 1277 requires that before such an act can have valid force the consent of the Archdiocesan Finance Council and the Archdiocesan College of Consultors is required. Fourth the sale of Saint Vibiana Cathedral is a matter of alienation of ecclesiastical property, a sale in excess of $3,000,000 would require permission of the Holy See in accord with Canon 1292, section 2 and the rescript of the Congregation of Clergy." When asked for comment, archdiocesan spokesman Father Gregory Coiro's secretary said it was his policy not to talk to the Mission. -- from the Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission, December 1999 |