Would you believe it if I told you that this was a Roman Catholic church ?
When the tour bus stopped , I seriously thought that maybe we were at some sort of planetarium or a site dedicated to extra terrestrial beings .
Officiated in 1971 , the year I was born ( wow ! ) ,Pope John Paul II only celebrated the first papal mass here in 1987 .
Wonder if the loooong wait , had anything to do with the ultra modern expressionist structure which undoubtedly , was and still is , way too futuristic in design .
Were the architects Star Trek fans ?
How they managed to convince the Vatican to approve it in the first place , shows that the Holy See are not so backward and fuddy duddy eh ?
Just don't know what to make of the prayer hall . Priests , pews and altars are probably the only familiar sights .
Mass was conducted in Tagalog today .
According to our guide , the Filipinos were the first people to migrate to San Francisco , well before the Chinese .
Chandelier ?
Art structure , statement or what ?
When the mass ended , one priest headed here to this grotto while another stood in the front to conduct baptisms and blessings
Beside that was a suspended pipe organ piece .
What a minimalist church indeed . This is like the Ikea version of Roman Catholic churches !
Glad they didn't decide to over modernise the altar reliefs .
When I looked out at the large windows , it was ironic that City Hall would have a traditional dome reminiscent of those we find in Rome .
Pressed forward for a pic . It's a bright and sunny day and I am still trying to get over the shock of all that minimalism .
As I made my way out ,past this beautiful mum with her baby, the big guy at the door told me
" hope to see you again "
I tossed my head back and let out a devilish laugh . Gosh , I don't know what came over me .
Why you might want to head here : the small shop downstairs has medallions from Lumpini , Italy which I did not even know where to find when I went to Rome . Wait till mass is over and join the queue of the faithful to get them blessed .
Location : San Francisco
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