Irrsh wrath falls on bishop who wants to redesign cathedral

By Tom Peterkin in Cobh, Ireland, Oct. 19, 2005, in The Telegraph.

A Roman Catholic bishop has caused uproar in Ireland over his plans to redesign a neo-Gothic cathedral built by one of the most celebrated ecclesiastical architects.

Bishop John Magee, a close friend of Pope John Paul II, has been granted planning permission to rip up an historic mosaic floor and dismantle a 100ft marble altar rail in St Colman's Cathedral, Cobh.

The alterations are part of his plan to extensively remodel the sanctuary, nave and transepts of the cathedral designed by Edward W Pugin, a man regarded as one of the most important Victorian architects of the Gothic revival.

Dr Magee, the Bishop of Cloyne and the former secretary to the previous pope, believes the changes are necessary to bring the style of worship in the cathedral into line with Vatican II guidelines that modernised Mass by ending the use of Latin and bringing the priest closer to the congregation.

Dr Magee wants to strip out 20 pews to extend the sanctuary into the body of the cathedral and lower it to the same level by removing three steps. He also wants to bring the bishop's chair and altar forward.

The move requires the removal of large portions of the mosaic floor laid by Ludwig Oppenheimer, of Manchester, who worked on the Co Cork cathedral built between 1867 and 1919.

The delicate mosaics depict religious symbols as well as the harp, signifying St Colman's sixth-century role as the Bard of Munster.

Bishop Magee would also like to redesign the adjacent marble-floored chapel built by Pugin and his partner George Ashlin for the lying in state of a bishop. He wants to transform the chapel into an ordinary mortuary for lay people.

Breaking up the altar rail will deprive people of the place where they have knelt to take communion for almost 100 years.

Although Cobh town council has approved the proposal, the decision has met with a huge number of objections and is now the subject of a legal challenge from the Irish government.

The Department of Heritage has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala, Ireland's planning appeal board, arguing that moving the mosaics is in breach of architectural guidelines.

The state versus Church row has also been fuelled by objections from the Irish Georgian Society and the Friends of St Colman's Cathedral, who have collected the signatures of 24,124 people in the diocese.

"These are drastic changes in this type of church," said Terry Pender, of the Friends of St Colman's. "This is a church where every stone, every carving was done with a particular reason in mind."

Donough Cahill, of the Irish Georgian Society, said: "The cathedral, and specifically its chancel and sanctuary, are an intact masterwork of high Victorian Gothic Revival design and craftsmanship.

"The alterations proposed would greatly undermine the character and integrity of these works and would diminish a major heritage asset for generations to come."

Objectors have cited a letter written by the current Pope in the 1990s referring to the renovation of Carlow Cathedral, Co Carlow, to bring it into line with Vatican II.

When he was Cardinal Ratzinger he said such changes were not mandatory.

Inspired by the great French medieval cathedrals, it is one of the finest examples of the work of Edward Welby Pugin, the architect who designed more than 100 Roman Catholic churches in the British Isles.

Dr Magee was unavailable for comment. But Father Jim Killeen, the diocese spokesman, said: "We are of the opinion that to facilitate the full activity of the people in the liturgy, the structure should lend to the experience of the community celebrating together.

"What we have at the moment is a significant spatial separation between the priest and all the people in the church."