Houston's new Co-Cathedral

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by the way here is the history of the church and why this is a co-Cathedral
archgh.org/cocathedral/dedication/history-cocathedral.htm

*Due to the phenomenal growth in the city of Houston and the consequent increase in the number of Catholics and Catholic institutions, Bishop Wendelin Nold (the first bishop to reside in Houston) asked the Vatican to re-designate the diocese as the “Diocese of Galveston-Houston.” In 1959 Pope John XXIII designated the city of Houston to be an episcopal city, effective on December 24, 1959. This did not change the status of the city of Galveston as an episcopal city established in 1847, the first such city in the state of Texas. With the elevation of Sacred Heart Parish to a Co-Cathedral, it became co-equal in rank with St. Mary Cathedral in Galveston. With this designation, an episcopal chair was also installed in Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral. Full episcopal ceremonies could then be celebrated in Houston, as well as in Galveston. *

As for the poster who was offended that it wasn’t built in Galveston. What part of town are you living on and how do you get through traffic so fast? I drove from sugarland to 45 and calvacde yesterday and it took me almost an hour to do it. I have tried to get to clear lake from sugarland and it takes almost an hour on the sam houston parkway to 45 to nasa road 1. Can you imagine having to drive down there from tomball or spring, the woodlands or even katy? The drive would be way too much. So what are you going to do start all masses at 8:30pm so people don’t have to fight through rush hour traffic? Its not functionally.

Also please remember that we have hurricanes so i can only imagine the evacuation and extra protection needed on the building if it was to be on the physical island. (By the way there is protection on the stain glass to help it stand up to the winds but on the island it would get the full force of winds) The basicalla was one of the few buildings to survive the last big hurricane (1900) but I don’t know if we want to tempt mother nature twice? Also The Pope recognized that Houston is the center of the growth when he elevated it to an Arch-Diocese and the made the bishop a cardinal. Galveston is not the city it once was but I can’t imagine losing the name Galveston-Houston. Its are history and one thing Texans and Catholics have in common is we embrace our history. (Remember the Alamo!)
 
I am so excited for all the coverage. Maybe it will open some people’s eyes to what catholicism and a mass really is. They can see for themselves all the beauty and love being poured out by the people. [Edited by Moderator]

Did you hear the cardinal on KSBJ the other morning before the dedication? So awesome to hear him on the radio.
 
benedictgal said:
I was most impressed with the music. The Gloria from A Community Mass setting is the best English-language Gloria I’ve heard. I only hope that my local Ordinary showed up and took notes.
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Chris Popelka is the new Director of Music at the Co-Cathedral, previously the director at St John Vianney parish. I was honored to have him play at my convalidation ceremony last year at SJV. Chris has an immense God-given talent, and it was no surprise when he was ‘promoted’ from the parish to the Cathedral. I truly miss his talent every weekend, but our new director is no slouch either, just very big shoes to fill. I am so happy to hear all the positive music comments in this thread, perhaps Chris and his associates are reaching out to more people. Bless him!

Going to Mass today at the new Co-Cathedral, can’t wait!!!
 
Light_Seeker said:
Chris Popelka is the new Director of Music at the Co-Cathedral, previously the director at St John Vianney parish. I was honored to have him play at my convalidation ceremony last year at SJV. Chris has an immense God-given talent, and it was no surprise when he was ‘promoted’ from the parish to the Cathedral. I truly miss his talent every weekend, but our new director is no slouch either, just very big shoes to fill. I am so happy to hear all the positive music comments in this thread, perhaps Chris and his associates are reaching out to more people. Bless him!

Going to Mass today at the new Co-Cathedral, can’t wait!!!
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I only wish we had such at our diocese. From what I understand, my bishop (who served as y’all’s auxiliary before he came to us), did go so I’m hoping that something stuck.
 
the KoC are invited to a “special Mass” for next saturday celebrated by Archbishop Fiorenza … i think it had something to do with our contribution of the Blessed Sacrament chapel to the Co-Cathedral…haven’t been able to convince my dw to pack up and lets go since it’s about a 30 minute drive to get there for us

light seeker. please let us know what you thought… the reports of those who took the tour yesterday that made the news were very impressive
 
Light_Seeker said:
Going to Mass today at the new Co-Cathedral, can’t wait!!!
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Just a thought … I would love to take some snapshots inside the new Church, both before and after Mass. Of course, not during.
Is this frowned upon, or violate some rubrics or rules I’m not aware of?

Flash will be off, I don’t want to disturb anyone there praying of course.
 
Light_Seeker said:
Just a thought … I would love to take some snapshots inside the new Church, both before and after Mass. Of course, not during.
Is this frowned upon, or violate some rubrics or rules I’m not aware of?

Flash will be off, I don’t want to disturb anyone there praying of course.
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I wouldn’t take pictures during the Mass unless you’re a member of the media. When I served at the Cathedral, we used to tell relatives of the wedding party to not take pictures–leave it to the people hired to do that job. Of course, the circumstances were different from what you are describing; however, it would be a little distracting.
 
faithfulservant said:
the KoC are invited to a “special Mass” for next saturday celebrated by Archbishop Fiorenza … i think it had something to do with our contribution of the Blessed Sacrament chapel to the Co-Cathedral…haven’t been able to convince my dw to pack up and lets go since it’s about a 30 minute drive to get there for us

light seeker. please let us know what you thought… the reports of those who took the tour yesterday that made the news were very impressive
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Absolutely! I noticed many KoC at the invitational-only grand opening, wasn’t sure if all KoC were invited or only a select few. Gotta work on the DW, 30 minute drive in Houston is nothing for such a special event … takes me 45 minutes to travel the 12 miles to my office daily!

