The author seems to think that this former Protestant church can’t be re-purposed into a Catholic Cathedral, as if it is somehow permanently tainted. Strikes me as more of a rant than a reasoned argument.
Not holding my breath waiting for a dignified and Sacred Tridentine Mass to be celebrated in that monstrosity. A Woodstock Mass, sure.
It seats several thousand. If you can fill it, its a good buy. If you can't fill it, go and evangelize and fill it.
The Crystal Cathedral is a house of God. Hundreds of devout Christians worship there each Sunday.
I sure don’t think so! It has been my understanding that Catholic churches and cathedrals were created to reflect the glory of God and as such were made as beautiful as possible. Have you seen the Crystal Cathedral? It is one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen! That’s just my opinion and today, many modern Catholic churches are also ugly IMO. Even if they got a good deal on it, I think it is a mistake.
No. I don’t understand it.
the meaning of thhe church is much more important than a mere building. must have been a slow news day, ir the press is trying to stir controversy
If you want to see an ugly cathedral go to downtown Los Angeles and look at the Our Lady Queen of the Angels (AKA the Taj Mahoney). It looks like a giant warehouse. What a waste of money. I think it is good that the Diocese of Orange County is not wasting money like Cardinal Mahoney did. He insisted that his cathedral had to be bigger than Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Mahoney was a disaster.
Crystal Cathedral Ministries is a Christian denomination rooted in the Dutch Reformed Church that has numerous ministries and outreach programs. I disagree in many ways with their theology, but to say that the church is merely about self-promotion is grossly misleading.
And as for "modernist styles," how about the ultra-modernistic Our Lady of the Angels cathedral in Los Angeles? That could very well be the ugliest house of worship in the entire world.
Excuse me, but our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, a living sanctuary of God. Enough of this worry if a physical building is acceptable.
What is it with the churches nowadays, these, whatchamacallit, gothic churches. Bunch a hooey if you ask me. All that expensive glass, huge windows, and fancy foo-fillerey, bah! Nothing but the futurist scribblings of a bunch of over-educated folks that went to expensive universities in France. What we need is a timeless style, something that goes back centuries. What's wrong with the Roman-style we used to use?
“How to convert a building like this and at the same time disassociate it from its founder and his theology?”
Doesn’t Crystal Cathedral have or had a big statue of Bishop Sheen in it? And it seems to me that a bishop has a lot to do with how ‘to disassociate a building from its founder and theology.’ For good or bad, sometimes starting with a Catholic building from scratch and disassociating like crazy. So go find the most liberal bishop you can, ask his advice, then do the opposite.
Freegards
yes...if the price was right...
An article written by a person with apparently little knowledge of the situation in the Diocese of Orange. I lived in this diocese for 24 years. It was spun off from the LA Archdiocese, and one of its existing larger Catholic parish churches, was turned into a cathedral. It was totally inadequate.
An opportunity to secure an existing house of worship that is 4 times the capacity, plus office and meeting space which will meet the diocese needs for a long time was a near miracle, especially considering the price.
The location is central to the entire diocese. I am confident the diocese has the ability to convert this facility into a beautiful Catholic cathedral. Certainly, it will be a far more fitting cathedral than the one built in LA by Cardinal Mahoney.
As to the Rev. Schuller, I wonder how many Catholic priests could have accomplished what he did building-wise. Plus, fill it to capacity every Sunday.
Designed to win Architectural awards,yet it was beat out by the small THORNCROWN CHAPEL in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
Only if he intended to demolish it and replace it with something that looks like a Catholic Church instead of some fantastic skating rink.