GARDEN GROVE – The Roman Catholic Diocese is exploring the idea of buying the Crystal Cathedral, which has been struggling financially for the last four years and is in bankruptcy.Read the rest here.
The Diocese of Orange released a statement Wednesday morning saying that Bishop Tod D. Brown has authorized The Busch Law Firm and other diocese advisers to "explore the possibilities" regarding Garden Grove's glass cathedral.
Doctrinal differences aside the Romans used to know how to build churches. I mean really beautiful ones. What happened? The last time I was in an RC parish it had all the aesthetic charm of a Greyhound bus station.
6 comments:
"...'it is prudent to evaluate the opportunity to engage in the pending auction of this property and to mitigate the chance that it ceases to function as a place of worship, if acquired by others,' Bishop Brown said in the release."
The Power of Positive Thinking = worship?
Actually, compared to some churches that the Catholic Church has built, the Crystal Cathedral could be a bit of an improvement. See Cathedrals in Los Angeles and San Jose.
Mr White, good observation as always.
I think Mr. Lichens means the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland. The Basilica of St. Joseph in San Jose was built in 1877, and while not quite my cup of tea, is nothing like in the league of the Oakland and Los Angeles monstrosities.
Recently I saw some pictures of the Cathedral of Christ the Light. It is ghastly. It is typical of how things have run amok since Vatican 2.
When I was a seminary student at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, our main chapel, dedicated to St. Turibius, was raped. There is no other word. All of the beauty and majesty was destroyed, and was remade to look like the Bat Cave (which is what many of us called it.) Thankfully, it is now being properly restored.
Just my opinion, but I think that while the Crystal Cathedral is fine for Robert Schuller's ministry, it has no place whatsoever for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Fr. Yousef, your are right and I can't believe I got my cathedrals confused! Mea Culpa!
Also, I don't care for the Crystal Cathedral at all. I think it looks like Sony found religion. I mostly just find it more appealing than half the dog piles my bishops have erected over the last half century.
A final note, I can't help but to laugh when I hear that the Power of Positive Thinking couldn't stop bankruptcy.
There is actually a helpful blog for cathedrals in CA:
http://www.cathedralsofcalifornia.com/
It has a map of all cathedrals, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Episcopal.
What is it in Oakland? The Greek Orthodox Cathedral there is weird too: Star Trek does Byzantium: http://www.groca.org/?page_id=2500
Bp. Tod of Orange has asked publicly asked that his retirement next year be deferred so he can build a cathedral before retirement. If he gets his wish one doubts that the result will be better than the Crystal Cathedral, and it will be more expensive too.
None of these structures, (well the built ones, who knows what is in Bp. Tod's imagination) are as awful as the Los Angeles Cathedral. I will go sometimes to the LA one to venerate the relics of St. Vibiana, and of our Lady of Guadalupe, which are treasures even in that place.
I have a bone to pick about Greyhound terminals. The nearest Greyhound terminal to the Los Angeles Cathedral, (they are in walking distance) is Los Angeles Union Station: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_%28Los_Angeles%29
It is lovely. Much nicer than the cathedral. And more like a Church for that matter.
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