Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

Steve Lopez’s July 6 column “Downhill From Temple and Grand” does the Archdiocese of Los Angeles a disservice. Jeff Dietrich and Catherine Morris (and many people not necessarily associated with the L.A. Catholic Worker) have criticized Cardinal Roger Mahony for spending millions of dollars to build the new cathedral complex. They talk as if the money were going down a black hole. That money is employing many people, from the architect, engineers, contractors and construction workers in many trades to the artisans whose works will be inside the structures.

I don’t remember what the projected cost was to repair the St. Vibiana Cathedral and bring it up to earthquake code, but it also was substantial. To some, there was a significance to having a cathedral on skid row, in the midst of the poor. Unfortunately, the two times I was there, the cathedral complex was walled and locked and shut off from the people on the street. I don’t believe that St. Vibiana was originally built in a poor neighborhood; as the center of the city moved, and the neighborhood was neglected, it became a center for the poor.

The Vatican’s and the U.S. bishops’ instructions insist that the accouterments used during worship and surrounding the worship be of good quality. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles can afford the cathedral complex because of the generosity of wealthy donors.

Barbara Durand

Thousand Oaks