LeoWong
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@Gianlorenzo wrote:
Nice to have you back Leo.
How are things going in Albany. Have you started fighting the changes yet?We don’t consider it fighting. The parish is “in dialogue” with the diocese.
See also John G. Waite Associates, Basilica of the Assumption.
Leo Wong
http://www.murphywong.net@Rhabanus wrote:
You have my full sympathy, Leo, but I fear that it will require more than Mrs W-S-‘s letter, worthy as it is, and that of the Pastoral Advisory Council to rout the wreckovators.
At any rate, here is the Cathedral Pastoral Advisory Council Letter to the Diocese of Albany.
Surprisingly, the Rector, who was not involved in writing the letter, signed it.
Leo Wong
@Gianlorenzo wrote:
Lee Wong
May I ask why don’t you want to start a campaign to save your Cathedral?
A parishioner has now written a letter to the bishop about the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, NY. A letter from the Cathedral Pastoral Advisory Council may follow.
A Letter to Bishop Howard J. Hubbard
Leo Wong
Writing from a distance, it would seem that mass resignations would be similar to disbanding the Iraqi army after the fall of Saddam Hussein. There are so many in positions that are required to run the Church (don’t know if the Mayor’s resigning would affect anything). Better to reconcile and transition. How much better for everyone (including us in the USA) if the Bishop saw the light and said something to the effect that he now knows that the faithful were right in this matter (c.f. Newman’s “On Consulting the Faithful”) . How much better if FOSCC and the Bishop came to together to show that the fight was not against the Bishop personally, but against a misguided plan proposed by the Bishop. If the Bishop is the man The-Chris knows, this coming together should be likely, for I am certain (even looking on from Albany NY) that FOSCC would be happy to make peace. The-Chris, am I right about the Bishop?
@THE_Chris wrote:
Im not going to get into this debate as both sides are firmly entrenched. But I will say this.
I am a bit disappointed in how the media and everyone on here are labelling John Magee as some form of mad heretic with a death sentence for us all. He’s been portrayed in a terrible way by the media and it seems there is a massive hate campaign against him by all.
I can say with hand on heart, knowing him personally, that is is the nicest man anyone could ever hope to meet. He is the most caring person I know. Very quiet and a bit shy, but get to know him and he is a great laugh, and the kindest man you could ever know.
Unfortunately, the media never acknowledge this, and everyones opinion of him is swayed by that.
He is now scared to leave his house because of the viscousness of this campaign against him. He used to take walks all over Cobh island. He cant risk it anymore. Would you go out on your own having received DEATH THREATS though the mail?
You read that right.
Please, if you want to have a campaign against the reordering then thats fine by me – its your opinion, but dont resort to personal attacks against John Magee. He doesnt deserve that.
I am not part of the campaign, but have been following the events with interest. Kind man and wit though he may be, Bishop Magee has in this instance shown himself to be a poor pastor and a worse catechist. How does one say this in the nicest possible way? How would someone who knows him personally tell him?
@Praxiteles wrote:
Re Cobh Cathedral
I have just come across a very interesting publication to-day. It is a book, published by the FOSCC, in which they outline the case they advanced in favour of Cobh Cathedral at the recent Oral Hearing in Midleton. It makes for some very interesting reading. It is entitled Conserving Cobh Cathedral] and costs a mere Euro 10 with all proceeds going towards defraying legal costs. It is well worth the read!!!
According to The Friends of St. Colman’s Cathedral,
Included in this publication are the submissions from the Friends, An Taisce and the Irish Georgian Society and some of the interesting revelations which emerged during cross-examination at the hearing. Also included is the list of the people whose objections to Cobh Town Council Planning Authority were not read by the Senior Architect who granted planning permission in Sept. 2005. The book cost €10 and is part of a FOSCC fundraising initiative to pay for the costs of the Oral Hearing.
For the USA, the price, including postage, is $15.
I received this yesterday, April 13, from a member of FOSCC:
We heard today that the Irish Planning Board has delayed its decision until May 11th. It was due out tomorrow (April 14th). We are not sure if this is a good sign or not, all we can do now is hope and pray.
Leo Wong
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http://www.MurphyWong.net@Praxiteles wrote:
The second photograph of Albany Cathedral is very interesting for it shows another example of an altar rails crossing the entire width of the church as in Cobh Cathedral. The great Professor Cathal O’Neill, at the Midelton oral hearing, gave us to understand that the rail in Cobh is unresolved and may not even have been installed with the aid of an architect. This was an aberation he intends to rectify. I am not sure how much he knows about the neo-gothic. He did not seem to be aware that it was a fairly standard feature in such churches.
