The Drive-In Movie at St. Francis de Sales in Norton Shores, MI Has Been Cancelled Until Further Notice

First Bank of Catholicism

Wait...it's NOT a bank?

Orange, Calif., Jul 15, 2019 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Orange will dedicate its Christ Cathedral July 17 after a seven-year, $77-million renovation process.

“I would pray and hope that it (the Christ Cathedral) will build on the heritage we have and help bring new life and commitment and joy in the age we live and that through here the diocese will have a focal point of unity where God will be known and loved,” Bishop Kevin Vann of Orange told CNA.

Christ Cathedral was formerly named the Crystal Cathedral. The property was purchased by the Orange diocese in February 2012 for $57.5 million from the Protestant community which founded it. The building with its campus was sold after the community, founded by Robert Schuller, filed for bankruptcy in October 2010 when some of its creditors sued for payment.

The architectural landmark is made from over 10,000 panes of glass, and its interior had to be renovated to make it suitable for Catholic worship. CNA reported in September 2014 that the cathedral's dedication was scheduled for 2017.

The Christ Cathedral campus consists of seven buildings on 34 acres.

EWTN opened a studio on the campus in May 2015. CNA was acquired by EWTN in 2014.
An architect who was in the office of the Crystal Cathedral’s original designer told CNA in 2013 that Schuller “wanted a building that was both a building and not a building, so that in a sense he could be in an enclosure, but it would be as if he were out of doors, which is where he began his ministry: so this building was an entire shell of glass.”

Under the purchase agreement, the diocese agreed to maintain the exterior of all the buildings, including the then-Crystal Cathedral.

St. Thomas (Patron Saint of Architects), Help Them!

South Summerlin is expanding, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas is trying to keep pace by building a new church.

“This area of town is growing very fast for south Summerlin, and there’s no Catholic church servicing this area,” said Rev. Bill Kenny, the founding pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Church, which will seat 1,600 people.

The 27,846-square-foot structure will be the newest church in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas. It will sit on a plot of land just under five acres at 5830 Mesa Park Drive, and is expected to be completed in April or May.

The contemporary, southwest-style church’s total costs are about $12 million, which include the building, parking lot, landscaping, furnishing and artwork.

We Salute You, Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa!

Well, we WOULD...except you don't have any diocesan history on your webpage. 

 Their Cathedral of the Epiphany, on the other hand, has a nice history page.


In 1867, the first resident pastor came to serve the Catholic community in the parish church which was built five years previously in Sioux City. Until that time, Sioux City was a mission territory.
The Cathedral of the Epiphany was begun in 1891 as St. Mary’s Church. Father Timothy Treacy was the pastor at the time.
On April 5, 1892 , Bishop Hennessy ordained Thomas McCarty to the priesthood. Father McCarty was a member of St. Mary’s Parish and the first young man from Sioux City to become a priest. Several days after his ordination, Father McCarty came to Sioux City and offered his first Mass in the large hall of St. Mary’s School. St. Mary’s School, which was constructed in 1889 at a cost of $30,000, was located on the Southeast corner of 10th and Grandview Streets.
A new church building was planned and was intended to serve the pastoral needs of a growing number of Catholics who lived in the central part of Sioux City . The parish was made up an ethnically diverse group of immigrant parishioners with Irish and Germans being the predominant group. In 1892, a nationwide economic depression threatened the local economy and completion of the building project was postponed. For a period of nearly 10 years, the members of St. Mary’s Parish worshipped in the basement of the present church building. Once the Diocese of Sioux City was established in 1902, it was decided that St. Mary’s Church would serve as the Cathedral. The church was incomplete at that date, and it was recommended that the upper church also be completed. The building was dedicated as the Cathedral of the Epiphany on Sept. 8, 1904 .

And let's add The Blessed Theresa of Calcutta Church in  Dakota Dunes to our list of ugly churches!

A Flying Saucer Sighting in Brookfield, Illinois!

A flying saucer was spotted landing somewhere in Brookfield, Illinois!

Oops. False alarm. Turns out it was only St. Barbara Catholic Church.

Catholicism is For Losers!

At least, it is at St. Mary Catholic Church in Marysville, WA.

Actually, it's not nearly so bad when you consider what the altar looks like normally:

Here's their Adoration Chapel:

How about the Christmas "Pillars of Light"?

