www.eucharistic-convention.com
Catholicism's Canterbury spiritual home in doubt
MIKE CREAN
www.stuff.co.nz – full story here: http://bit.ly/hMmnMr
A dome and part of the tower that supported it tumbled from Christchurch's Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in the February 22 earthquake.
A statue of Our Lady standing on a ledge inside the tower remained standing. The statue was unharmed.
Before the quake, it was facing inwards, where bellringers could see it as they tolled the bells. After the quake, it was facing outwards.
The bells are silent now. The ringers are wondering what message lies in Our Lady's 180-degree turn.
The domed basilica is the spiritual home to the Catholics of Canterbury and Westland. It is also a wondrous architectural statement.
Perhaps even more wondrous is that the building project was funded by a small congregation of mainly working-class Irish immigrants more than a century ago.
The 1905 Barbadoes St landmark was badly damaged in the September and February earthquakes.
Diocesan financial administrator Paddy Beban says no decision can be made yet on whether the building will be restored. Safety, rather than cost, will be the decider.
"The diocese is adequately insured," he says.
The domes on the front towers that stood like sentinels at either end of the colonnaded front both crashed to the ground on February 22.
The larger rear dome that stands above the sanctuary remained intact. Engineers inspecting the building have decided this dome, too, must come down. Its weight is forcing its support structure outwards.
This is the most unstable part of the building, Beban says. Engineers fear a total collapse if another strong quake strikes.
Opus International is planning the complicated operation of removing the dome with large cranes. Beban says no time frame for the work is available, but it has top priority as a safety measure.
Its removal will allow the relocated Catholic Cathedral College to return to its adjacent site and enable detailed engineering inspections of the basilica.
The cathedral has been closed since September 4, when quake damage made it unsafe to enter. Cranes moving in to lower the giant dome to the ground will be further ignominy for a building that has been an expression of faith for generations of Catholics.
The dome has been a significant element in the cityscape since 1905, recognisable to sports fans as a backdrop to the nearby Lancaster Park, now AMI Stadium, and a reference point for travellers on the Port Hills orienting themselves to the land below.
Dunedin architect Francis Petre designed the basilica. He was nicknamed Lord Concrete for his love of the building material that he learnt to use while working on London's docklands.
Petre created a concrete framework for the basilica and sheathed it in Oamaru limestone blocks. Renovations over the past 20 years have replaced much of the stone that had become discoloured and crumbled in the foul air so close to the former Christchurch railway yards and gasworks.
Renowned for its rows of columns and soaring interior vistas, the cathedral is one of Christchurch's architectural treasures.
Banished by ancient religious bigotries to beyond the pale of the central city, it has tended to be missed by visitors who admire the city's heritage buildings.
If it does not rise again, it will be missed much more. Perhaps that is why Our Lady has turned to face outwards to the world.
See video here: http://bit.ly/gwdWNv
Tags: Christchurch, Convention, Eucharistic, earthquake
You will see Our Lady's Statue facing outward in the beginning of this video. Turn up the sound to hear.
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