The following is from an October 3 letter to Oakland parishes from Very Reverend George Mockel published on the diocesan website:
To Parishes and Friends of the Diocese of Oakland,
This communication is to give you an update on the construction and design issues at the Cathedral Center that we first reported last fall.
These issues include water intrusion at various locations and excessive deflection or sagging of floor slabs in the Chancery, rectory and parking garage. The Cathedral of Christ the Light, which is a structurally separate building is generally unaffected.
Last fall we closed the B1 level of the parking garage to minimize further deflection and relocated employee, event center and weekend Mass parking to the adjacent Kaiser Center parking garage. Since then, we have completed a number of interim repairs to assure the continued safety of Cathedral Center occupants and visitors, including modifying fire doors so they shut properly, clearing obstructed fire sprinkler heads, and making temporary leak and plumbing repairs.
At the same time we have taken these corrective measures, as part of our legal action against the designers and contractors, our legal team and expert consultants under the direction of the Cathedral board of directors have thoroughly documented the construction and design issues we have discovered. Because multiple companies and suppliers were involved in the design and construction, the research necessary to establish accountability for the issues we have identified is time-consuming and complex.
I want to assure you we are doing our utmost to address the construction issues thoroughly and expeditiously. The Diocese remains committed to legal action to ensure that the responsible parties pay for the necessary corrective work.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Very Reverend George Mockel
Vicar General
Chair of the Catholic Cathedral Corporation of the East Bay
Our deli went through this. Everyone points fingers at everyone else.God help them!
Built at a cost of $175-190,000,000 but apparently not “for the ages.”
Fire & Life Safety remain Major Issues at many parishes.
I myself have witnessed packed gatherings where there were open flame candles sat next to paper decorations, and stereo fueled food warmers sitting atop rickety tables ready to collapse.
The Fellowship of such events was great – the Safety of the Parishioners was a Disgrace – and guess which won the day, so far.
WE Badly need Safety Training and Monitors – lest something truly bad happen to those present.
I have provided electric cord protectors to safeguard wires run under carpets, lest they trip up the celebrants. This is a Huge Liability – not just in terms of money but the safety of the Parish – and I wonder who if anyone is minding the store?
What is in the picture? It looks like aliens have landed.
Yes, Sawyer, “alien,” indeed– and even worse, inside! When I first saw the designs, I was horrified! I asked for explanations of the strange, “alien” plan, based on the astrological symbol, “Pisces,” and other strange, unChristian things. Before all of that– I tried to contribute names of outstanding, traditional, talented Catholic religious artists and architects, plus beautiful examples of their work. Very few were interested– and all such ideas, from others, too– were vehemently refused, by a cathedral board who said they all were “Catholics in recovery” from a “brutal Catholic childhood”– and they did NOT want– a “Catholic cathedral!” Very SELFISH of them! So be it. Tragic!
Would this have happened if they had built a church that was a monument to God instead of to man?
Have you even been inside this place you’re criticizing? If you had been inside you should notice the large pixellated image of Christ adopted from Chartres Cathedral in France. The structure is definitely built for Christ, not for man. It would have helped if you had gone to the place first before spewing out your ignorance in such a public way. I’m embarrassed for you.
Sorry, jon, but the very strange Cathedral design, is the result of very troubled people, not enthusiastic, devout Catholics!
I’m sorry LMaria, but unless you can demonstrate that you’ve diagnosed clinically the architects and designers of this Cathedral for any psychiatric or psychological malady, and unless you can demonstrate that you have a license to make such a diagnosis, your words here are bunk. BUNK!
,jon, you need to LISTEN to what others in a group have to say! You do not need to hire some fancy, over-educated, immoral, un-Christian psychiatrist, to analyze what a group says! Just listen, and then draw your own conclusions! If they do not accept your views, then gracefully bow out, and leave, and go do something else! Our bishops are in charge– and THEY ALL HAVE FAILED IN THEIR RESPONSIBILITY, jon! EVERYONE AND HIS DOG KNOWS THAT, jon!! Go take your “psychiatric case” to Bishop Vigneron– NOT ME!
