Evening star., 1943-08-01
Decision Of Convention
to Affect Cathedral
By James Waldo Faiecett.

NS'CAopAiiS vi tilS-
Diocese of Washington to Episcopalians
everywhere was strikingly demonstrated
when, last Thursday, diocesan conven-
ton, summoned to elect bishop in sue
cession to the late Right Rev. James z.
Freeman" voted to recess" until after
the General Convention of the Profess
tant Episcopal Church, at Cleveland.
October 2.
An ordinary diocese would not have
waited. The reason for the delay arises
from the fact that the Washington Do
cese is different from all other ecclesi-
astical jurisdictions. 1t contains the
Capital of the United States, and, as was
pointed out at Thursdays meeting, the
Capital of the United States Is the most
important city in the modern world"
The Diocese of Washington also IN
cludes the completed portion of Wash
ington Cathedral, designed to serve as "a
house of prayer for all people; and at
the general convention nine weeks hence
friends of the project confidently expect
that action will be taken in final and
conclusive recognition of the status of
this unfinished fame on Mount st. Al
ban. 1t was intended as national
cathedral; it has been regarded by the
generality of both the clergy and the
laity OF the church in that light; it now
supposedly is about to be accepted as
such in the formal organization of the
church.
The general convention also must
elect presiding bishop-whose chair
already is waiting in Washington Cathe-
dral. Upon the character and PERSONAL
ity OF the man chosen to the highest
office OF the church the pace of progress
at Mount st. Alban will depend. If he
Is an enthusiastic builder, the business of
completing the fabric will prosper.
Convention Decision Vital.
But-at least under prevailing con-
ditions-the responsibility is not solely
that OF the presiding bishop. 1t rather
Is the duty of the Bishop of Washington
to finish the structure which, however
national its connotations, is primarily
his own diocesan seat. Until the gen.
eral convention and the diocesan con-
ventlon and the Chapter of the Cathe-
dral have changed existing regulations.
1t will be the obligation of Bishop Free
mans successor to press on with the
task from the point where he necessarily
dropped it when he died June 6.
Several different policies are before
the church for study.
were the proposed alterations made.
the presiding bishop might take over
the obllgatlon for the continuance of
the development of Mount st. Alban.
1t likewise is possible that he might
share 1t with the new Bishop of WASH
ington. Should the general convention
fail to act, the Cathedral In the Ma
tons Capital would remain what it was
IN Bishop Freeman's time and. to a
lesser extent, in the conception of both of
his forerunners-Right Rev Henry Yates
/ Satterlee and Right Rev Alfred Hard
ing. That is, it would be "a house of
prayer for all people and "a witness to
| Christ at the center of the Nations
life but not by formal stipulation the
headquarters of the Protestant Episco-
| pal communion
10 understand the present problem IL
| Is helpful to know that the movement
In behalf of Washington Cathedral il
older than the diocese of Washington.
II began as a national enterprise under
the leadership of the Right Rev. VIII
liam Paret, bishop of Maryland. in 1891.
The charter of the Cathedral Founda-
ton was granted by Congress in 1899.
Two years later, the diocese of WASH
lngton, consisting of the District of CO.
lumbla and the southern part of Mary
land, was "set off" from the old diocese
of Maryland. Bishop Satterlee was con-
secrated first bishop of the new iuris-
dlction in 1896. Shortly thereafter the
Cathedral Close, tract of 81 acres at
the intersection of Massachusetts, and
Wisconsin avenues, was acquired
Bishop Satterlee, who pioneered the
Cathedral as a temple worthy of the
living God" laid the foundation stone
and died within few months after that
ceremony, February %, 1908 He had
survived to kneel in prayer in his own
room with the walls hung with the pre-
liminary drawings for the Cathedral
made by George F. Bodley of London
and his pupil, Henry Vaughan of Boston
The architects actually to be credited
with the fabric as it stands today, how
ever, are Frohman. Robb & Little, who
were engaged in 1917
Achievement Thus Far.
Bishop Harding, consecrated in 1909
inherited hole in the ground" Exca-
vatlons had been started for the Beth
lehem Chapel, the first unit of the Ca
thedral structure Opened in 1912, this
crypt portion of the edifice was the scene
of the funeral of former President Wood
row Wilson in 1924
During the two decades of Bishop
Freeman'S episcopate, approximately
three-fifths of the entire Cathedral con-
struction project were carried to fruition.
He supervised the building of the greater
part of the apse or corona, most oil the
under structure" of foundation walls
and CryptS. the whole great choir, the
chapel of the Resurrection, the chapel of
ST Joseph of Arimathea, the chapel of st.
Mary, the chapel Of ST. John, the chapel
of the Holy Spirit, the children's chapel
tall of the last four of these on the main
floor, the north transept, the north
porch, the south transept Except for
the entrance portion, the first bays
of the nave, the Pilgrim steps, the walls
RI 1la,, fi,Nr Sc L.