The following comes from an April 22 Orange County Register article by Deepa Bharath:
Faced with major cost overruns in renovating the Christ Cathedral sanctuary, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange has moved to rein in the project’s construction expenses and streamline operations at the sprawling campus, church officials said this week.
The diocese bought the 34-acre campus for $57 million in 2012 after its former owner, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral Ministries, filed for bankruptcy.
Since acquiring the property, however, the diocese has suffered growing pains – including spending millions of dollars to repair and renovate existing buildings on the property, managing increased operational costs and handling the task of renovating an iconic Orange County building that attracts visitors from all over the world.
Some have suggested that Bishop Kevin Vann borrow from local parish programs, schools and priests’ retirement funds to get the cathedral built. But that proposed reallocation of money raised concern among Orange County Catholic families who collectively shelled out tens of millions of dollars in the massive fundraising campaign to benefit the diocese.
“Despite the desires of some to have a shiny, almost new cathedral ready for worship as soon as possible with a ‘damn the cost’ mentality, the same folk are now learning that most people (you and me out here in the trenches) are fine with less … especially if it keeps everything within budget,” said Father Fred Bailey, pastor of Santa Clara de Asis in Yorba Linda.
The burgeoning cost of renovating the cathedral has spread concern around the diocese, which is home to about 62 individual parishes or neighborhood churches.
“The local parish is where Catholic life thrives,” said Father Bailey, who is a member of a new board overseeing the renovation project. “This is where weddings, baptisms and funerals take place.”
Bailey says he does not want to see renovation efforts take precedence over needs of local parishes and programs.
His congregation “reacted with shock and dismay” when they heard about the underestimation of funds needed, renovation getting out of hand and the bishop having to shoot down requests to borrow from individual parish coffers and from pension and retirement funds set aside for priests.
In an April 10 newsletter to his parish, Bailey expressed shock that the diocese had not based initial renovation costs on “serious study or professional recommendations, but on quick guesses … which were grossly wrong.”
“Like, millions and millions of dollars wrong,” Bailey wrote.
Bailey added he is comforted by Vann’s leadership and efforts to rein in costs.
“It is slowly coming under control,” he said. “And that’s the good news.”
The article quotes the infamous Fr. Fred Bailey, inventor of the Barney Mass. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHi_VZLtcQ8
People in the Pews, it’s not just $$ over-runs today! Look down the road. God forbid, what about tremors, earthquakes, a freak hail storm or high winds (been known to pop out glass panes in some structures). If all of this fancy glass stuff isn’t expertly maintained as it ages, due to $$ issues or whatever, it’s a safety issue too. Has anyone addressed the down the road scenarios? If it sounds too expensive already and the reno isn’t even near being finished, it isn’t likely to get more ‘affordable’ with age. Bad taste & a waste.
It’s very disappointing that the cathedral looks like it will be another stark, barren, “worship space”, devoid of classical standards of beauty, and very possibly reflecting the spiritual aridity of the group designing the space. This cathedral doesn’t belong to the people making these decisions. It belongs to the people of the Diocese of Orange, now and in future generations. It should be a place that takes them out of their busy lives and facilitates the raising of their minds and hearts to God. The artwork should be classically beautiful in a way that is compelling and which moves their hearts to loving meditation, as with the faces of saints on beautiful statues, paintings, and stained glass windows. – continued
……..The artwork should also be catechetical, reminding people of different Biblical scenes, the lives of the saints, and Catholic doctrine, as with the beautiful churches, cathedrals, and basilicas in Europe, which were designed to convey the faith to a population that was largely illiterate. The spiritual illiteracy of most Catholics today, as a result of the appalling state of modern catechesis in most U.S. dioceses, should prompt a return to the beautiful churches, cathedrals, and basilicas that were such an effective form of catechesis and still transport the people who visit them so many centuries after they were built. – continued
…….Instead, a small group of people are designing a “worship space” with esoteric artwork that is only moving to them, and largely reflective of the stark, ugly art and architecture that became common in their heyday, and handing that to us to pass on to future generations. Given the fact that Fr. Fred Bailey, whose heterodoxy and history of celebrating Halloween masses, with everyone in costume, including himself dressing up as Barney the dinosaur before the end of Mass, to give the final blessing in costume, none of these things are surprising. What is astonishing is that anyone is willing to pay for all of this.