Is this OK,  Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University?

The U.S. bishops' conference has recently published an official document, "Built of Living Stones," which gives concrete guidelines for many aspects of church construction and design.
The document may be obtained from the conference itself or from Catholic bookstores.

 No. 305 reminds us that: "Moderation should be observed in the decoration of the altar."

Ugly Churches, Installment #6

I couldn't believe that this was a Catholic Church....but it says it is on the intertubes, so who am I to question it?

 I found the original photo at RealClearReligion, and this at focloc.com:

Uvari is a coastal village with about 3,000 households and a population of 10,000 in the Tirunelveli district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is about 50km from Tuticorin, 75km from Tirunelveli and 45km from Kanyakumari.

The Kappal Matha church (our Lady of health) located at Uvari is in the form of a ship carrying an airplane. The church built in 1974 is the  replaced version of St.Mary Church that was destroyed due to sea erosion. This place has three shrines and many grottos.

We Salute You, Diocese of Las Vegas!

From the Diocesan history page....

Although Nevada was the last of the 48 contiguous states to have its own diocese, the Church in Southern Nevada that now makes up the Diocese of Las Vegas had a long and colorful history before it was established in 1995.
The first Mass celebrated in the territory that was to become Nevada was on the Colorado River in 1775 near the present day Laughlin. It was offered by the explorer, Father Garces, OFM, of Mexico. In 1776, Father Dominguez, OFM and Father Escalante, OFM came from New Mexico, crossed the Virgin River and made the trip to present day Utah.

Before the conquest of this area by the United States, the territory was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Mexico. The territory was a part of the Diocese of Sonora until 1840, when it was placed under the jurisdiction of Bishop Garcia Diego y Moreno, the first Bishop of California. Shortly thereafter it became part of the Diocese of Monterey in California, until the Archdiocese of San Francisco was established in 1853 under its first Archbishop, Sadoc Alemany.

Time passed, and FINALLY....

In 1995, the Holy See, in recognition of the tremendous growth taking place in Nevada, divided the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas. Two new dioceses were established to support the northern and southern parts of the state: the Diocese of Reno and the Diocese of Las Vegas. The new Diocese of Las Vegas encompassed White Pine, Esmeralda, Nye, Lincoln and Clark counties, with a Catholic population of 250,000. Bishop Walsh was installed as the first Bishop of Las Vegas on June 28, 1995.

And the only thing UGLIER than the outside of their Guardian Angel Cathedral is the inside. And vice versa.

Ugly Churches, Installment #4

Poor St Gregorius. According the Church, he was "Great". Why did they name this thing after him? 

St. Gregorius, Aachen, Germany

I'm guessing that around back there's a handball game going on.

Check out the crucifix!

Looks like the guy from Terminator 2!

Who's the Patron Saint of Badminton?

The Patron Saint of athletes is Saint Sebastian. So what's the name of this atrocity they call a cathedral? That's right! It's the "Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian" in Rio De Janeiro. Here's what the inside looks like:

And the outside:

The Eye of the Tiber reports:

RIO DE JANEIRO––As construction efforts to renovate Rio De Janeiro’s cathedral into a multi-purpose worship/badminton arena continue this month, sightseers from across the globe are flocking to the second-largest city in Brazil to witness the unique transformation. As both World You Day and 2016 Summer Olympics draw near, the Catedral Metropolitano de São Sebastião is just weeks away from being completed. A red dome attached in the final stages of the renovation project, which is expected to make it look more than ever like a shuttlecock is not only a symbol of the sport that unites countries from around the world every four years, but, as chief architect Rodrigo Silva says, will symbolize the Ascension of the Lord. “Because just as the Lord ascended into heaven, so then does the shuttlecock, when struck properly, ascend into the air, or something like that."

Do You Think This Cathedral is Ugly?

Guardian Angel Cathedral, Las Vegas, Nevada

Wait until you get a load of the INSIDE!

The Search is OVER!

 

After much painful research, the winner of the "Ugliest Church in America Award" is...St. Francis De Sales in Muskegon, Michigan!

Do you recognize the person depicted in the statue? Why, it's Mary, of course. You can look through the hole in her stomach and see the altar. Get it? She's Jesus' mother?

To me, the whole thing looks like a set from "Star Trek".