Groundbreaking Held for Cathedral

In an unpublicized, invitation-only ceremony, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony broke ground this week for the new $163-million Cathedral Church of Our Lady of the Angels.

The ceremony, which saw Mahony at the gears of a front-loader, was the third at the downtown Los Angeles site, across the street from the Music Center at Temple Street and Grand Avenue. There was a ground blessing in September, 1997, which attracted more than 12,000 Catholics and well-wishers--as well as a smattering of protesters. There was also a groundbreaking for the entire project last October, which was disrupted by protesters.

The groundbreaking Monday for the 63,000-square-foot cathedral church itself was kept under wraps. Members of the Catholic Worker, a social justice group that works with the homeless, have previously objected to the amount of money being spent on the cathedral. Donald Nollar, a member of the Catholic Worker, said this week he was unaware of the latest groundbreaking. “Maybe they didn’t want any opposition,” he said.

Asked about the report, Father Gregory Coiro, spokesman for the archdiocese, said, “I think everybody knows the groundbreaking in October was disturbed by demonstrators and we certainly did not want a repeat of that.”