Cathedral of Christ the Light
Encyclopedia
The Cathedral of Christ the Light and also called the Oakland Cathedral, is the cathedral
of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Oakland
in Oakland
, California
. It is the seat of the Bishop of Oakland. Christ the Light, the first cathedral built in the 21st century, replaces the Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales
, irreparably damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake
of 1989.
Christ the Light, as a larger Cathedral Center, is composed of the cathedral church, chancery offices of the bishop's curia, diocesean conference center, rectory (priest residence), health services center (which provides free diagnostic services to people without health insurance), and a mausoleum. The mausoleum
features twelve crypts reserved for the bishops of Oakland and burial sites available to the members of the diocese for a comparable price to the other Catholic cemeteries in the Diocese. The Cathedral Center also houses a cafe and bookstore, as well as a public plaza and garden.
Christ the Light is designed by architect
Craig W. Hartman
, FAIA
of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
. The Catholic Cathedral Corporation of the East Bay, the incorporated owner
of the cathedral, chose Webcor Builders
as the general contractor
of cathedral construction. Originally planned in 2000 under the direction of Bishop John Stephen Cummins
and broken ground on May 21, 2005, Christ the Light was consecrated and dedicated by Bishop Allen Henry Vigneron
on September 25, 2008.On All Souls' Day November 2, the mausoleum will be dedicated and the first Bishop of Oakland, Floyd Lawrence Begin
, will be reburied
in one of its crypts.
Located at 2121 Harrison Street in Oakland, the cathedral serves as mother church
of approximately 530,000 Catholics in the Counties of
Alameda
and Contra Costa
.
, of Valencia, Spain
as the winner. He designed the post–September 11 World Trade Center
Port Authority Trans-Hudson
station in New York City
. Calatrava's design for Christ the Light was chosen before a site was appropriated for the project. By the time a site was chosen, a parking lot formerly dedicated to the construction of the tallest building in Oakland, Calatrava's design fell out of favor and instead replaced by a design of competition runner-up Craig W. Hartman, FAIA of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill offices in San Francisco.
Hartman, designer of the international terminal at San Francisco International Airport
, created a 20th century abstract building from the family of styles developed by architects like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
, famous for creating steel shapes filled with glass. Hartman's vision for Christ the Light was likened to the image of a bishop's mitre
, shaped by steel
and filled with glass frit
.
The worship space in Christ the Light is a vesica piscis
shape (translated into English means fish bladder), the shape formed by the intersection of two circles. The walls are composed of overlapping panels of wood and glass rising skyward to form the vault, much like the scales of a fish. The design is inspired by the miracle of the loaves and the fishes in Christian tradition, among other motifs. The Oakland Tribune
wrote of the Hartman's description of light, "The design allows light to filter in, reminiscent of how light filters through a canopy of tall redwood trees in a wooded glade, Hartman said".
Like the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
which serves the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
, Christ the Light is built with protective measures against earthquake
damage.
A small garden on Christ the Light's grounds is intended to serve as a place of healing for survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Designed by a survivors' group in collaboration with the Oakland Diocese, the garden features a basalt
sculpture and a plaque inscribed "This healing garden, planned by survivors, is dedicated to those innocents sexually abused by members of the clergy. We remember, and we affirm: never again."
Orgues Létourneau Limitée
Organ Opus 118 was intalled on both side of the Vesica.
Despite considerable support, the Cathedral Campaign gained critics concerned with its price tag for construction increasing from $131 million in 2003, when the design was chosen, to $190 million. Some questioned whether the money should not have been spent more appropriately elsewhere. Proponents countered that the Diocese of Oakland spends $350 million on social services and education annually while the $190 million cost of the cathedral would be spread over three years of construction and four years of design. They also noted that the cathedral was financed by donations solicited specifically for the project. Suggestions were made to use the donations for other projects instead, like those administered by the diocese to help the poor or to build new schools.
Concerns over the price were magnified when in 2005, the Diocese of Oakland due to its reduced finances was required to take out a loan to cover half its $56.4 million settlement with 56 sex abuse victims. The diocese announced in January 2007 that the fundraising campaign for a new Catholic high school in Livermore would be halted temporarily to allow officials to focus on raising money for the cathedral's completion.
While some have praised the cathedral's innovative, modern design and stripped-away iconography, traditionalists have questioned its fidelity to Catholic doctrine and tradition. Rev. Leo Edgerly Jr., who serves on the cathedral advisory board, replied to the critics: "You can go to Europe and see Gothic cathedrals," he said. "You can come to Oakland and see this."
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of the Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Diocese of Oakland
Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Northern California. The diocese comprises Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area...
in Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is the seat of the Bishop of Oakland. Christ the Light, the first cathedral built in the 21st century, replaces the Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales
Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales in Oakland
Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales in Oakland was an 1893 church, which served as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland in Oakland, California from 1962 until it was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake....
