- Interior of the new Interfaith Peace Chapel
The Interfaith Peace Chapel at Cathedral of Hope opened this morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Rev. Jo Hudson, senior pastor at COH, officiated.
“We have many partners here today,” Hudson said.
In attendance were representatives of 17 of the world’s religions.
Among those offering prayers were Cantor Don Croll of Temple Shalom who also presented Hudson with a mezuzah for the chapel. A mezuzah is a parchment inscribed with a prayer from Deuteronomy that is hung on the doorpost of a building.
Tom Metcalf offered a Buddhist prayer, Sister Uma a Hindu prayer and Imam Zia a Muslim prayer.
Elected officials at the ribbon-cutting included Dallas City Councilwoman Pauline Medrano and District Judge-elect Tonya Parker. Medrano presented a city proclamation.
“It looked exactly like what I thought it would,” said the Rev. Michael Piazza, who first walked through the completed building on Friday.
The chapel is only one part of a new cathedral that has been planned for 15 years. The project was the final design of architect Philip Johnson. Piazza said Johnson originally turned down the project because churches take so long to build. The chapel was not part of the original design for the new cathedral but was added later by Johnson because COH needed a smaller space for daily events such as weddings and funerals.
