By Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald

“What influences us more: our faith or our culture?” “Are we believers or consumers?” “Cathedrals or casinos?”

These were some of the questions posed by Jesuit Father Thomas Scirghi during an evening lecture at the Pacific Club in Honolulu, Feb. 28, entitled “Of Cathedrals and Casinos: How Architecture Shapes Us.”

The talk and following discussion was hosted by the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley as a part of its “Theology in the City” program.

After an introduction by the Jesuit School’s academic dean, Jesuit Father Kevin Burke, the 60-or-so people attending listened as Father Scirghi drew out the parallels between buildings and belief with the aid of book excerpts, projected photos of cathedrals and Las Vegas casinos, and his own personal experience exploring both.

Father Scirghi, an associate professor of liturgical theology at the Jesuit School, said that until a few years ago, he had avoided Las Vegas. But when he did visit, he was impressed by “the grand space there.” It eventually got the priest thinking about the similarities and differences between the “grand spaces” of the Catholic Church — cathedrals — and Las Vegas’ glitzy towering structures.

“I would argue that cathedrals reorient us,” said the Jesuit, who is also on the diocesan liturgical committee for the soon-to-be-dedicated $1.9 million Christ the Light Cathedral in Oakland, Calif.

Cathedrals are “oriented towards God, orientated towards the community, and oriented towards this world,” he explained. They unite people from different backgrounds and give them a space of their own.

Cathedrals should make you feel “that we’re entering into a different realm,” he said.

Casinos, on the other hand, he believes are designed to disorient people. They are laid out so that you can’t see down the entire casino floor. Lowered ceilings inside eliminate the sense of grandeur people get when looking at the outside of the hotels. Artificial light and lack of clocks make guests forget the time. All this puts people in the mindset of “for now we are players, we are consumers.”

The “Theology in the City” lecture series was started in 2002 to encourage discussion on Catholic theology and current social and religious issues. The talks are usually scheduled each fall and spring by faculty at the Jesuit School and are offered in seven other cities, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago and New York.

Honolulu is the newest city; the program held its first talk here last year and is planning another presentation next spring. The event is organized locally by a Honolulu committee and invitations go out to a select group and by word-of-mouth.

The series is also planning to open in Denver this year.