And even if the interior can be functionally retrofitted for Catholic liturgy, many believe that its identity will always be that of the Crystal Cathedral. It needs to be totally gutted and reconceived. Yet, without a radical transformation the building will always come across as a technological mega-church rather than as a sacred place. The diocese has said that they will not change the exterior of the church and will not compromise the architectural integrity of the 2700-seat interior. After all, the much noted cathedrals of Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Francisco are all expressionistic modernist sculptures. Renowned architect Duncan Stroik speaks of it thus:Ĭan the Crystal Cathedral be converted to a Catholic Cathedral? We shall see. A prime example of this is the purchase of the Crystal Cathedral by Orange Diocese in the US, the former Mega-Church focused around its former leader’s glitz and entertainment-style worship ministry (now defunct). ![]() This myth still continues to dominate Catholic architecture with disastrous results, abandoning what has nourished generations of believers for a dubious archaeologism that mimics the worst of the world around us. Schloeder entitled “The Myth of Domus Ecclesiae”. But have the seminary liturgy Profs and the diocesan Liturgy teams caught up with modern thinking or are they still stuck in the other golden age of the 1970’s? You can read about this at Church Architecture in an article by Stephen J. Archaeology is discovering that pre-Constantine Christian places of worship were already much more “church” than “meeting room”. The only slight difficulty is that study and archaeology have now shown that to be a load of old nonsense. They can’t, of course, be 9th century 16th century, or 19th century! Getting us back to the good old days – but the good old days have to be pre-fourth century. Hence the wonderful inspirational ecclesial spaces we are now building or trying to create by re-ordering all those false and wicked Gothic, Romanesque and Classical features in our existing buildings. A worship space that skips over all that terrible history back to the pre-Constantine church when the simple Christian folk met in ordinary domestic homes for prayer and praise and an agapé meal. ![]() Now, the Liturgy prof would tell us, we want churches that are Domus Ecclesiae – House of the gathered people. In fact, all that most people think of when they think “church”. You know, all those awful formal buildings in the classical style, the Romanesque, the Gothic, and the Baroque. Domus Dei is the House of God – churches as they had been built for 1,700 years since the wicked Emperor Constantine corrupted the Church by making it grand and imperial. Many priests will recall from their seminary days hearing the Liturgy Prof wax lyrical about the difference between Domus Dei and Domus Ecclesiae.
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