ARCH B I S HOP
50
St. Mary’s turns
BY ARCHBISHOP SALVATORE JOSEPH CORDILEONE
2
I
n the lifespan of an average person, 50 years would be well along life’s journey, but still well within what we call “middle age.” At this age, those who live life well have been able to learn from their life experiences and yet still have much of life ahead of them to benefit from these lessons. In Church time, though, 50 years is quite young, almost comparable to a newborn baby! We have the great grace this year of celebrating the 50th birthday of our Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption (delayed one year due to the COVID pandemic). This jubilee year celebration brings together both perspectives of time: our cathedral is still new, yet it is already beginning to show that it can stand the test of time with its design, concept and art. It is at once contemporary and timeless. This is the mark of all true great works of art: reflecting the contemporary culture in which it was created and yet transcending that culture to inspire all future generations with its beauty. We have a unique cathedral, literally: the first church built to be a cathedral after the Second Vatican Council. The newly arrived Archbishop at the time, Joseph T. McGucken, advised his architects that he wanted “a cathedral that would accommodate large numbers of people; one that would enable even large crowds to surround the altar; and a structure that would be a statement that God is present in beauty in the earthly city.” In building this edifice, then, the fifth Archbishop of San Francisco was building on his predecessor of a century earlier, the first Archbishop of San Francisco, the Dominican Joseph Sadoc Alemany. ›
