Yes, Orange County, CA gets lots of sunshine. No, the Chrystal Cathedral is not a greenhouse. That matter was thought through when the church was designed. I have been inside on several occasions on sunny days. It is quite comfortable inside, and it does not cost a fortune to maintain comfortable temperatures.
It is a beautiful house of worship with a spectacular pipe organ. Obviously, it will require the design and building of an altar. Also, the addition of kneelers, although it would be nice if they could do so while keeping the existing pew seats which are quite comfortable.
In my opinion as a former resident of the Diocese of Orange, every diocese should have a beautiful and functional cathedral as a focal point of community worship. The Chrystal Cathedral would meet the needs of the diocese at a significantly lower cost than building a new facility from scratch.
We not live in the Diocese of San Bernardino which includes the Counties of San Bernardino and Riverside. As I recall, SB is the largest county in terms of square miles in the US. Riverside is about 4 times the size of Connecticut. The diocese was spun off from San Diego. Our cathedral is an old attractive but relatively small former parish church. Numerous diocesan services have to be moved to relatively new and much larger parish churches.
The Catholic Church in Southern California is vibrant and growing. Our Sunday Masses are full to standing room only in many parishes. We need more churches but we have a tremendous shortage of priests. Nearly all parishes in our diocese have only one priest.
Two months ago, I attended Sunday morning Mass in my former high school parish in New Rochelle, NY. A church that was chock full of worshipers 50 years ago was only 20% full for the 9AM Mass. Yet, the parish had three active priests and one retired priest in residence. It would be nice if my present California parish could “borrow” one of those priests.
Pray for Vocations!
Prayer For Vocations
Lord, Jesus Christ, You are the Saviour of the world.
Please manifest in Your church, the Spirit whom You also abundantly bestowed on Your apostles.
Call many to the priesthood and religious life.
May zeal for Your glory and for the salvation of the world inflame those You have chosen.
May they be saints in Your likeness. May Your Holy Spirit strengthen them. May they be priests and religious according to Your own Heart.
Amen