Posted on 11/18/2011 6:11:59 AM PST by NYer
An Orange County bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday that the Crystal Cathedral, a monument to modernism in faith and architecture, will be sold for $57.5 million to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, which plans to consecrate it as a Catholic cathedral.
The ruling was a blow to Chapman University, which had fought bitterly down to the final moments of the bankruptcy case for the right to buy the property as a satellite campus.
It also marked the end of a remarkable chapter in the history of American Christianity, one that was written in glass and steel by the Crystal Cathedral's founder and guiding light, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller.
In a day filled with drama and deep emotion, Chapman had pressed its case with a newly escalated bid of $59 million, only to complain that it had been blindsided by the Crystal Cathedral board, which came down firmly on the side of the Catholic Church.
In the end, Schuller himself gave his blessing to what once would have seemed unthinkable: the conversion of his sleekly modern masterpiece in Garden Grove, a place where fresh breezes blow through open walls and church services feature talk-show-style interviews, into a Catholic cathedral redolent of incense and ancient ritual.
In a letter to the court, the 85-year-old minister said he could not abide the thought that Chapman might someday use the cathedral for nonreligious purposes. Catholic leaders assured him, he said, that they would "take on your calling of proclaiming Christ's message to humanity" and "care for this campus like the treasure it is."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It's a shame you're not the Pope... cause you'd know how to get jiggy wid all dat bling.
What great retorts! Jewels of lucid argumentation! (Reachinbg for a kleenex to wipe off the spittle...)
Accidental truth in journalism.
Ping. I don’t have a cohesive opinion on this one.
Actually it was written in glass and steel by a lot of little old ladies with check books (like my mom).
Where are the “ugly church architecture” crew?
Didn’t the bishop of Orange, Tod Brown, just turn 75 a couple of days ago? Shouldn’t his successor get to decide if the diocese should go deeply into debt to buy this glass-encased tribute to ugliness?
Hey Nyer i tell you one thing Cathoic in OC dirocse got this property as bargain steal be honest land is worth more than Crystal Catherial
I wonder if they going do something about it like remodel or something
They are sure nicer than the modern Catholic Churches, as I was used to all Catholic Churches looking like an Italian Catholic Church.
The modern/newer Catholic Churches are so modern you can't tell who Jesus is, who Mary might be and what all the artistic squiggles, slashes and dashes might be. As for a crucifix, not a chance. Tabernacle, maybe, stuck over to the traditional Mary-side of the altar.
These magnificent buildings WILL improve once they have a Cross on/in/around them.
Besides, the irony of it all is amusing.
And that's in Florida, anyhow, but I guess you just couldn't resist coming on a thread about a cathedral in California just to deposit something in the punchbowl.
Nothing in California is going to be a classic edifice along the lines of St. Vibiana's -- spurned by Mahoney and his ilk.
Renovating this structure will be much cheaper than new construction.
Also, if you look past all the bling and the seating arrangements, and study the floor plan, the building is actually a cruciform design. It could be made to work.
How much of that belongs to the diocese of Orange? They're the ones actually buying the church.
The US has $15 trillion dollars worth of public debt but that doesn't mean that Fulton County in Atlanta can't spend any money.
Get it?
Given the time-honored practice of jackleg lawyers descending on politically convenient defendants, there's a good chance many if not most of these late-filed claims are bogus. That's certainly the case with any other large enterprise with perceived deep pockets. Just ask Coca-Cola about the mouse in the bottle cases.
Thank you for posting such a lovely photo of Benedict XVI. The pope is rich - in virtue. However, he has no physical wealth. When Pope JPII passed away, the media anxiously awaited the reading of his Last Will and Testament. Ir reads, in part:
I leave no property behind me of which it is necessary to dispose. Regarding those items of daily use of which I made use, I ask that they be distributed as may appear opportune.
What a disappointment to so many who subscribe to the notion of Vatican wealth. Everything the pope uses is on loan. It is not his to possess. The same is true of the rich Vatican artifacts. They are considered the patrimony of mankind, entrusted to the Vatican for safekeeping, and cannot be sold or borrowed against. Indeed, the Vatican values them at one euro each for purposes of internal bookkeeping and spends a great deal of money to preserve the treasures for future generations.
If such treasures were sold and the money given to the poor, that money would soon be gone and mankind would be culturally impoverished by the loss of such artifacts into private hands. Besides, it is not offensive to religious sensibilities for a Church to maintain such beautiful treasures for the glory of God. If the Temple in Jerusalem could be richly ordained in order to glorify God and to inspire human worship, the universal Church of God can be richly ordained for the same purposes.
You are most blessed in that a parish to which you do not belong (hence, contribute nothing), has maintained the graves of your 6 relatives, undisturbed, for 125 years.
>>When I asked the church (St Patrick’s) how to go about putting up a headstone, I was told I first had to pay over $1200 in past due maintenance fees.<<
I have my parent buried in a Catholic Cemetery in Cleveland. I’ve NEVER paid a maintenance fee.
Have you contacted the diocese instead?
And, if I remember correctly, Pope John Paul II slept in a room with little more than the bare necessities....almost the same type of room referred to as a “cell” in convents and monasteries.
The building itself where this was located was old and in a pretty bad state of disrepair. I think it has been repaired since Papa Benedict was elected....but it is certainly NOT lavish.
“At least the RC Church will save this as a Cathedral.”
Very true. Thankfully the muslims won’t be able to turn this icon of Christianity in America into a mosque.
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