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CNN Live Today

New Catholic Cathedral Opens Today

Aired September 02, 2002 - 10:29   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: At a time when the Roman Catholic Church is dealing with economic problems and sex abuse scandals, a new multi-million dollar cathedral is opening its doors today. Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral is scheduled to be dedicated in just a couple of hours.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez joins us live from Los Angeles with more -- good morning.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well Cardinal Roger Mahoney says that he hopes that Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral will become a spiritual beacon for the area's five million Catholics who live here in the three counties here in Los Angeles.

I want you to take a look right behind me. This is the front of the cathedral. The altar faces east where the sun rises. Now behind that cross are alabaster windows, which are designed to capture light. The architect of the cathedral was from Spain. His name is Rafael Moneo. Now during the opening ceremony, he will pass the plan of the cathedral in a small gesture to Cardinal Roger Mahoney.

Now a few days ago we took a tour of the cathedral, and one look at the doors of that cathedral and you realize that everything inside is done in grand scale. The bronze doors are 30 feet tall and 30 feet wide. Each weighs 25 tons. They were designed by sculptor Robert Graham, who is the husband of actress Angelica Houston. One hundred and fifty artisans worked on those doors. And the altar, the centerpiece of the cathedral, is made of red marble. It's 10 feet long, and the angels on the altar are made of bronze. They're covered in layers of silver and heavy pure gold bullion

Now the sculptor of the alter is M.L. Snowden. She was selected out of 8,000 international portfolios to actually create this alter.

M.L. joins us live now.

Can you tell us what the significance of this day is for you?

M.L. SNOWDEN, CATHEDRAL SCULPTOR: It's been an incredible journey. It's been an immense undertaking to create such a wonderful heart of the cathedral where all the paving stones radiate from this altar.

GUTIERREZ: What was the inspiration of this red altar -- this red marble altar and also the two floating angels on the side? SNOWDEN: There are four floating angels, and they completely surround the heart of the cathedral. And what the angels do is in the four portions of them, they take their composition from the four points of the anointing ceremony, north, east, west and south. And if you circle the altar, every point of it has an angel that's visible.

GUTIERREZ: And what is it going to mean to you today when those doors finally open and you're able to walk into the sanctuary and see them there?

SNOWDEN: The angels reach out to everyone. They're here to guide and protect and to form the deepest hopes and desires, the colonel of faith. And they take all of this beautiful ambient light that comes into the cathedral and they seem to glow from within with it and radiate this out. They're a beacon of love.

GUTIERREZ: Definitely a big day for you and...

SNOWDEN: Wonderful day.

GUTIERREZ: ... big day. Thank you very much.

For all of the artisans who participated in this immense project, there are going to be construction workers here, designers, many people who contributed to the building of this $189 million cathedral. Again, the dedication happens in about two-and-a-half hours. This plaza will be filled with about 3,000 people.

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Again, how much did it cost?

GUTIERREZ: $189 million. And I should say, Carol, that all of that money was donated by the faithful here in Los Angeles and other parts of the country as well.

COSTELLO: Was the money donated before the sex abuse scandals really came out in the news?

GUTIERREZ: Yes, it's -- that's right, Carol. This has been going on for many years. The building of the cathedral itself took six years, and so the money was raised well before that.

COSTELLO: And the people are still happy that they donated all that money to build this huge cathedral?

GUTIERREZ: Well, you know, they are. Those who are faithful say that they hope this will kind of turn things around again and create some kind of a spiritual center for the community. On the other hand, you have protesters who will arrive somewhere around 9:30 this morning, a couple of hours from now out here west, who are expected to protest the handling of that sex abuse scandal within the archdiocese. Also this morning there were people -- protesters on various corners around the cathedral who held an overnight vigil protesting the amount of money spent on this cathedral. Again, though, the archdiocese said all of that money donated. COSTELLO: All right. Thelma Gutierrez reporting live from Los Angeles this morning, thank you.

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