A leading liturgical expert whose writings have been endorsed by Pope Benedict XVI yesterday argued that proposed alterations to St Colman's Cathedral in Cobh should be referred to the authorities in Rome to see if they are necessary.
Dr Alcuin Reid, whose book, The Organic Development of the Liturgy, carries a foreword by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the current Pope, yesterday argued that the changes proposed to the cathedral are not required by the liturgy and should not go ahead.
Under Section 57 of the Planning and Town Act, 2000, both the planning authority and An Bord Pleanála are obliged to respect liturgical requirements in any application relating to proposals for places of worship.
Dr Reid yesterday told the oral appeal hearing into an application by the trustees of the cathedral to alter the sanctuary and altar areas that he believed the proposal was a preference rather than a liturgical requirement.
He said he knew of no document of the Holy See that would view the proposal to reorder the church as a liturgical requirement, and he believed the burden of proof that it is a requirement must rest with those proposing the reordering.
He also said that given the large numbers of people opposed to the changes, the reordering may be "pastorally disastrous".
Dr Reid also argued that the liturgical requirements set out by the trustees of the cathedral were the preferences of one style of a generation of liturgists and ecclesiastical architects originating from the 1960s and 1970s.
Dr Reid was giving evidence on behalf of the Friends of St Colman's Cathedral, a voluntary group which has collected over 24,000 signatures opposing the proposed reordering. The group has appealed the decision of Cobh Town Council to grant planning permission for the changes.
Earlier, canon lawyer Alan Kershaw, also testifying on behalf of the group, argued that the proposed alterations were a preference or a desire, and to claim that they were a requirement was incorrect and misleading.
The hearing also heard evidence from Noel O'Driscoll, secretary of An Taisce in Cork, who echoed the concerns of Dr Frederick O'Dwyer, of the Department of the Environment, on whether the technical expertise exists to remove and re-lay historic mosaics near the altar.
Mr O'Driscoll said that one of the proposals involved the cutting up and redistribution of the altar rails but, he said, the historical justification for this was dubious as it depended on an early architect's engraving of the cathedral showing no altar rails.