I’ve got to believe there are many parishoners with high levels of professional talent in architecture, construction, etc. A couple of days each of their time in a joint project would have generated a pretty solid budget, with a ‘worst case’ downside. the article hints at ‘project creep’ where the owner wants a lot of small or medium nicer things. These all add up.
Look at European cities. Almost all new buildings are ‘modern” as were the Gothic cathedrals when built several centuries ago.
“I’ve got to believe there are many parishoners with high levels of professional talent in architecture, construction, etc.” = Yes, mikem. there are, but high levels of professional talent realize that this was a bad choice and a very ugly shaped building to begin with. They know that expensive costing lipstick will never improve this modern day glass elephant. There is good reason why this building went belly-up to begin with. Too bad, that Bishop Tod D. Brown was not honored like St. Joseph with a warning dream to flee from the purchase of this ongoing money pit.
“Look at European cities. Almost all new buildings are ‘modern.” = Yes, mikem, and many of those cities have also abandoned the Catholic Faith. “These all add up!”
Father Smith says, “I come in here to remember what it’s all about” … about the spiritual feel inside.
About as “spiritual” as the interior of an airport hanger, a warehouse or a big-box store.
I appreciate the beauty and inspiration of the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, but have reservations about spending money needed by Catholic Schools to serve the youngest and most vulnerable amongst us.
Which is more important – a huge glass Cathedral, or a playground jungle gym at a school that has nothing even close?
I submit that without focusing on raising Up Young Catholics – that the Cathedrals will become more like tourist stops in europe, where the gawkers often outnumber the worshipers.
Treasure should be spent wisely – particularly on the Young We Treasure so much.
Mr. McDermott, you might want to check whether you still have a pulse. This is just one of your recent posts that I completely agree with! I’m seeing my doctor in the morning, perhaps you should do the same!
“I appreciate the beauty and inspiration of the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland.” = P.T. Barnum was absolutely right!
Even Rodney Dangerfield, God mercifully rest his soul, once admitted, “I was so ugly as a baby that my mother used to feed me with a slingshot.”
When complete will it engender the feeling of The Real Presence present?
IF or WHEN, Bruce Jenner, *completes* his surgeries, will he outwardly engender the warmth, or the inviting feeling of having a beautiful woman present? = NO, yet we should still be praying for Bruce and a sinfully blind society that is willing to pretend that he is now a beautiful “she.”
Our Lord is WORTHY of the FINEST beauty. Similar, to the Crystal Cathedral , the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, engenders the feeling of a sterile,cold and stark building. The outside view of the Oakland Cathedral shows a striking similarity to the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant facility, especially if the same ugly steel rod poles were added to San Onofre’s roofline
You are the one who always notifies others about paid trolls. Surely, a poster, (Michael McDermott (ll) UK, who invests so much time and effort, when posting about the many facets of filth and corruption would desire better design taste…. especially when sincerely trying to lead others to the Real Presence of Christ. Please, explain the new moniker?
https://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/san-onofre-nuclear-power-plant-in-ca-shuttered-as-nuke-energy-stalls
Christ the Light Cathedral, Oakland
https://youtu.be/CNKlR_jkEo4
just after the diocese acquired the crystal cathedral, la stampa ran a photo of it in an article discussing the irony that the vatican had just put out architectural guidelines to dissuade construction of churches that look like garages or minimalist hangars or spacelaunch systems. somehow bishop tod managed to squeek through with this one
I thought Bishop Vann had a reputation for orthodoxy.
Toss it. What a waste of money to begin with. Of course the Zombie-Liberals will say that they are experiencing “cost overruns.” So many structures have taken even a worse turn when it was discovered that they could not include basic elements of a Catholic Church, like kneelers (a common “problem”) and statuary and religious art, and anything other than the simply ugly, barren, Protestant-looking landscape of so many Catholic churches today. Sell this albatross to the highest bidder and build a truly Catholic Church, maybe even with altar rails (oops, another cost issue there).
You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.