GARDEN GROVE, Calif., June 9 (UPI) -- The Catholic Diocese of Orange announced Saturday the Crystal Cathedral it bought last year will be known as Christ Cathedral going forward.
The name-change was announced by Bishop Tod D. Brown during a clergy ordination ceremony at St. Columban Catholic Church in Garden Grove attended by about 1,500 people, church officials said in a release posted on the diocese's Web site.
Brown said the name is "a clear proclamation of why this church exists and will be of continuing importance to people of faith across the region."
It has yet to be determined when the first Catholic mass will be conducted at the cathedral.
"Catholics throughout the diocese, and all across America, are eagerly anticipating that important day," Brown said.
The diocese bought the religious campus from Crystal Cathedral Ministries, the Protestant church group founded in 1955 by Robert H. Schuller. Conversion of the property to a Catholic cathedral will take place gradually, church officials said.
"We hold Reverend Schuller and his ministry in the highest esteem," Brown said. "It was important that any change of name for the cathedral itself be respectful of its spiritual legacy while accommodating our needs to clearly define this important facility as a Catholic center of worship."
The proposed name was submitted to the Congregation of Bishops in Rome and Brown received approval April 26.
The Rev. Christopher H. Smith will be the cathedral's first episcopal vicar, its top administrator.
