Holy Wisdom: 1952

Most Greek Orthodox churches in the U.S. are small and poor chiefly because of the scattered numbers of their congregations (total U.S. membership: 1,000,000). Ten years ago, while attending services in Los Angeles' tiny Church of the Annunciation, Charles P. Skouras, president of National Theaters, decided that Los Angeles, at least, was going to get a bigger and a better one. This week Archbishop Michael, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in North and South America, held the first services in the $2,000,000 result of Skouras' decision: the Cathedral of Saint Sophia, a white concrete building whose square towers and copper Byzantine domes gave Angelenos at least a hint of its namesake in Istanbul* The new church is a striking mixture of Eastern and Western ideas. It combines Byzantine-style altar screens and air conditioning, painted icons and an ultra-modern public-address system. The architects have even thought of adding wireless hand microphones for clerics to use in church processions.

For ten years Cinemagnate Skouras had planned for Saint Sophia and worked on its construction. He assigned one of his business aides, Artist William T. Chavalas, to the job of decorating the church. To raise money he got the help of his brothers, Moviemen Spyros (20th Century-Fox) and George (United Artists Theatres); among the three of them, the Skourases put up about $500,000.

This week Charles Skouras walked into the new cathedral, looked up approvingly at the chandeliers (redesigned twice before they satisfied him) and the huge painting of the tree of Jesse on the ceiling. Said Skouras, who began his career in the U.S. as a hotel busboy: "This is my appreciation for what this country has done for me. It made me what I am. You build up things and lose your soul, and what do you accomplish?"

*Saint Sophia is not named for a saint; the words are a liberal translation of Hagia Sophia, Greek for "Holy Wisdom."

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