"Crystal Cathedral" to become an actual Catholic Cathedral?

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ElToro said:
Some window panes are etched but not all of them. It’s remarkable to see the vitriol and outright hate some “Catholics” have expressed for this structure in other on-line forums. Most I would guess have never visited the Crystal Cathedral campus.

The benefits to buying the campus are HUGE. First it’s a good deal in terms of $$$. Second it’s an OC landmark – it would be a great evangelization tool. It would give the diocese great visibility.

It would also keep the bishop and important members of his staff focused on spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not spending the next XY years designing and building a new cathedral.

It would also pull all sorts of administrative and educational resourced together in one central place. Overally it would be a huge win for the Catholic Church.
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They could easily sell their existing Marywood property to a developer and probably come close to breaking even on the entire deal.
 
EasterJoy said:
I don’t think that’s going to happen. A Catholic Church normally has an obvious patron.
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No matter what they call it, I think it would be hard to obliterate the name “Chrystal Cathedral” from popular use.
 
TimothyH said:
My father was a huge fan of Norman Vincent Peale and desperately wanted to contribute the money for one of those crystal tiles but never had the spare cash. If I remember correctly, the names of those who contributed money for each peice of crystal are etched on their respective pane. Does anyone remember if this is so?

My dad listened to Peale’s “Hour of Power” worship programs on the radio and watched it on TV religiously when I was young. I remember all the fundraising as the Crystal Cathedral was beiing built. Given Peale’s reported anti-Catholic sentiments and political activity against JFK in the 60’s, I think it would be ironic if God used Peale to build a Church which would later become a renowned Catholic Cathedral. I must admit that the thought of it does make me smile, and perhapse a bit smug. Lord have mercy on me.

It is a magnificent space. I’m not too sure how I feel about it as a Cathedral though. What ever happens, may God’s will be done.

-Tim-
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I think you mean Robert Schuller’s “Hour of Power.” They did have similar philosophies, but N. V. Peale was in New York.
 
=ElToro;8162137]“Two weeks after announcing it was exploring the possibility of purchasing the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove from the bankrupt Protestant ministry that owns it, the Diocese of Orange has announced it has offered $50 million for the property for use as a new diocesan cathedral.”
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calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=72df5321-1a55-4849-a23e-96e2b526b266
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I hope this edifice becomes an actual Catholic Cathedral. While the I.M. Pei design is progressive it’s also beautiful in person and it’s internationally known. At $50M it would also be about 20-25% the cost of building from scratch. Please join me in prayer.
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THAT FRIEND IS NOT THE “TAKE” I READ. It could happen I suppose, but that was NOT the terms of purchase as I read them eariler.

God Bless,
Pat
 
PJM said:
THAT FRIEND IS NOT THE “TAKE” I READ. It could happen I suppose, but that was NOT the terms of purchase as I read them eariler.

God Bless,
Pat
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So?

The “projected” cost to build a new cathedral in OC is $100M. Based on the cost overruns in LA and Oakland, you can bet it will be more. But that’s not the point.

The Crystal Cathedral campus would cost $200-300M to replicate today. It’s not only the church – it’s several additional buildings, all usable by the diocese.
 
You know, there are some really interesting dynamics going on here.

First, it’s a good deal economically no matter how you slice it.

Second, the campus is a landmark. It’s a tourist attraction. It would give the Catholic Church some real presence in OC. It could be a HUGE evangelization tool IF the Church could actually learn to evangelize.

This has to be personal with Bp. Tod Brown. I’m sure he’s eager to burnish his legacy a little bit and he’s not even going to be able to break ground on his proposed cathedral before his retirement is accepted. This is why I think the diocese will ultimately get the campus – I think it would sweeten the bid if it had to – they still have a ton of money on the table.

I also appreciate the fact that it antagonizes those who feel every cathedral needs to be gingerbread gothic in design. The CC is a well designed building suitable for Catholic worship. I would bet it is superior to anything Brown would have cooked-up. It might do those some good who reject it out of hand to be forced to live with it.
 
From my perspective this would be ironic.

In my archdiocese many Catholic Churches have been closed in recently years and our Cardinal has recently announced 6 more will be modified for “profane” use (I think that’s how they put it, when a church will no longer be a church and can be sold). Quite a few of these churches are now Christian churches. To think a former Christian Mega Church could be a Catholic Archdiocese was inconceivable to me.