I originally wasn’t very impressed with the architecture, preferring more of the traditional venue. But its grown on me quite a bit, & the statues, glass, Cross, Baptisimal font, and other fixtures & art truly look beautiful in the pictures I’ve seen.
 
Light_Seeker said:
I originally wasn’t very impressed with the architecture, preferring more of the traditional venue. But its grown on me quite a bit, & the statues, glass, Cross, Baptisimal font, and other fixtures & art truly look beautiful in the pictures I’ve seen.
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I, too, prefer the more traditional approach. As I noted in a previous post, the stain-glass windows are too angular and do not have the warmth of those made during the Renaissance period up through the late 19th century. However, when you compare it to what Los Angeles has, it is certainly a far more superior building. If I had to choose between the two, I would have future parishes copy the Houston model as opposed to what LA did. Houston’s looks far more like a Church, inside and out, than does Los Angeles’. The artwork is also for more superior than what LA has.
 
benedictgal said:
As I noted in a previous post, the stain-glass windows are too angular and do not have the warmth of those made during the Renaissance period up through the late 19th century…
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Not having the faintest idea on the science & art of stained glass, I wonder if time, weather, & mother nature will ‘soften’ and ‘warm’ the angularity you mentioned.

Or if this is an example of a lost art & method - similar to a Strat violin or a Rembrandt … techniques once used during the Renaissance that were unfortunately lost and cannot be reproduced.

Or, nothing of the above, just the artist’s choice :confused:
 
Light_Seeker said:
Not having the faintest idea on the science & art of stained glass, I wonder if time, weather, & mother nature will ‘soften’ and ‘warm’ the angularity you mentioned.

Or if this is an example of a lost art & method - similar to a Strat violin or a Rembrandt … techniques once used during the Renaissance that were unfortunately lost and cannot be reproduced.

Or, nothing of the above, just the artist’s choice :confused:
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I would think that it was the artist’s choice. Three of our churches (our Cathedral and her two eldest daughters) have stain-glass windows that were made during the late 19th century. The faces are soft and round, and, look human. Now, in the late 1950s, the Cathedral went through some sort of innovation and rough, angular windows replaced the older ones. These don’t have the beauty that the remaining windows have. When I used to do tours of the Cathedral for tourists, I would tell them that you can denote the difference between the windows by looking at the content. The Cathedral (at least the third edition) was built in 1872. We have a newer window depicting Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to the three children in 1917. That’s who you can tell (along with the stylistic differences).
 
The new cathedral glorifies God in so many ways from the little I see in the video and photos that its difficult to choose what to comment on. I appreciate the traditional architecture as opposed to say that of Los Angeles or the under construction cathedral in the Diocese of Oakland. Not overstated it is distinctly Catholic. The 40 foot stained glass of Christ is magnificent as are all the other stained glass. The statues in what I presume are nooks with side altars lift ones heart in communion with the saints to the heavenly Father. Hopefully there is some recognition of say the Divine Mercy or other saints such as St. Catherine Laboure or Bernadette which were not shown. This is a fitting this house of worship for the faithful who in their piety apparently mortify themselves in worship and prayer by dispensing with kneelers at the pews. It is truly lovely Cathedral.
 
hazmatdude said:
The new cathedral glorifies God in so many ways from the little I see in the video and photos that its difficult to choose what to comment on. I appreciate the traditional architecture as opposed to say that of Los Angeles or the under construction cathedral in the Diocese of Oakland. Not overstated it is distinctly Catholic. The 40 foot stained glass of Christ is magnificent as are all the other stained glass. The statues in what I presume are nooks with side altars lift ones heart in communion with the saints to the heavenly Father. Hopefully there is some recognition of say the Divine Mercy or other saints such as St. Catherine Laboure or Bernadette which were not shown. This is a fitting this house of worship for the faithful who in their piety apparently mortify themselves in worship and prayer by dispensing with kneelers at the pews. It is truly lovely Cathedral.
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Did I read your post correctly? No kneelers? What were they thinkikng? What was Archbishop Fiorenza thinking? :eek:
 
Can’t wait to tour the Cathedral. Our RCIA class alums and team are planning on attending Mass there , hopefully in the next couple of months. Like others have remarked, I wasn’t too impressed with the initial look, but it certainlly has “grown” on me as well. (And Orthodox friend of mine was very pleased it had a Byzantine dome on it and faced East. 😃 )

Hi FS! Good to see ya here! 😃

DId I read that right? No kneelers? :eek: note to self. Get knee pads!
 
Cairisti said:
Wheew! That’s a relief! I thought I’d seen some in that picture before, but thought maybe the old eyes were playing tricks.

Thanks! 😃
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Yes, thank you for that clarification! 👍 I was beginning to worry about y’all in Houston. I thought for moment that Houston really did have a problem. 😃

I may be heading to College Station on a business trip so I’ll take a side trip to Houston to visit. It is near that other cathedral (the one dedicated to shopping), the Galleria?
 
benedictgal said:
I may be heading to College Station on a business trip so I’ll take a side trip to Houston to visit. It is near that other cathedral (the one dedicated to shopping), the Galleria?
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😃 🙂 😃 🙂

Nope. Its downtown.
 
benedictgal said:
I may be heading to College Station on a business trip so I’ll take a side trip to Houston to visit.
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Actually, if u are planning to visit & want to experience something really special, visit Annunciation Church in downtown too, right across from the ballpark. Its a beautiful traditional small Church that celebrates TLM occasionally. A good picture can be found here

I’ve taken several of my out-of-town visiting family there, they were iinspired. And these family members are ultra conservative ortho-roman catholic, if there was such a term. Very beautiful parish.
 
You have a magnificent new co-cathedral. I pray more churches are built to look like this, because the basilica shape – not the Roman circus – is the Christian tradition.
 
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