Ireland's Wrath Falls on Bishop Who Wants to Redesign Cathedral

[Courtneyjo]

“Bishop John Magee, a close friend of Pope John Paul II, has been granted planning permission to rip up an historic mosaic floor and dismantle a 100ft marble altar rail in St Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh.”[Ireland]

“Dr Magee, the Bishop of Cloyne and the former secretary to the previous pope, believes the changes are necessary to bring the style of worship in the cathedral into line with Vatican II guidelines that modernised Mass by ending the use of Latin and bringing the priest closer to the congregation.”

“Objectors have cited a letter written by the current Pope in the 1990s referring to the renovation of Carlow Cathedral, Co Carlow, to bring it into line with Vatican II.”

“When he was Cardinal Ratzinger he said such changes were not mandatory.”

telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/19/ncath19.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/19/ixhome.html

 

[Joan_M]

Actually, the renovation of Carlow Cathedral turned out very nicely. I am originally from Carlow, and the Cathedral was my parish church.

I heard all about the hoo-ha that happened when the renovation was posited. I also saw a picture of the renovated interior, but most of all, I had the opportunity to visit the Cathedral last June, when on vacation. Although the altar rail is gone, the renovation is definitely not a wreckovation! The Cathedral is, in the main, still the same Cathedral.

Sometimes we get ourselves up-tight over changes that may not be as bad as we fear…

 

[Della]

I can understand why people have fears of their parish church or cathedral being “wreckovated.” I’ve seen enough of these to be wary, too. In the cathedral in St. Cloud, MN, the bishop had his chair put atop a stairway several steps high behind the altar so that he, not the altar or a crucifix or (God forbid!) the tabernacle might be the center of attention.

And in the Seminary Chapel of St. John Vianney within the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, a monolith–like the one in 2001: A Space Odyssey–occupies the place behind the altar where the tabernacle once resided. God alone knows what they were thinking or what the stupid thing is supposed to represent. It’s got some lines on it sort like a Frank Lloyd Wright design that might be wheat, but if it is, whoever made it sure went out of his way to make it as obscure as possible. :whacky:

As for the tabernacle, it’s been relegated to a side chapel, even though the Seminary Chapel isn’t any sort of tourist spot but is the main chapel for the seminarians. As far as I can see, there isn’t any good reason to have done any of these things to these once beautiful houses of worship. No @#$%^ good reason for it at all!

 

[Franze]

I love the old things, it´s a pity,this news.

 

[Ivornotion]

Della:

As far as I can see, there isn’t any good reason to have done any of these things to these once beautiful houses of worship. No @#$%^ good reason for it at all!

I agree, if it’s not broke don’t fix it, we had our own Church adjusted as well.

The original Tabernacle behind the altar now has a chair where the priest sits, and the new Tabernacle is to the side.
Plus a statue of Jesus and Mary were removed, and were never returned, even though a priest told me they would.

Oh well as long as we have Jesus in the Eucharist, that’s what matters most.

 

[grotto]

Oh, just another hoo-hah - getting upset over things that just may not be so important! I’ve heard that one before and the one about bringing things in line with Vatican II and that the Latin Mass is no more. I have a different description of what all that is and it ain’t “hoo-hah”! smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_9_4.gif

 

[JimG]

“Dr Magee, the Bishop of Cloyne and the former secretary to the previous pope, believes the changes are necessary to bring the style of worship in the cathedral into line with Vatican II guidelines that modernised Mass by ending the use of Latin and bringing the priest closer to the congregation.”

I could be wrong, but I don’t think there was anything in the Vatican II documents relating to ending the use of Latin, eliminating the altar rail, or bringing the priest closer to the congregation.