Thursday, August 11, 2011

Worshiping in Glass Houses...?

Bishop Tod Brown -- who, by the way, used to be the Bishop of Boise -- wants this to be the next Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.   In fact, the diocese has upped its offer to purchase the building from $50 million to $53.6 million -- cash. 

I dunno.  On the one hand, subscribing as I do to the Catholic Church's peculiar claim to be the One True Church, I kinda like the idea of the Catholic Church baptizing a building that had not previously been devoted to Catholic worship.  Plus, it is suggested that this may be the best the diocese can expect in the way of a new cathedral from Bishop Brown, who (a) is running out of time before he has to tender his resignation to Rome; (b) has a great desire to raise a Tod Mahal in the Diocese of Orange, and (c) is a man of the same stamp as the Cardinal who gave Los Angeles the Taj Mahony. 

On the other hand, there are some inescapable facts about the Crystal Cathedral:

-- It's ugly.

-- It was not designed to serve as a setting for Catholic worship.

-- It's ugly.  

-- The present bishop of the diocese is not likely to want the Crystal Cathedral to look like a space for Catholic worship.

-- It's ugly.

-- The next bishop may very well want a Catholic-looking cathedral, making this a huge white elephant to cope with.

-- It's ugly.

And what about the fact that southern California is where we keep a huge percentage of all the world's earthquakes?   Sure, the Crystal Cathedral is still standing, but it's only 31 years old: it hasn't really exactly stood the test of time.  I can picture hundreds of worshipers being julienned under a Niagara of shattered glass.

And did I mention: the Crystal Cathedral is ugly?

It is true that the current Cathedral of Orange is notso hotso, and that the diocese could really use a new one.  But maybe it's time for Catholics to stop resigning ourselves to settling for the least ugly alternative.  Surely, the best thing would be to leave the relatively small current mess to the next bishop, whoever he is, rather than saddle him with the enormity now contemplated.

Bishop Brown turns 75 this November 15th.  Let him offer up, for his flock, the sacrifice of not being able to give the diocese his own peculiar stamp.

And the Crystal Cathedral would indeed be peculiar.

7 comments:

  1. I concur. I'ts ugly. Is it unchristian to wish for a small, localized earthquake to pulverize it into a gazillion tiny shimmering shards?

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  2. Shirley, it would indeed be a penance for the diocese if it bore the responsibility for cleaning up all those shards. After the Northridge Earthquake, I learned one very important lesson about broken glass: there's always more.

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  3. Not to mention, B.P.G., that it's highly approplactic, as Archie Bunker would put it.

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  4. Hi Anita :), I'm in the DOO often times enough. If I have a choice between the Tod Mahal and Crystal not really a Cathedral, i'll choose neither. Tod just wants his LA replica for his diocese. I pray he decides with prudence to not build a cathedral at all. Let the new Bishop take care of things...

    Of course I might be relocating to Idaho, so, the final decision is not my biggest worry.

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  5. Japotillor, I agree with all your comments. By the way, we have a lovely cathedral in Idaho, even after the wreckovation of the '70s; I hope one of these days it is restored.

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  6. Anita, if God wills that I'll be in Idaho next week, I'll be sure to visit the Cathedral. Though I'm not sure how far Cottonwood (where I'll be relocating to if I get the job) is from Boisie

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