I hope it works out for the best, since that is not my archdiocese I’ll refrain from stating my opinion about the architecture.
 
CaptCrunch73 said:
From my perspective this would be ironic.

In my archdiocese many Catholic Churches have been closed in recently years and our Cardinal has recently announced 6 more will be modified for “profane” use (I think that’s how they put it, when a church will no longer be a church and can be sold). Quite a few of these churches are now -]Christian/-] Protestant churches. To think a former Christian Mega Church could be a Catholic Archdiocese was inconceivable to me.

I hope it works out for the best, since that is not my archdiocese I’ll refrain from stating my opinion about the architecture.
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New England is a world away from California. Many, many communities could use additional churches here in CA. One of the problems is the scary-high real estate prices even in today’s market.
 
To the OP you just never seize to amaze me. BTW did you mean that you want them to get rid of the organ?
 
Is it me or does anyone else think that 50 mil could be used on Catholic schools? Saving old churches? Maybe paying for retirement for priest? I don’t know just seems the money could be better spent, but then again who can deny a jumbo-tron and a glass building? Now all we need is a concession stand.
 
CaptCrunch73 said:
From my perspective this would be ironic.

In my archdiocese many Catholic Churches have been closed in recently years and our Cardinal has recently announced 6 more will be modified for “profane” use (I think that’s how they put it, when a church will no longer be a church and can be sold). Quite a few of these churches are now Christian churches. To think a former Christian Mega Church could be a Catholic Archdiocese was inconceivable to me.

I hope it works out for the best, since that is not my archdiocese I’ll refrain from stating my opinion about the architecture.
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In a large diocese with few priests, the need to close churches with low attendance and yet to trade the 850-seat cathedral for one that can accomodate 2,500 is not impossible to imagine.

Raising money is one thing; scaring up priests out of thin air is another.

It is tragic when a living congregation has to disperse, though, even when there are other good ones to go to. Very, very sad. 😦
 
ElToro said:
I must also admit to loving the low price. I would not commission a cathedral like this but a campus like this for $50 in OC? That would be a great deal.

I would also never commission a building who design was constricted by archaic materials and design methods and technology. Some seem to love long, skinny churches not realizing they were built that way due to cost and the availability of building materials in many places.

To be blunt I think Jesus Christ looks down on the Crystal Cathedral with a smile – it’s a well designed worship space. I do wonder about His thoughts on the rest of the campus though. Does he look at the size and oppulance as a negative or does He view the out-of-control spending as a means that will bring the Crystal Cathedral into His Church?
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I’ve been there for their Easter pageant. It’s a gorgeous building.unlike the Los Angeles Cathedral which is redeemed only by its tapestries.
 
archangel04 said:
Is it me or does anyone else think that 50 mil could be used on Catholic schools? Saving old churches? Maybe paying for retirement for priest?
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The current cathedral, Holy Family, wasn’t designed to serve in that function. It originally was a parish church which was “promoted” when the Diocese of Orange was formed in 1976. I have not been there, so can’t say for sure, bu I’ve read that it is considered to inadequate both in size and in facilities. The cost of building a new cathedral, from scratch is estimated to be around $100 million so buying the Crystal Cathedral would actually free up money for other uses.
 
This is a very interesting idea. I used to live in CA and I have been to the Crystal Cathedral for their Glory of Christmas paegent.
It is an impressive building and the grounds are very nice as well.

Maybe it was because I was there to see a show but it felt like a theater. I didn’t have a sense of worship there.

We’ve had speakers or musicians at our church and it was in the church not the hall or anything. It still felt like I was in a church. (Now I’ll admit that it could be because I was in my own parish church so it is my place of worship, but I feel that in other churches I’ve been in.)

It would be interesting if it happens to see how they would or could make it go from tourist attraction to place of worship. (now again it could be all that was missing was a tabernacle with our Lord that made it not feel like a church to me.)🤷
 
Dave_Noonan said:
And at 1/2 the cost and probably 10% of the effort and time spent fundraising.
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You bring up a good point. The planning, fundraising and politicking it takes to build something like this can CONSUME a bishop and members of his staff for YEARS. It’s not a healthy situation.

Roger Mahony who is known to be very technically-inclined was no doubt CONSUMED by the process of creating LA’s Cathedral during about 10 years when his focus should have been on other things.
 
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