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A memorable
meeting in Los Angeles
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
Those who keep up on Catholic news are aware that the bishops of the
United States meet in plenary session each spring and fall. In June, the
meeting was in Los Angeles. The meeting was reported in some length in
the June 25 issue of The Catholic Moment. This column provides an
opportunity for personal reflections.
The agenda for the plenary sessions of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops is prepared by an administrative committee of 50
bishops: committee chairs and regional representatives. Prayer is an
important part of our activities. There is a concelebrated Mass each
day, of course, and the Prayer of the Hours (Divine Office) is used to
open each morning and afternoon session. The sessions run from 9 a.m.
until 12:30 p.m. and from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. Committee members burn
late-night oil, particularly if they have an action item on the agenda.
In addition, in Los Angeles there was a holy hour with time for the
sacrament of reconciliation.
The site of the spring session varies from year to year. With the
construction of a new cathedral (it was dedicated in September 2002),
Cardinal Roger Mahony invited the conference to hold its 2006 meeting in
Los Angeles. It is the largest archdiocese in the United States, listing
more than 4.3 million Catholics.
Approval of a fresh translation of the Roman Missal captured the media
headlines, but there was more to the meeting. A particularly moving
moment for me came when the bishops of the Gulf Coast dioceses spoke of
the situation they find themselves facing due to the devastation
generated by hurricanes Rita and Katrina. People who have been to the
coast areas universally report the destruction is beyond description.
The emotion in the voices of the Gulf Coast bishops confirmed that.
After the hurricanes, our parishes, to the extent my office can
determine, collected $426,487 which was sent to the devastated areas. It
was a magnificent response. In addition, nine of our parishes are
participating in the Parish Partnership Program run through the Catholic
Church Extension Society. The coast area bishops wanted all to know how
deeply this is appreciated.
Since my return from California, I have pulled up the Web site of the
Diocese of Biloxi. A “Hurricane Photo Gallery Aftermath” is accessible.
It adds to the effort to comprehend. Visit www.biloxidiocese.org. Then
go to “Photo Gallery.”
On its part, the bishops’ conference, confident people do want to help,
authorized a second national collection to assist the Archdiocese of New
Orleans and the Diocese of Biloxi. Most likely this collection will be
taken up after the current hurricane season.
Conditions along the Gulf Coast are described as horrific. One pastor
reports that in one week he had 18 funerals. Sixteen of these involved
suicide. The bishops made the point that it is difficult for people
drowning in uncertainty to have hope. Letting those folks know others
care is important.
Religious (men and women) were anxious to know if the annual Retirement
Fund for Religious, due to expire in 2007, would be extended. Although
almost $500 million has been raised to meet the retirement needs of
religious communities since this annual appeal began in 1988, actuarial
studies show that if no new money is added, the current retirement funds
will be completely exhausted by 2023. The bottom line was inevitable.
The collection will be continued.
When discussion of the new translation of the third edition of the Roman
Missal of Pope Paul VI was placed on the floor, some anticipated
protracted debate. Prior to going to Los Angeles, there were suggestions
that the action item would not receive the required two-thirds approval.
In reality, the debate was minimal. The translation was approved with 62
adaptations to the text proposed by the International Committee on
English in the Liturgy, the translators. The work approved now goes to
the Vatican. It is not known precisely when the final form of the Missal
will be issued. Additional Mass parts must still be translated and all
the nations utilizing the English Missal must give their approval. To
date, only England, Scotland, Australia, Wales and now the United States
have acted. There are 11 nations in all that utilize the English Missal.
Don’t expect it tomorrow morning.
Once hesitant to embrace any word changes in the people’s Mass prayers,
I supported the action item. Study of the issue has brought conviction
that the current translation, although familiar and firmly committed to
memory, is flawed. After the Second Vatican Council, there was an urgent
feeling that liturgy should be made available to the people in the
vernacular languages as soon as possible. As a result, the work of
translating the liturgical texts from Latin into the vernacular was
rushed. The new translation clearly will challenge complacency, but in
fact is more faithful to sacred Scripture.
Concelebrated Mass at the cathedral was a special moment. The historic
cathedral of Los Angeles, St. Vibianna, was condemned after being
ravaged by a major earthquake in 1996. That left the Catholics of the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles without a cathedral. Accommodations for
nearly 3,000 people were needed for special liturgies. Initial plans
called for the old church to be torn down and a new cathedral to be
built on its site. However, historical preservationists demanded that
the old cathedral be incorporated into the new one. Such a proposal was
judged far too costly and impractical. The resolution: a new cathedral
titled Our Lady of the Angels on a totally different site above a major
Los Angeles freeway, the El Camino Real, the route initially blazed by
Spanish missionaries. Three and a half years under construction, the
cathedral is monumental.
Pictures do not do it justice. It must be experienced. A contemporary
design, it is nonetheless reverent. The windows are alabaster. The nave
is 333 feet long. The cathedral rises to 80 feet above the altar. The
building is a massive 65,000-square-foot edifice complemented by a
156-foot campanile, a plaza that accommodates 5,000 people for outdoor
events, a private residence for cathedral priests and a center. Built to
sustain an 8.3 magnitude earthquake, the building actually rests on
rubber isolator pads and sliders that allow it to float as far as 27
inches. The interior of the worship space is pillar free. The pipe organ
is five stories high. Twenty-five huge tapestries depicting 136 holy
people (saints, blessed and anonymous holy people) line the walls of the
worship space, creating a procession that pulls one’s attention to the
Eucharistic celebration.
The altar crucifix presents a 6-foot flayed Christ, misshapen from
swelling, hands in spasm from the nails on a 14-foot cross at floor
level behind the altar. The placement allows people to kiss the feet and
legs of the crucified Christ.
The speaker system is integrated into chandeliers that hang from the
ceiling. Not particularly pleasing in my judgment, the sound system is
nonetheless magnificent. A perennial problem in most churches, a
solution was found in Los Angeles.
The crypt of the cathedral is a mausoleum with 6,000 burial spaces with
back-lighted traditional stained-glass windows from the original St.
Vibianna Cathedral. Most impressive.
As bishops processed into the worship space, a choir led us in the
singing of the Litany of the Saints. English, Spanish and Vietnamese
were the liturgical languages utilized. I was awestruck. It seemed to me
all present were. It’s one of those structures that comes alive with
liturgy. Wow! |
