Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-08-26
THE PROPOSED CATHEDRAL.

what Bishop Paret Says About It-Cousider
ations Which Must Guide In the selection.
AS yet the plans as toa site for the cathedra
have taken no definite shape" said Bisho,
Paret in an interview in the Baltimore Sun
referring to the proposed cathedral in this city
and nothing will be done in the matter unit
the site has been selected and the Mnd given
lhis once settled, the project will be vigorously
pushed, and am confident that generous gift,
VIII follow the endowment of Miss Mary Mann
OF washington of land amounting to $50, 900 in
value. No special location is in view as yet
but hope and think the site will be deter.
mined before the coming winter is ended
"A great many considerations must guide
the selection, as the cathedral will be designed
more for the use Of future than of present gen.
eratlons. The growth of Washington has been
so great in the short time of the citys actual
existence that 1t can be safely concluded that
the size will be doubled within the next 6fty
years Therefore, the cathedral should be
Quilt In q location that would seem to promise
nearness to the heart of the future rather than
OF the present city. l have no doubt that the
gifts VIII be large enough to make the cathedral
worthy OF the nations capital, as already there
has been deep interest expressed in the un-
dertaking, which originated with two or three
washington clergymen and myself, and was
in May.
After the site is selected and enough money
contributed to begin the building there will
be still much time needed in which to con-
slider architectural designs, which will be de-
termlned In some measure by the location of
the ground: l think the ground should not
cover less than ten acres to satisfactorily &C
commodate all Of the minor buildings which
will eventually form a part Of the cathedral
pile, such as the episcopal residence, the
dwellings, OF the clergy working at the cathe-
dral, schools and institutes. All of this, of
course, will take time, and although the pres
emit generation may see the building begun,
perhaps within the next five years. and the
cathedral in use perhaps in ten, many genera
lions must pass before the original design is
complete. All that we can do is to start the
work, which those who come after may help on,
until perhaps a hundred years from now the
people may look forward to its completion
Some OF the great Catholic cathedrals in
Europe were q thousand years in building
The Cathedral of Cologne was begun l,OOO
years ago and has been completed within my
own lifetime. 1t is the desire to have the
structure erected on q grand scale, and it will
probably cost about 81. OOO, 600 in it's entirety.
The great English cathedrals have been the
work Of centuries, one generation building the
nave, another the chancel, yet another putting
on the transepts, until the original design stood
complete.
There are a number Of Episcopal cathe-
drals in the United States, including several in
western dioceses. The largest and hand
soonest are in the east, among them being the
fine cathedral at Albany, erected through the
energy of Bishop Deane, which is not yet COM
plete, but is in USE The handsome cathedral
at Long Island was built by the A.. T Stewart
estate. and another eastern cathedral i'll use is
at Portland, Me. Bishop Potter of New York
started project to build cathedral in the
diocese and has since raised great deal of
money and examined designs for the archi
lecture.
"A cathedral is. of course the main church
OF a diocese and there the bishop has his chair.
The word comes from cathedra, meaning a
chair or seat. and cathedral is peculiarly the
church of the bishops seat The bishop does
not of necessity live in the cathedral town, but
near it. In considering the question as to
whether or not the episcopal residence will be
changed from Baltimore to Washington after
the proposed cathedral is in use, feel that will
be solved in the next twenty years by the divis-
ion Of the diocese Of Maryland into two do
ceses, with Washington and Baltimore as their
respective centers. There is no disposition
now on any part to make the division, and l
think there will not be for some years to come,
but the rapid growth Of both cisies and their
surrounding country will, 1 believe, inevitably
bring about this result in another generation"