Orange diocese expects to sell pastoral center to help cover expenses of Crystal Cathedral acquisition

The Diocese of Orange will likely sell its Marywood Pastoral Center to help cover the costs of acquiring the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, the March edition of the diocesan newspaper Orange County Catholic reports.

“It is anticipated that the Marywood property that currently serves as the diocesan headquarters will be sold,” reported Orange County Catholic. “The funds from this sale of Marywood Pastoral Center will be applied to the purchase of the Crystal Cathedral campus. The Diocese of Orange is planning to centralize its operations and ministries to the Cathedral campus and all diocesan offices will be relocated to Garden Grove in the future.”

Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for bankruptcy in October 2010 after it was unable to pay more than $50 million owed to its creditors. On Nov. 18, 2011 a federal bankruptcy judge selected the Diocese of Orange’s $57.5 million bid for the cathedral and its accompanying 30.9-acre campus. The Crystal Cathedral will be converted to use as the new diocesan cathedral, which will add even more to the costs of its acquisition.

Marywood Pastoral Center in Orange is situated on the site of an old Catholic high school purchased by the diocese in 1979. In addition to the administrative offices of the bishop, it includes a chapel, a library, a cafeteria, an auditorium, a gym, conference rooms, and six classrooms.

Still uncertain, according to Orange County Catholic, is the fate of a nearly 15-acre tract of land at Christ Our Savior Cathedral Parish in Santa Ana, which had been designated as the site for a new diocesan cathedral and chancery until the Crystal Cathedral was purchased.

“While the parish in the South Coast Metro area of Santa Ana will no longer be the site of our new cathedral, there is still a need for a large parish church,” said the Orange County Catholicstory. “Decisions regarding the parcel of land will be made by the pastor and finance council of the parish in consultation with Bishop Brown and other diocesan leaders.”

READER COMMENTS

Posted Thursday, March 22, 2012 4:27 AM By Matthew
I sort of hope the Diocese of Orange retains the Marywood Pastoral Center. The Church is expanding strongly in OC and once that property is sold it will never be able to be replaced when there is a need. The purchase of the Crystal Cathedral is a stunning bargain. It would cost between $400 and 600M to replicate the Crystal Cathedral campus today and it was bought for $57.5M A true miracle! This campus will be the heart of the Catholic Church in Orange County for generations to come, Thanks be to God.

Posted Thursday, March 22, 2012 6:46 AM By MacDonald
Good idea, Bishop Brown. It’s sensible to have the diocesan offices close to the cathedral, and the Crystal Cathedral campus can apparently take care of these needs. (Have they chosen a name for the new cathedral yet? And why didn’t his parents give him a saint’s name at birth, instead of “Tod?” Something fun like Theopemptus or Tochmura?)

Posted Thursday, March 22, 2012 7:47 AM By St. Christopher
This is so completely crazy. What ever possessed the Vatican to “approve” the sale? Just look at how B. Brown talks about moving the “ministries” to the crystal palace; how Protestant, how thoroughly unCatholic. The use of the word “minister” to describe anything outside of the actions of ordained is one of the chief offenses of the Vatican II “implementation”. We now have ministers of “greeting” along with so many other categories, which might work for WalMart, but not a Catholic Church. Of course, now that a generation or two have grown up with such foolishness, the true orthodox Catholicism seems foreign to many church-going folks. This can be seen in very recent statements of bishops as they were forced to come out against homosexual marriage and all that (beyond abortion). The poor people of Orange County deserve so much better. One litmus test is to see what is being done to advance Summorum Pontificum (of which most catholics are ignorant).

Posted Thursday, March 22, 2012 8:31 AM By Dave N.
The sale of the Marywood property will probably more than offset the cost of the Crystal Cathedral. Assuming the hillside is stable, Marywood should be prime development real estate.

Posted Thursday, March 22, 2012 11:15 AM By Maryanne Leonard
I stand with Matthew. Well said, Matthew.