WELCOME TO THE
CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL
OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF HOBART
The Eagle
Installed in St Mary's Cathedral: 2022
In the beginning was the Word
The Cathedral’s new ambo takes the form of an eagle. Of the four evangelists, John is most closely associated with the Word, owing in no small measure to the opening passage of his gospel: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).
The eagle is one of the faces of four living creatures of the prophet Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel 1:10 (human, lion, ox and eagle). It is entirely fitting, then, that in our liturgy of the Word, we should read the Word of God from a lectern comprising the symbol of John the Evangelist. In Christian art, the eagle often represents the resurrection and ascension of Christ because the sight of an eagle rising in flight is a powerful one.
