18 Months of Controversy End : Cathedral High to Remain Open, Archbishop Decides

Archbishop Roger Mahony, ending a controversy that had deeply disturbed many Latino Catholics here for more than a year, announced Tuesday that he has decided not to close Cathedral High School, the alma mater of generations of successful immigrants’ sons.

Mahony’s decision reverses the position of his predecessor, Cardinal Timothy Manning, who retired in September. Manning had quietly agreed to sell the preparatory school to a Hong Kong developer for $10 million and had denied impassioned pleas by alumni and community members to save the 62-year-old all-boys school, which had been scheduled to close in 1987.

The decision was greeted with jubilation by alumni, parents and students.

“We’re elated!” said Henry Alfaro, a graduate of the school and spokesman for Friends of Cathedral, the alumni committee that led the protests. “We’ve fought for this for a long, long time.

“Obviously this is more than just an education issue,” Alfaro said. “It is a social issue that gives recognition to what this school has stood for for more than 60 years: educating the sons of the poor. I think the church has learned now that it cannot afford to bypass its constituency, particularly the Hispanic community that is the strength of the church in Los Angeles.”

Mahony, in answer to a question, declined to describe the initial sale of the school as “a mistake.” He said the decision to keep the school open had been based upon “converging factors,” including recent demographic statistics pointing to an increased need for inner-city schools. He said Manning “fully concurred” with his decision.

“Obviously the intense desire (of the Latino community) to see what has been a tradition of Catholic education continue has been a very important factor,” he added “. . . This school has a significant contribution to make, especially through the Hispanic community to the larger community.”

The decision leaves the sale of the school in legal limbo. The property, at 1253 Stadium Way in Chinatown, remains in escrow, which is still scheduled to close in June, 1987.

The buyer, Yook Ming Man, is a Los Angeles real estate developer who acquired interests from the original buyer, Hong Kong developer Yip Hon, last year.

An attorney for the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese said Yip Hon had withdrawn from the sale because community opposition would have made it difficult for him to go ahead with plans to build a condominium complex on the site.

Yook Ming Man could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

‘Made Certain Offers’

“We have had conversations with Mr. Man,” the archdiocesan attorney, J. J. Brandlin, said. “At this point we have not reached any understanding with him. We have informed him of the policy of the archdiocese . . . and have made certain offers to him . . . if he is willing to terminate the escrow.”

Asked if the archdiocese is leaving itself open to a lawsuit by the buyer for unilaterally withdrawing from the transaction, Brandlin answered: “We can’t withdraw from the sale. What we’re doing is recognizing the probability that the sale will not go through and keeping the school open.”

Mahony explained that the decision is legally possible because of actions by Los Angeles city officials, who during the last year have imposed strict limitations upon the buyer’s ability to develop the property by declaring the site a historic monument and by making clear that it would look negatively upon requests for building permits and zone changes.

“We feel that the city and the community will prevent the completion of the contract,” the archbishop said. “The process of the community, plus the decisions of city government, have made it impossible for the transaction to be completed.”

Tuesday’s announcement marked a dramatic finale to 18 months of public controversy that began last year when news of the sale leaked out to Cathedral students and alumni.

Opposed by Order

The controversy has been doubly bitter because it was opposed not only by community members but also by the Christian Brothers, the religious order that has operated the school since it opened in 1923.

The Christian Brothers attempted to head off the decision during sporadic negotiations with Msgr. Benjamin Hawkes, the late vicar of the archdiocese, who negotiated the sale. After those attempts failed, members of the order began working with canon lawyers to protest the sale.

Meanwhile, thousands of people, mostly Latinos, contributed $30,000 in small donations for a “Save Cathedral” campaign. Friends of Cathedral, spearheading the effort, took out newspaper ads, rented dozens of billboards and organized demonstrations. Students and family members arranged for special Masses.

The alumni group also hired an attorney, who filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, claiming that it had improperly handled the property when it was in the public domain in the 19th Century.

Mahony also made it clear Tuesday that his decision on the sale of Cathedral is only part of a long-range effort to address educational needs of the inner city and to keep Catholics informed of archdiocesan decisions.

“I tend to be a person who likes . . . to keep our people fully informed of those processes and those steps, so I would expect to continue that direction,” Mahony said.

‘New Challenges’

The archbishop said he plans to issue a pastoral letter on education next spring that will look toward solutions to the “new challenges” posed by growing numbers of poor Catholic immigrant students in the archdiocese. A key part of those solutions, he said, will be to seek more endowments, grants and contributions from Catholics to keep tuitions down.

His first effort, he said, will be to work with the Friends of Cathedral to help raise $500,000 for repairs and earthquake safety measures that will be required to keep school buildings operational.

“Now, we’ll finally be working together to raise funds for the school instead of working against each other,” said Claude Martinez, a member of the Friends of Cathedral board. “It’s a 180-degree change.”

Martinez pointed to the purple-and-white “Save Cathedral” button on his lapel and said: “Done.”