First there was:
Then:
And now:
What is up with Catholic Cathedrals in California? Is is something in the water that causes Bishops and Cardinals to lose a Catholic aesthetic taste and to turn to architecture that will not stand the test of time?
Will the Mass in the Crystal Cathedral be known as the “The Hour of Eucharistic Power”?
Just how much of people’s tithes will be going to supplying Windex?
Should Canon Law be changed to restrict bishops from buying protestant cathedrals just as they are ready to retire? He actually passed retirement age two days ago. Or is this the greatest practical joke ever from a bishop to his successor? Maybe this is a very interesting challenge for his successor to transform the interior, though considering paying $57.5 million for it there is not going to be any money left from a diocese already in financial difficulty as a result of the abuse problem.
25 comments
Did they manage to buy it? I thought someone else did.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-crystal-cathedral-20111118,0,3449359.story
I guess they did.
You forgot St. Mary’s in San Francisco
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/St_Mary's_Cathedral_-_San_Francisco.jpg
What’s in the water out there?
Of the three you illustrated, the CC is the best of the bunch, compared to Stalag Luft Mahoney and Diocesan Affairs International.
What bothers me the most is that the Bishops/Cardinals don’t seem to realize it’s NOT THEIR money they are spending!!! It belongs to the people in the pews.
Here is a perfect opportunity for a diocese to build a truly beautiful Catholic house of worship, but oh no, they decide to buy an ugly glass structure with a past.
The Orthodox are building beautiful Churches. Catholics are buying protestant Churches, because they don’t have the talent to build their own. Seems pretty obvious to me. The US Catholic Church’s hierarchy, have an agenda. And that is to rid themselves of thousands of years of tradition.
For me, this is a return on investment.
Back in the 70’s and during the time of rampant Church confusion and syncretism, my wife and I used to occasionally listen to Robert Schuller. Studying psychology in grad school at the time, his preaching resonated with me because it was loaded with humanism extolling the psychology of man and salvation through self-improvement. Schuller was collecting money for his dream of a crystal cathedral and we sent a donation, receiving in exchange a plastic star simulating a piece of crystal. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that 35 years later, that small donation would help build a future Catholic cathedral. Now I am curious how they will reconfigure the interior so that it looks like a Catholic Church. Please don’t keep it protestantized just to make those vacating the place feel ‘less bad.’
I just want to say that pertaining to the Oakland Cathedral of Christ Our Light, Archbishop Vigneron (former bishop of Oakland, current bishop of Detroit) inherited that cathedral from his predecessor (at least that is what I have been hearing).
They should totally modify the Code because there are so many Catholic churches that look like Protestant churches. Heck, where I went to college, the motherhouse of sisters who used to own the place had a chapel (wreckovated to the max) that my friend said looked like a Shinto shrine she saw while studying abroad in Japan.
We went to Mass last week at St Patrick’s Cathedral during a visit to New York City. Now, that’s a cathedral!
I agree with the rest of you on the aesthetics. However, they’re just that, aesthetics. Building churches that look like 13th century European Gothic cathedrals is no more Catholic than a Hasidic Jew in Brooklyn, NY dressing up like an 18th Century Eastern European looks Israelite. Past churches were built with the aesthetic sense of their time. I’m sure some were aghast at gargoyles being used as gutter spouts. Or flying buttresses leading to ever higher ceilings. Modern architecture will be around for at least the rest of this century. These churches won’t be outdated anytime soon. Let’s spend our energy on evangelization.
Yes, I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned these Cal-thedrals won’t stand the test of time. That is the most disheartening thing about bishops spending large sums for these cathedrals that will almost certainly be considered mistakes in the not-too-distant future. At best, they will look “dated” very quickly. A true cathedral has a timeless, never trendy, beauty. Any pastor (of a parish or a diocese) should carefully consider the impact of any of his major decisions on his successor who will have to inherit them. I think they are doing a disservice to the Church if they don’t.
elleblue: It would cost a LOT more to buy land in Orange County, tear stuff down, and build a new one. It is much cheaper to buy and renovate this one. But it’s still ugly!!!!!
This goes a long way in proving that everyone in California is nuts.
Jester said:
“Just how much of people’s tithes will be going to supplying Windex?”….(Carl Sagan voice: “BILLIONS & BILLIONS”)
Sid: I live there (here?) and…and…YOU’RE RIGHT!!
Rev. Flapatap: been to St. Pat’s many times…stunning!
ALL: come see the Cathedral of The Blessed Sacrament for a righteous Cathedral in CA: http://www.cathedralsacramento.org/tour(2mb).mov
more on the Cathedral in Sacramento, CA:
http://www.diocese-sacramento.org/diocese/cathedral.html
Sir Bedevere: Good. So how do you tell whether she is made of stone?
Peasant 1: Build a cathedral out of her.
Sir Bedevere: But can you not also build cathedrals out of crystal?
Peasant 1: Oh yeah.
These sorts of stories infuriate me! As Catholics we have a rich heritage of architecture that we should look to when building our churches. How can someone possibly look at those cathedrals and not cringe?
gailf
Bishop Brown already bought land for a new cathedral, Christ Our Savior. It’s been sitting vacant for about 5 years. There’s a parish started there that’s been meeting in the nearby high school.
Not only did Brown buy CC, he is giving away St. Callistus Parish, with a church that was completely redone 10 years ago.
And you want me to contribute to the Bishops Stewardship Appeal…again?
I havent given to the usccb since 1965 and this just reinforces my belief they still don’t know what they are doing, so who put these goofy bishops in control?
First the Raj Mahal, now the Todd Mahal. They are tootin it’s a great deal considering it would cost over 100m for Christ the Savior to be built.
Jane: Oops, did not know that.
Considering how much the diocese has been saying this is a great deal for a cathedral, they better not skimp on making the interior, if not the exterior, look Catholic.
Bishops ought to stay out of areas beyond their expertise: music, architecture, politics, economics, art, etc
They should get more involved with what is their business and what they seem to know least about: how to evangelize the world. What, for instance, are they doing to bring the Gospel message to the 1 billion Muslims worldwide? Ought not they hear about Jesus Christ and God’s plan of salvation. Is there a USCCB website for “Muslims Come Home?” Doubtful not, because that would make too many of our bishops eligible for martyrdom.
Some good news:
New Vatican commission cracks down on church architecture
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/inquiries-and-interviews/detail/articolo/architettura-architecture-arquitectura-10121/