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American Morning

Los Angeles Has New Cathedral

Aired September 02, 2002 - 09:39   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles today dedicates a new $200 million cathedral. It is the first major house of worship built in the U.S. in some 30 years. It comes just as the archdiocese is facing a budget crisis, however.
Our Thelma Gutierrez is in L.A. with the latest -- Thelma, good morning.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

You're absolutely right. Now, this is the first time in 25 years that a cathedral has been dedicated here in this country. Now, the final cost of this particular cathedral is $189 million. The cardinal is expecting 3,000 people to attend the dedication a little bit later today. It is supposed to happen in about three hours. Now, this is the largest archdiocese in the entire country, representing 5 million Catholics. If you walk into the cathedral, one of the most prominent features here is the organ.

The Cathedral organ is one of the largest in North America, also one of the costliest, about $2 million. Now, the organ was commissioned from a builder in Iowa. It stands 80 feet tall, and at its widest point extends 28 feet. It weighs 45 tons, 80 including the steel structure. It is encased in cherry wood, and the pipes, about 6,000 in all, were made in Germany. Others were built here in the United States. Some stand as tall as 32 feet. Now, to get the right sound, teams of two have been testing and retesting 61 pipes each day since May.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am in favor of having a new cathedral, but I think that it should be more traditional. It doesn't represent what I feel looks -- should look like a cathedral.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our cardinal has done a fabulous job of gathering together the best artisans, the best taste, and I think it is beautiful, and it is wonderful that we have it in our city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Now, again, that dedication begins about three hours from now, 3,000 people expected here to fill the plaza -- Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: All right. Thelma Gutierrez in Los Angeles. Thank you so much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com