In 2012 the Diocese of Orange purchased the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove and renamed it Christ Cathedral. Then they spent several years raising money and redesigning the interior to make it suitable for Roman Catholic services. All this time it was closed to the public. Then came another year or two when it remained closed, allegedly because of "organ tuning." Then came COVID-19. Finally, a couple of months ago I checked again and it appeared to be semi-open.
I say semi-open because there's no real way to know when it's open outside of scheduled services. However, despite being told by a security person that it was always closed, it turned out that, in fact, it was kept open semi-randomly before and after baptisms, funerals, and so forth. So I finally had a chance to go inside and see what it looked like. Here's a gallery of pictures so you can see it too.
First off, here's a panoramic view of the interior:
This space is much smaller than before. Basically, the diocese built offices around the perimeter and reduced the size of the church itself considerably. Just for comparison, the old church had a capacity of 3,000 while the new one has a capacity of 1,000. Here's a closer look at the altar:
Here's the exterior. It hasn't changed much:
And here's the exterior looking directly up from the western end. FWIW, this is a panoramic shot and a very difficult one to get right.
Finally, here are two sculptures on the cathedral campus. Moses, as always, looks pissed. Jesus is ministering to some young native Americans, which is a bold move considering the church's currently battered reputation in the history of early California.
UPDATE: Those kids in the Jesus sculpture sure look like California natives, but I guess I jumped to conclusions. This sculpture actually represents the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
A "bold" move indeed! Others might use other words, perhaps.
It is a stunning religious venue
However, it does appear as though the Catholic Church may have too much money on it's hands as they seemed to have deliberately decreased capacity.
Kevin you said:
" it was kept open semi-randomly before and after baptisms, funerals, and so forth"
Were you there for either? Or perhaps it was a so forth??????
No Jumbotron? Lame…
There are four jumbotrons, three of which are visible in the top picture.
Catholic style pews are designed expressly to maximize the discomfort and dullness, because that's how Jesus likes it.
Jesus is
ministering togaslightingsome young native Americans.....I thought Jesus only came to the Mormons in the "New" World? And this was only a few centuries ago.
That particular statue is, "Miracle of the loaves and fishes," by John Soderberg. No Native Americans were involved.
Euro white Jesus.
I had no idea that God wrote the tablets in english. Must've been very confusing for the Israelites.
Have you tried holding stone tablets as shown? That is the miracle--no dislocated thumbs.
Every time I see Moses depicted holding the tablets I have to think of Mel Brooks in History of the World Part 1.
https://youtu.be/4wunGF3oMA0
"I bring you these 15" (drops one tablet which shatters) "oy, These Ten Commandments."
Just like Monty Python's "Holy Grail" has ruined for me every movie scene of royalty. "Who made you king? I didn't vote for you." "I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective."
Are glass facades more common in states with fewer tornadoes? Do insurance companies factor into the premiums the amount of exterior glass a building has?
Almost no tornados ever occur in California near the coast, but they do get good sized earthquakes. Hard to imagine that all that glass is supported well enough to withstand a 6.0 to 8.0 quake, especially if the fault is nearby.
Very nice photo portfolio. The wide angle shots are excellent.
Organ tuning takes days, not months.
Well, according to their website it took *years.* I have no idea what was really going on.
They disassembled the organ and shipped it back to the manufacturer in Italy for restoration.
Speak for yourself!
The software had trouble with the ceiling panels when it stitched your panorama together. Are those panels fixed or are they electronically maneuverable to open/close?
Add: Thankfully, the Catholic Church has dutifully maintained the European heritage, aka The Whiteness of Jesus in those statues, because as we all know from the historical record (CBN and Hollywood, naturally) Jesus was 6'-2" with flowing locks of golden brown hair and fair skin.
I'd quote Xenophanes on Ethiops and Thracians but of course that would be quoting dead white males...
Are you similarly enraged about Chinese depictions of the Buddha? And if not, why not?
Moses looks pissed because after he came down the mountain he found the Jews worshipping Donald Trump (golden calf, like at CPAC).
great photos as usual. The money spent on church infrastructure depresses the heck out of me though. give it to the poor you religious bastards! lol
The pictures are cool but I must say I don't find the architecture of the building particularly appealing.
When I went to a concert there in 1990, I was impressed by the building. It's hard to capture the the effect in a photograph.
From Anansi Boys: The miracle of the loaves and fishes- I loaf and I fish.
A. Still looks like a venue for faith healing and speaking in tongues.
B. The altar looks like a fireplace.
C. Shouldn't the loaves and fishes thing have a loaf in it? And a fish?
The girl facing away in the photo is holding a tray that contains at least one loaf and possibly a fish.
Moses holding up the first four commandments tablet in his left hand. That's sinister.
Looks like the diocese found a loophole in canon law in the prohibition against worshiping false idols. The building is an idol onto itself.