WelCom June/July 2023
A cathedral in today’s city is that city’s question mark!
What do I mean?
Such a building announces the presence of ‘otherness’ – a reminder that there are questions we cannot adequately answer, mysteries we cannot fully penetrate.
A cathedral is a strong statement of faith but also a troubling sign that spotlights one of life’s primary realities: light can be as blinding with its brightness as much as deep darkness can block our ability to see.
A cathedral, in its structure and layout, challenges modern construction thinking concerning motivation, purpose and use of space. Its overall appearance, often especially the interior, can pull the mind into an out-of-body dimension where the non-physical is all but tangible and the human spirit seems at home.
Cathedrals can be dwarfed and easily missed in modern cities. But they are there. Present. They may appear silent, seemingly irrelevant, yet their very presence, usually on very central, if no longer dominant sites, is confronting for their invitation to consider something other than the here-and-now.
Even when a cathedral did dominate a city skyline, it did not exist for itself. Those who recognised its sacred nature and gathered to worship within, were sent out to be its voice by the witness of their lives.
When the mystery of faith is translated into personal witness, cathedrals and all churches become fully alive.
Communist countries turned their churches into museums but, even then, couldn’t silence the Word. Many are now reopened as places of worship.
Was the reason they didn’t destroy these churches because they were too much a part of the culture? Perhaps, subconsciously, there was a need to be reminded that mystery could not be denied expression.
Wellington’s Sacred Heart Cathedral has been without a worshipping community for nearly five years. When closed for earthquake strengthening in 2018, St Teresa’s Church in Karori was named as the Pro-Cathedral and the bishop’s chair transferred there.
Homecoming still awaits us and funding remains an issue. Despite generous support from parishioners, other members of the archdiocese and people who respect Sacred Heart Cathedral for its heritage and cultural value, there remains a shortfall of over a million dollars.
If you have yet to donate, or are able to give just a little more, please do so as soon as possible. You will enable our cathedral to renew its presence as a pointer to the questions that challenge all of us: What is life about? Why am I here? What difference can I make? What is after life?
