"High Anglicans might be happy about it, but a lot of other Anglicans are very Protestant, so they don't like a lot of images, they don't want statues of Mary, they wouldn't want stations of the cross around the church, so what you'd have to do is truck stuff in and out."

"The differences between the two churches, such as the ordination of female priests and the doctrine surrounding Jesus' mother Mary, would make the proposal impossible. The Anglican Church split from the Catholic Church more than 500 years ago and had always 'defined itself against the Catholics'", said Grimshaw. To combine into one cathedral now would raise questions about theology, authority and control over the one building.

He also said bringing the Catholic Cathedral into the city centre would be an "incredible political move" because Christchurch was originally meant to be an Anglican settlement. "Everything works against having a shared cathedral."

His comments come after reports that Anglicans in Christchurch are talking about rebuilding a shared super cathedral with Catholics.

Christchurch Bishop Victoria Matthews has confirmed the controversial idea has been discussed informally but is reluctant to speak publicly for fear of killing the possibility.

"There are conversations about this going on, but those conversations are with ourselves," she told Fairfax Media.

"As far as I know there is nothing on the radar."

He said such a far reaching issue as this would have been raised at the recent annual Anglican Diocese of Christchurch Synod and the Vatican would also have to be involved in any discussion.

"I can't image them saying ‘that's fine'." Different faiths used individual churches because "they cater to different styles and personalities", he said.

Christchurch's Catholic Bishop Barry Jones said he struggled to 'visualise' how the two church groups could combine into one building.

Jones was aware Anglican churches in the South Island had been 'very hospitable' to displaced Catholic congregations but struggled to imagine the city's two major cathedrals following suit.

"The really important part is that a cathedral is the bishop's church by definition and how you would have a building that would serve as a church of two bishops, I don't know and I can't imagine it."

Source

• 3 News
• 3 News
• Stuff.co.nz
• Stuff .co.nz

He says legal advice backed by two Queen's Counsel suggested that, under the act, church trustees were obligated to maintain and repair the building.

Anderton said court action could have been avoided if the trust was dealing with a "loving owner", but negotiations with the Cathedral Project Group had broken down.

The judgment was likely to take three to four weeks, Anderton said.

Cathedral Project Group spokesman Gavin Holley said the group was "extraordinarily disappointed" by the trust's action.

It represents individuals, businesses, professionals and local communities who seek to work with the owners of our pre-eminent buildings, and has charitable trust status.

Bishop Victoria Matthews says the Anglican Church has always believed ChristChurch Cathedral could be rebuilt, but the cost would be excessive.

The Cathedral Project Group has been considering an alternative engineers' report that says the ruins of the church are safe for workers to restore.

But the group stands by its decision that it is simply too dangerous, and too expensive, to repair the huge stone building.

The Great Christchurch Buildings Trust was created to help restore the significant buildings in the city.

Source

• The Press
• The Press
• Radio New Zealand
• Image: TV3

The bishop and her companions will visit Britain, Europe and the United States to view 12 cathedrals and relevant buildings.

The buildings to be studied include Coventry Cathedral, which has retained the ruins after bombing during World War II, as well as St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

In Europe, the bishop will view La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, a cathedral that is still being finished.

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The demolition of the cathedral's tower is set to begin today, and it is anticipated that it will take about a week. The highest part of the tower came down in the February 2011 earthquake. It was lowered further by demolition crews last year to make it more safe.

Bishop Matthews stated that those who are protesting against the cathedral's demolition did not understand how dangerous it is to leave the cathedral as it is.

"[Cathedral Square] is not vacant. Many people are working there. It's a very large, very tall building, and we need to have it safe so it doesn't come down on people.

"It was not until December that we understood this was an ongoing seismic process. We were told there was a 79 per cent chance of another 5 to 5.4-magnitude earthquake and we have to think about how dangerous that building will be to people in that vicinity in that event," Bishop Matthews said.

Public opposition to the cathedral's being lowered has been consistent since the announcement in March that it would be mostly demolished.

Mark Belton, Restore Christ Church Cathedral group chairman, said the cathedral was as significant as AMI Stadium and the Arts Centre, and deserved similar financial support.

"We shouldn't be baulking at the cost of the cathedral because it's got to be in that league in terms of importance.

"All that's been said so far in the conversation is it could be between $30 million and $100 million. That's minor relative to those other projects, yet for many people in the city it's much more important."

Mr Belton's group is supported by a petition signed by 100 members of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering.

Structural engineer Andrew King, who is one of the signatories, said that proper consideration had not been given to the cathedral's status as an icon: "Economically it's debatable but money is replaceable, whereas an icon of this sort isn't."

Sources

• The Press
• Image: anglicantaonga