Crystal Cathedral win was miraculous, legal firm says [CNA]

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Orange, Calif., Nov 28, 2011 / 07:25 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Orange beat all odds in their winning bid for the Crystal Cathedral because their final offer was less than their competitor, says the Busch Firm, which represented the diocese in court.

“A true miracle!” said founder Tim Busch in reaction to the news.

The firm was shocked that the Crystal Cathedral Ministries board chose the diocese’s $57.5 million offer for the bankrupt cathedral after Chapman University upped its bid to $59 million on Nov. 17.

Although bankruptcy Judge Robert N. Kwan allowed the board to choose from either offer, the majority of its members sided with the diocese since it would “protect the campus as a place of praise and worship and would provide a smoother transition,” the firm said.

The Crystal Cathedral purchase will close on Dec. 30, 2011 and is slated to meet the needs of the 1.2 million Catholics in Orange County—the 10th largest diocese in the nation.

Bishop Tod D. Brown vowed on Nov. 17 that the diocese will “protect this wonderful structure as a place of worship and will soon provide our Catholic community with a new cathedral, pastoral center, parish school and more.”

The bishop also offered his sympathy to the cathedral’s founding pastor Robert H. Schuller who filed for bankruptcy last October after creditors sued for payment.

Purchasing the Crystal Cathedral was an attractive option since it provides an instant solution to the diocese’s building needs and will cost roughly half the $100 million needed to build the cathedral planned for Santa Ana.

The liturgist for the Orange diocese, Monsignor Arthur Holquin, said on July 26 that several changes will need to take place in order for the Crystal Cathedral to become a Catholic worship space.

Along with a central altar, a tabernacle and a baptismal font, the building would need a “cathedra” or bishop’s chair. While renovations are needed to the building, “not much deconstruction would be required and the iconic personality of the original architecture and design would, for the most part, be retained,” he said.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/si7t3dl2GX8

Full article…
 
We’ve been discussing this on the News forum. At first I felt sorry for the Crystal Cathedral members, loosing their beautiful world-famous church like that. I even wished they could have kept it. But when the bidding war was heating up, with the Crystal board and its members siding with the Chapman University, I held my breath for the Diocese to get it, and of-course, they did! Thank God!

Some Trad Catholics hate it. They think it’s a modernist monstrosity- Which I truly find weird, because I have always thought it looked kinda catholic! I’ve always found it beautiful. If they do a good job with it, the interior just looks perfectly Catholic! Add in a beautiful alter, tabernacle, line the walls and corners with beautiful life-size statues or icons, and it’s good to go!
 
The building’s new purpose will be an improvement from its previous purpose (yes I said that).
 
It seems a bit ostentatious.
Yes, but still cheaper than building a smaller building on less land. So can we really call it ostentatious?🤷

Mary, I think the problem many traditionalist have with it is that it will be difficult to incorporate the things mentioned into its established architecture. With the big organ up front, it may prove difficult to find the space for a tabernacle and altar of an appropriate size and style to be noticed against such a backdrop. 🤷 I personally think it was a good deal, and will work out better than some of the monstrosities that pass for Cathedrals in that part of US. 😉
 
It seems a bit ostentatious.
And a lot…um…ugly, IMO. Lookes more like a convention center than a church.

But I won’t have to attend there so I guess it’s none of my business. Good luck to the diocese. 🙂
 
We’ve been discussing this on the News forum. At first I felt sorry for the Crystal Cathedral members, loosing their beautiful world-famous church like that. I even wished they could have kept it. But when the bidding war was heating up, with the Crystal board and its members siding with the Chapman University, I held my breath for the Diocese to get it, and of-course, they did! Thank God!

Some Trad Catholics hate it. They think it’s a modernist monstrosity- Which I truly find weird, because I have always thought it looked kinda catholic! I’ve always found it beautiful. If they do a good job with it, the interior just looks perfectly Catholic! Add in a beautiful alter, tabernacle, line the walls and corners with beautiful life-size statues or icons, and it’s good to go!
Kneelers
 
I’ve been inside it for a wedding back in the 90’s.

It’s so very Protestant and in my view, not very beautiful. I wasnt touched or impressed by it.

Ah well…🙂
 
I’ve been inside it for a wedding back in the 90’s.

It’s so very Protestant and in my view, not very beautiful.

Ah well…🙂
Exactly. I guess I’m a little spoiled here in Virginia. Some of the old church buildings are being rebuilt in a more traditional style or a very agreeable contemporary style (my parish). Some of the new parishes are building huge churches also to keep up with the influx of Catholics (like in Leesburgh).
 
Exactly. I guess I’m a little spoiled here in Virginia. Some of the old church buildings are being rebuilt in a more traditional style or a very agreeable contemporary style (my parish). Some of the new parishes are building huge churches also to keep up with the influx of Catholics (like in Leesburgh).
While it doesn’t compare to Chartres, it is amazing. However, having lived for over 50 years in California (45 in San Francisco), I will admit all that glass makes me nervous
 
While it doesn’t compare to Chartres, it is amazing. However, having lived for over 50 years in California (45 in San Francisco), I will admit all that glass makes me nervous
People in glass cathedrals shouldn’t throw stones. 😉

Sorry, couldn’t resist. :o
 
News reports have mentioned that there was going to be a purchase-leaseback arrangement for three years. If this is still part of the deal, the diocese will not begin remodeling the premises for at least three years.

I have no opinion on the architecture, but as mentioned above by sallybutler, I feel all that glass should be some concern in California.
 
If I’m building a cathedral from scratch, it wouldn’t look anything like the Crystal Cathedral. It’s pretty tacky. However, it’s really no worse than the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angeles, which is virtually indistinguishable from the Los Angeles Metro Detention Center.

I’m not joking. They’re both downtown, right off the 101. Giant, sand-colored blocks of stone with really narrow windows. It’s weird. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been like, “Hey, it’s the cathedral. Whoops, just kidding, that’s the jail.”
 
I havent followed the story much.

Is the plan to totally gut the place and re-do it over?
 
News reports have mentioned that there was going to be a purchase-leaseback arrangement for three years. If this is still part of the deal, the diocese will not begin remodeling the premises for at least three years.

I have no opinion on the architecture, but as mentioned above by sallybutler, I feel all that glass should be some concern in California.
Netnewyork mentioned it (at 12:11 minutes) that the diocese wouldn’t take control until 2014: youtube.com/watch?v=rSvnecRA19U
 
I havent followed the story much.

Is the plan to totally gut the place and re-do it over?
I don’t know, but like the other posters I’d be concerned about a glass structure in Southern CA. It doesn’t matter how well designed it is. Doesn’t anybody think anymore? 🤷
 
I’m sure the Japanese were confident about their nuclear plant too. :rolleyes:

Ok, I’ll stop now. 🙂
 
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