Orange, Calif., Jul 8, 2011 / 01:04 am
The Diocese of Orange says it is potentially interested in buying a 3,000-seat glass church in Southern California that faces bankruptcy.
The diocese announced on July 7 that it's currently looking for a building to meet the needs of the1.2 million Catholics in Orange County, the 11th largest diocese in the nation.
Although it's been planning for over 10 years to build a new, 2,500-seat cathedral in Santa Ana, the diocese has only hired an architect for the project and is now considering converting the bankrupt church in Garden Grove into a Catholic cathedral.
“While we continue to develop plans for a cathedral in Santa Ana, it is prudent to evaluate the opportunity to engage in the pending auction of this property and to mitigate the chance that it cease to function as a place of worship, if acquired by others,” Bishop Tod D. Brown said on Tuesday.