L.A.’s New Roman Catholic Cathedral--A Place of Faith

One line stands out in your feature “Mother Church of a Secular City?” by Larry B. Stammer, Aug. 25: “The challenge will be, is it going to be a cathedral of power or a cathedral of the people?”

The power of the church--not merely a cathedral--is the people. The church, we tend to forget, is built not of inanimate stones or bricks, but of living stones and bricks--the people! And the mortar that holds those bricks together is not cement but unified faith.

Perhaps the church has to learn one important lesson from all that is going on--to rely less on the public relations and marketing mavens and more on the Holy Spirit.

Jerome Wilson Lloyd

Woodland Hills

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When I read about the prices regarding the 1,300 crypts and 5,000 niches that lay beneath the cathedral that are up for sale, I was sickened to be a Catholic and embarrassed to be from L.A. once again. This isn’t the “Hollywood Walk of Fame.” This is the very foundation of what religion and church are supposed to be about. The cathedral should be a place for people to congregate together under one roof in prayer; it should not be for sale.

Brittan Brown

Valley Village

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Perhaps if Cardinal Roger Mahony hadn’t been so preoccupied with more important matters like the financing and marketing program for the cathedral and the $50,000 crypts under it, he might have been aware of the kid-glove treatment given priestly child molesters in his archdiocese.

Charles F. Queenan

Encino

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The article states: “There is the risk that the cathedral with its enclosed plaza will come off as a sacred precinct.” Well, that’s exactly what a cathedral is in the Roman Catholic tradition, “a sacred precinct,” not a secular building for only the wealthy, or a building dedicated to tourists, businessmen and greedy politicians!

Antonio A. Badilla

Simi Valley