HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle
By RICHARD VARA
Houston Chronicle
Despite overcast skies and chilling winds, more than 1,200 Roman Catholic clergy and laity turned out Sunday to celebrate a ground blessing for a new $32 million cathedral for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
The event was celebrated with choirs, a brass ensemble and a colorful procession of robed clergy, altar servers and teens carrying banners.
Work is scheduled to begin immediately on the 1,820-seat cathedral, with completion in 28 months.
"I am so grateful that so many of you are here to ask God, with me, to place his particular blessing upon this square block upon which will be built the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart," Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza said. ...
Fiorenza said Sunday that he had hoped to be dedicating the cathedral at this time but acknowledged that several events during the four-year capital campaign had intervened and forced a downsizing ofplans.
"First came Sept. 11, a terrible blow to this country and to our hearts," Fiorenza said. "Then there was the collapse of Enron and other large companies based in Houston. The economy began to go south.
"We had to face the terrible tragedy in the church of the clerical sexual abuse of minors."
Posted by kshaw at January 31, 2005 07:17 AM