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Tribes Stop Cathedral Construction
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The Gabreleno/Tongva Indian Tribes successfully won their bid to halt construction of the new Roman Catholic "Queen of the Angels" Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles.
Concerns by local tribes arose when it was announced that the Temple Street parking lot location was to be converted into the new home of world's largest Roman Catholic Archdiocese by late 2001.
"There has long been a belief that this area is the site of one of our ancestral villages and ancestral remains were found here during construction excavation in the 50's" Angie Behr, Gabreleno/Tongva and member commissioner of the Los Angeles Indian Commission said.
The new cathedral site was chosen after Cardinal Roger Mahony lost his battle to demolish the old St. Vibiana Cathedral which had been severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake; demolition was stopped by the Los Angeles Conservancy after winning an injunction in Superior Court against the Archdiocese.
When the Archdiocese was served a "stop work order" by the Los Angeles Superior Court, Cardinal Mahony asserted his right" as head of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles, to do with the property...