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Cost of Perth Cathedral blows out 64.5%!
...and some deeper questions!
Dear Friends,
As explained in the forum last night, there'll be no lead commentary today simply because I've been flat out working on a few future projects for Catholica. More about that in coming days. We're burning the midnight oil here are the moment, as well as all this we have to re-record a song of Milly's we had a go at the other night — a new theme song for one of the schools here in Parramatta diocese — but the dame isn't happy with that version so we're gunna "do it right this time"! (I actually loved the first version so I'm particularly looking forward to what she's come up with in the new version.)
I must say there's a tinge of envy involved in the headline story today. Last night at the end of my day's work (about 3am this morning in fact), I ended up on the Archdiocese of Perth website searching for something and ended up looking at progress on the new cathedral. For a couple of periods in my life that was my home parish and spiritual home. From that point of view it is something of a thrill to see it finally nearing completion. I was surprised to find though that the cost had blown out from the original $20m the Archbishop mentions in the appeal and project launch and it now stands at $32.9m. Together with the rebuilding of the Cathedral at Bunbury, which was blown down in a storm a couple of years ago, the cost of the building work on these two cathedrals in Western Australia is now around $50m. I suppose the "boom State" can afford it.
As I said though there is a touch of envy in watching what's happening. I wasn't invited to take a ticket on this particular gravy train and that still hurts a little. Perhaps the decision was correct. I do tend to ask too many difficult questions and as the archbishop himself said to me at one point "Brian, you are too intellectual" in an echo of Pope Benny's words (which at that point I was not even aware of — see the quote at the end of this post if you are not sure what I'm referring to.)
I am actually in favour of spending a lot of money on our Cathedrals and principal places of worship. In a sense it is a necessary cost. At the same time I seriously think we in the Church need to be paying a lot more attention to some deeper, more intellectual questions. If we don't these "cathedrals" are going to be soon classified as "white elephants" or "museum curiosities". That string I've just provided a link to is opening up an interesting discussion on some of these core questions of what we believe, and why — and why we ought build, or maintain, this expensive infrastructure. Ultimately Barry Hickey and Gerry Holohan — the Archbishop and Bishop of Perth and Bunbury respectively — are not going to be held accountable for how many millions they raised, or what magnificent edifices they left as a legacy. The big question they face, and which we all face, is whether we succeeded or not as communicators in making the insights of Jesus Christ relevant in people's lives. We cannot go around blaming the rest of the world when we went off on some personal wank* trying to pretend we alone had access to truth when quite plainly the vast majority of the educated world no longer buy that wank.
Come back to some of these difficult questions we're trying to get our heads around in this Catholica community. Comments in the string I have already provided a link to led me last night to trying to provide some concise summary of what this "Jesus endeavour" is all about. I'd be interested in your perspectives on what I wrote in the following four short paragraphs:
Two realities:
1. All of the great religious paradigms are essentially trying to deal with three questions: (i) finding an explanation as to why Life and Creation is as it is; (ii) seeking to honour, worship, and/or offer sacrifice to this Power and Creator who is perceived to be the cause, animateur and destination of Everything; and (iii) to try and explain why Creation carries so much pain and incomprehension.
2. (i) and (ii) above are fairly easy to get our heads around. (iii) is the more difficult. Why is Life filled with so much pain, and so many unanswered questions? Why can't it all be pain-free and rational? Why so much mystery, irrationality, and so many stupid questions which we don't have answers to? The great religious paradigms are all essentially seeking answers — a coherent, rational explanation — to these questions. In Christianity, Jesus Christ is the answer to that. Even the Son of God himself did not escape suffering, irrational thinking and behaviours, or the lived experience of "not knowing". Jesus Christ is essentially not some mascot whom we worship as we might honour some earthly hero, sporting star or courageous soldier who defends us. Jesus Christ is, quintessentially, the model and pathway through the vicissitudes of life. Jesus Christ is essentially the emissary, sent by none other that God's Godself, who shows us how to navigate through the vicissitudes of life and, like an alchemist, turn the "pain and mystery" of Life into the very fuel and sacrifice that makes our lives "golden, noble and ultimately meaning-filled".
How else do we explain all the pain and shyte we have to put up with in our lives?
<Please feel free to add your thoughts in this string on the forum. Do you agree or disagree?>
www.catholica.com.au/forum/index.php?id=26119
*An explanation for those who are offended by the use of this term: it is used in the colloquial sense of an activity engaged in for no productive end other than the pleasure of the person engaging in the activity.
The photographs at the top show artists' impression of St Mary's Cathedral, Perth, (on the left) and St Patrick's Cathedral, Bunbury, on the right. Here are links to the relevant websites where you can view videos and see photographs and find out much more information about these major building projects.
www.stmarysappeal.com.au
www.perthcatholic.org.au
www.bunburycatholic.org.au
Large image on the ABC website of Bunbury Cathedral impression
The challenge we face at Catholica is not dissimilar to the challenge faced by Archbishop Hickey and Bishop Holohan. Good communication is expensive - it's also far less tangible than "building cathedrals". Albeit that we are not in the league of raising tens of millions of dollars our initiative does have an ambition to eventually provide an alternative perspective to the perspectives provided by the likes Zenit and EWTN which do have to raise tens of millions of dollars a year. We believe it is about time their theological perspectives and perspectives on spirituality and what Catholicism means began to be seriously challenged. Who, precisely, decided they have some monopoly on Catholic "truth"? |
