Irish row over proposed cathedral renovation:

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.

Interesting. Magee was, indeed secretary to PVI, JPI and JPII (the last for four years) That link is to a John Allen story on Magee, after the death of John Paul II.

Here’s the bishop’s letter to the diocese on the redesign

The interior, which actually doesn’t look that bad to me – heck, I think the altar in our church, built in the 1950’s, and renovated since, is farther away from the first pews than this one is. The exterior setting of the cathedral is pretty awesome – right there on the water. Never seen a cathedral perched quite like that before.