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Catholics split on need for nation's largest cathedral
With opening day set for Labor Day, 2002, the $195 million Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (see Web cam) will be the largest Roman Catholic Cathedral in America. On over five acres, the grounds will include four gardens, three fountains, an expansive outdoor plaza, and an underground crypt.

According to the Chicago Tribune, this is quite a change from the "historic, earthquake-damaged cathedral on the edge of [Los Angeles'] Skid Row" that the Roman Catholic Church is moving from, and some critics feel the money should have gone to the poor. Protests from the Catholic Worker Movement (the organization founded by Dorothy Day) are a regular scene on the construction site.

The archdiocese does not think the accusations are valid. Its social service arm spends $32 million annually to aid the needy. Cardinal Roger Mahony recently defended the construction project in Catholic Agitator:

Contrary to what protesters say, ours is not an "either-or" situation. We do not face the false dichotomy of tending to the dispossessed or building a cathedral. Rather, our circumstances are "both-and," in which the Catholic community ministers to the materially poor and addresses the spiritual needs of all.

There are various kinds of poverty, of which material poverty is but one. When the hunger for the spiritual and the aesthetic is unsatisfied, we can experience a poverty in our souls. Throughout the Christian era, believers have built churches and cathedrals as expressions of their love of God and as sacred oases where rich and poor can find refuge, beauty and inner peace.

Afghanistan:

• Shari'ah court to try aid workers | Eight foreigners headed for Islamic trial, sixteen Afghans likely to be executed (The Guardian)
• Diplomats arrive today in Kabul | German, American and Australian diplomats finally allowed into Afghanistan, again denied access to Shelter Germany workers (Reuters)

Church and Government:

• Attorneys for state seek green light for 'Choose Life' plates | A federal appeals court considers a challenge to Louisiana's specialty license tags that display the motto "Choose Life" (Associated Press)
• Lebanese Christian's confession forced | Christian militia leader shown on Lebanese television admitting to planning the destabilization of Lebanon. (BBC)

Church image:

• Roman Catholic church hires PR adviser | Morely aims to modernize the way the church communicates with the outside world. (The Guardian)
• Pastor is determined to use changing demographics to Gables church's advantage | Rev. John Harrington is poised to take a two-pronged approach leading the largest Methodist church in the Miami-Dade-Monroe district. (Miami Herald)

Other stories of interest:

• Promise Keepers strive for comeback | Financial crisis results in charging admission fee to group's rallies (Baltimore Sun)
• 'Religious struggle' could prove fatal | Elderly people wrestling with religious beliefs are more likely to die following illness, study says. (BBC)
• Mother Angelica adds castle to pilgrimage site in Alabama | Our Lady of the Angels Monastery draws eight to 10 bus tours and 2,000 visitors a week (Religion New Service).

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August (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45