The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-17

New York, August 16.-1t IS remark able coincidence that the death of Bishop Potter who, as head of the diocese of New York was generally regarded as the foremost representative of the Epis- copal church in America, should have occurred just at the time when the cross ing of the vast Cathedral of St. John the Divine the greatest church edifice ever undertaken tn America, with the building of which the bishop was so closely associated was approaching com pletion. Although work on this enormous structure has been under way for the past 15 years the work which is now preaching completion marks only the first stage in it's erection. It probably will require another 50 years to finish this huge church, the planning and initial construction of which was due to the late bishop and which will always re- main as the greatest material monument to his religious career. It was his often- expressed ambition to see erected in New York a temple of worship compara ble in size and beauty to the cathedrals of the old world and it is this dream which
 
 now rising above the city on Morning side Heights is finally completed.
 It is sometimes said that America has no cathedrals. This Is an error, for all though there are on this side of the At lantic no churches that vie with the fa- nous edifices of Europe, there has been a long line of cathedrals in this conti-
 ctra ho trh H. inc erected by the Mexican Bishop of Guadalajara, early in the sixteenth cen tury, to this latest and greatest of Amer ican churches.
 The oldest and in many respects the most interesting of American cathedrals is that in the City of Mexico. Its first stone was laid in 1573 on the site of the ancient Aztec temple of Huitzilotochtli, which was destroyed when the Spaniards cantured the city It was not until 1867 that the main part of the structure was finished and the two towers, each 2o3 feet high, were not completed until more than a hundred years later. The building cost about s2O0O,O00 which is less than has been expended already on the Cathdral of St. John the Divine. It is 3S feet long and TIT feet wide and its interior, which Is divided into five aisles by gilded columns, is gorgeously decorated in ac- cordance with the aim of the mission aries who superintended it's erection to dazzle their Indian converts.
 Three or four miles outside the City of Mexico Is the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which, although not the seat of bishop, ranks as a cathedral. According to the legend believed by US Mexicon and Indian worshipers, this church stands on the spot where the Virgin miraculously appeared to poor Indian named Juan Diego, and gave him roses plucked from the absolutely bar ren hillside. According to the story this happened in 1531 and the church, when finally completed in 1719, had cost more than a million dollars. This church IS closely identified with Mexican history, for Our Lady of Guadalupe was chosen by the native population as it's patron saint and it was around her banner that the revolutionists rallied in the fight for Mexican independence. When this was achieved, December 12, the date or the Virgins legendary appearance to Juan Diego, became a national holiday.
 Canada the northern neighbor of the United States, also has two cathedrals of historic importance. The Cathedral of Quebec. which is the pride of the French Catholics of Canada, was begun in 1866 and was not completed until near the close of the following century It