There are of course no altar rails in the Albany Cathedral now.
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, NY USA
From one photo to the next about 50 years passed.
Scanned by Frank Yunker.
@Luzarches wrote:
Dear LeoWong,
I notice that on the website of Immaculate Conception, Albany, there is only one clear image of the sanctuary. This shows a free-standing, almost square altar of a Gothic design. I can make out a stone construction behind it, maybe the cathedra? When was the cathedral first re-ordered? Where’s the old high-altar, the rails etc…? Are there any images of these anywhere?
I am especially concerned that, since the church has appeared to have lost a portion of its original fittings already, any Vosko guided work might be even more drastic. I think it would be prudent to try to extract an undertaking from the authorities at this early stage that items such as the choir-stalls and the pulpit are not at any risk of being removed.
A history of the cathedral may be published this year. It will probably answer these questions. The old high-altar and the communion rail must have been taken down more than twenty years ago. The present altar (on wheels) is made from the old altar and is about 3/7 as wide (if you take the two side panels on each side and put them on the same plane as the present three center panels, you will probably restore the front of the high altar. A photo from perhaps 1952 shows the high altar 5 or 6 steps up from the sanctuary floor. The steps are gone, their place taken by a box that holds speakers for the electronic organ. I don’t know if the rail exists somewhere; the Rector or the historian may know.
The construction is brick, plastered and painted to look like stone. The exterior has a stone “skin.”
@Gianlorenzo wrote:
May I ask why don’t you want to start a campaign to save your Cathedral?
I’ll do as the Spirit prompts me.
@Gianlorenzo wrote:
Lee Wong,
I got it from the Cathedral wet site you posted on #755.
I speak from personal experience of these types of meetings and the manipulative character of them. I am sorry if you are offended or upset by my use of the above quote, but I find the actions of the people involved in this type of manipulative process very offensive indeed.No, I am not offended by you. I just don’t want anyone to think that I am starting a campaign or trying to stir up trouble.
I have been following the Cobh events and have recommended the foscc site to anyone who might listen.
LW
@Gianlorenzo wrote:
It looks as if the “indoctrination seesions” have already begun in Albany. God help them.
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception PARISH NEWS
REMINDER: The first of three informational meetings on the renovation of the interior of the Cathedral will be held Monday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m. in the Cathedral. The topic will be The History of the Christian Place of Worship. Please make every effort to participate in these meetings.Where did you get this? I hope my Rector doesn’t think I’m feeding you this, for I’m not.
Father Vosko’s site: http://www.rvosko.com/
LW
@LeoWong wrote:
St. Joseph’s interior is practically destroyed. The diocese, I believe, at one time sold it to a restaurateur, but now ti belongs to the City or some preservatrion group. St. Joseph’s I believe is older than the Cathedral, and since the Cathedral was Keely’s first church, SJ must have been by a different architect. I shall have to do some research.
LW
SJ is by Keely: http://www.historic-albany.org/stjoe.html
LW
@Praxiteles wrote:
Adolf Napoleon DIDRON, Annales Arché]Renaissance de l’Architecture Chr
@Gianlorenzo wrote:
Mr Wong,
Did anyone tell the authorities in Albany just how important this building is, and that Didron mentions it and tell exactly where the altar was made and who made it. Is it intented to do to the Immaculate Conception what was done to St. Joseph’s in Albany – an even more important church.
Our Rector and our historian love the cathedral, but the Interior committee seem (I can’t swear to it) weighted in favor of Diocesan “faith and worship” members. The consultant is Father Richard Vosko, who happens to a a priest of the diocese and, I’m told “the Bishop’s man.” Moving the altar to the crossing seems a given; even the Rector seems to favor that. Some parishioners will grumble and some may leave, but as I say, the only protection would likely be lack of money, since much else needs to be done (electrical, flooring, etc.) besides any “reordering.” On the positive side, we are also looking to build an organ. How all this works out remains to be seen. Apparently the interior committee makes a recommendation and the bishop decides.
LW
@Praxiteles wrote:
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, New York
My church, also threatened with reordering, and nothing to protect it but lack of funds.
Leo Wong
http://www.MurphyWong.net