P.S. You can see for yourself– this is NOT a traditional Catholic cathedral- NOR WAS IT INTENDED TO BE ONE, jon! That is all there is to it! NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND– WOULD EVER CRAZILY PRETEND THIS IS A TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL! THE CATHEDRAL BOARD SAID THEY DID NOT WANT ONE!! ARE YOU LISTENING?? THEY ALSO SAID THEY DID NOT WANT A CATHEDRAL DEPICTING THE TRADITIONAL, HIERARCHICAL, AND ORTHODOX CATHOLIC CHURCH—- BECAUSE THEY FELT ABUSED BY IT!! Got that, now??
It is a metaphor for the Church leadership——full of fault, most grievous faults.
Yes it is quite alien indeed, just an ugly un-Catholic Novus Ordo temple, keep on moving and seek out the Traditional Latin Mass our souls are in peril.
its sterno, not stereo.
Where were in-process inspections to insure construction to plans and building codes?
A monument to God would still be constructed by humans.
Ster-No Indeed – a highly flammable substance that liquifies and if spilled can spread fire in all sorts of places.
As for the Stereo – Durn Spoolchuckers got me again.
Reminds me of the nuclear power plant in San Onofre.
The picture is of the cathedral, not the chancery building on the other side of the plaza which is the subject of the letter.
I call those posts which stick up at the top of the cathedral the “crown of thorns.”
This situation is truly a financial catastrophe. A cathedral/chancery complex that was built with insufficient funds, leaving a huge debt on top of Oakland’s already massive indebtedness. Bishops Cummins, Vigneron, and Cordileone have much to answer for in this debacle.
Thank you, the post has been updated.
was a thorough enough inspection carried out before the firesale acquisition?
I am glad for many reasons that I don’t live in California, and I’ll add that ugly
structure that you call a church to my list.
San Onofre Power Plant?? The Plant had two semi spherical reactors side by side. Safety regulations required a bright red light at the top of each reactor. At dawn or dusk, when the lights were on, and the outline of the reactor shell still visible, from the I-5 freeway, the reactor shells looked like only one thing many can think of. There were more than a few local vulgar nicknames.
Oakland Cathedral/Chancery not even close.
What is “weekend mass parking?”
Margaret: Parking for the large numbers of people who attend Saturday vigil and Sunday mass. I’m not sure where you are from, but very few Bay Area churches come with parking lots like suburban churches do. Most Churches negotiate with local authorities to allow double parking and parking on the median. A few negotiate with a nearby parking garage for discounted rates. Some people actually pay more to park than they put into the collection basket. It’s a little bit of a nightmare! I’ve only been to this Cathedral for Mass once, and we ourselves went by BART train, which is a whole lot easier than trying to park.
Whenever I have a chance to stroll by Lake Merritt, I think it is such a shame, that the Diocese of Oakland could not bless their Catholics, with a beautiful, truly inspiring Catholic Cathedral, even a small one– to grace the Lake! Many non-Catholics in search of a church, also might find God, in a beautiful Catholic Cathedral, by the Lake, and join the Church! What a shame! I do not like to go there for Mass, Adoration, nor for any religious devotions, at all! Painful!
LM, I respect your aesthetic tastes, but I’d like to tell you a story. In many decades of living in the Bay Area, I had never walked around Lake Merritt. One day, we decided to go. Gorgeous day. Lots of families, birds, and that aweful green algae. Across the lake, we spot this beautiful modern building and had no idea what it was. We got there, realized it was this very cathedral, were amazed by it. We resolved to return on a Sunday for Mass. Looked up when Bishop Barber – a wonderful Jesuit – was celebrating, and went. A great experience, a beautiful Church, much moreso inside even than out. And kudos to Bishop for publishing the “Stational” Mass. Amazing confessionals.
Your Fellow Catholic– glad you respect my aesthetic tastes! Glad also, that you and your loved ones found much good in this Cathedra! The Stational Mass, Bishop Barber (and his good sermons, too, I bet!) and you also liked the Confessionals! Confession is a wonderful and important Sacrament– glad it can do you and your loved ones some good, in this Cathedral! I, myself, am not comfortable with the design of the Confessionals! Our Church suffers much in today’s world– so, I am glad, that even if some Catholics like me, cannot stand a Cathedral like this one– glad it does good for others! Christ is there, still, even if I do not like this Cathedral!