, irreparably damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake
Loma Prieta earthquake
The Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the Quake of '89 and the World Series Earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time...
of 1989.
Christ the Light, as a larger Cathedral Center, is composed of the cathedral church, chancery offices of the bishop's curia, diocesean conference center, rectory (priest residence), health services center (which provides free diagnostic services to people without health insurance), and a mausoleum. The mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
features twelve crypts reserved for the bishops of Oakland and burial sites available to the members of the diocese for a comparable price to the other Catholic cemeteries in the Diocese. The Cathedral Center also houses a cafe and bookstore, as well as a public plaza and garden.
Christ the Light is designed by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Craig W. Hartman
Craig W. Hartman
Craig W. Hartman, FAIA is an architect and the Design Partner of the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill San Francisco, California office. His most prominent work includes the Cathedral of Christ the Light for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland. It is the first cathedral in the world built entirely...
, FAIA
FAIA
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects is a postnomial, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects...
of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...
. The Catholic Cathedral Corporation of the East Bay, the incorporated owner
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
of the cathedral, chose Webcor Builders
Webcor Builders
Webcor Builders is a commercial construction contractor with headquarters in San Francisco, California. The firm also has regional offices in San Mateo, California, Alameda, California, Los Angeles, and San Diego, and is among the largest builders in California with clients including Starwood...
as the general contractor
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
of cathedral construction. Originally planned in 2000 under the direction of Bishop John Stephen Cummins
John Stephen Cummins
John Stephen Cummins is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Oakland from 1977 to 2003.-Early life and education:...
and broken ground on May 21, 2005, Christ the Light was consecrated and dedicated by Bishop Allen Henry Vigneron
Allen Henry Vigneron
-References:-External links:[Oakland Diocese Biography http://www.oakdiocese.org/notes.htm]...
on September 25, 2008.On All Souls' Day November 2, the mausoleum will be dedicated and the first Bishop of Oakland, Floyd Lawrence Begin
Floyd Lawrence Begin
Floyd Lawrence Begin was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Oakland from 1962 until his death in 1977.-Early life and education:...
, will be reburied
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
in one of its crypts.
Located at 2121 Harrison Street in Oakland, the cathedral serves as mother church
Mother Church
In Christianity, the term mother church or Mother Church may have one of the following meanings:# The first mission church in an area, or a pioneer cathedral# A basilica or cathedral# The main chapel of a province of a religious order...
of approximately 530,000 Catholics in the Counties of
County (United States)
In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state , usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs. Parishes and boroughs are called "county-equivalents" by the U.S...
Alameda
Alameda County, California
Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...
and Contra Costa
Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...
.
Design
The Catholic Cathedral Corporation of the East Bay instituted a design competition for Christ the Light. Various designs were judged and the corporation announced Santiago CalatravaSantiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City....
, of Valencia, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
as the winner. He designed the post–September 11 World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
Port Authority Trans-Hudson
Port Authority Trans-Hudson
PATH, derived from Port Authority Trans-Hudson, is a rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York City with Newark, Harrison, Hoboken and Jersey City in metropolitan northern New Jersey...
station in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Calatrava's design for Christ the Light was chosen before a site was appropriated for the project. By the time a site was chosen, a parking lot formerly dedicated to the construction of the tallest building in Oakland, Calatrava's design fell out of favor and instead replaced by a design of competition runner-up Craig W. Hartman, FAIA of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill offices in San Francisco.
Hartman, designer of the international terminal at San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...
, created a 20th century abstract building from the family of styles developed by architects like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
, famous for creating steel shapes filled with glass. Hartman's vision for Christ the Light was likened to the image of a bishop's mitre
Mitre
The mitre , also spelled miter, is a type of headwear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodox...
, shaped by steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and filled with glass frit
Frit
Frit is a ceramic composition that has been fused in a special fusing oven, quenched to form a glass, and granulated. Frits form an important part of the batches used in compounding enamels and ceramic glazes; the purpose of this pre-fusion is to render any soluble and/or toxic components insoluble...
.
The worship space in Christ the Light is a vesica piscis
Vesica piscis
The vesica piscis is a shape that is the intersection of two circles with the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. The name literally means the "bladder of a fish" in Latin...
shape (translated into English means fish bladder), the shape formed by the intersection of two circles. The walls are composed of overlapping panels of wood and glass rising skyward to form the vault, much like the scales of a fish. The design is inspired by the miracle of the loaves and the fishes in Christian tradition, among other motifs. The Oakland Tribune
The Oakland Tribune
The Oakland Tribune is a daily newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group , a subsidiary of MediaNews Group...
wrote of the Hartman's description of light, "The design allows light to filter in, reminiscent of how light filters through a canopy of tall redwood trees in a wooded glade, Hartman said".
Like the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, also called "COLA" and the Los Angeles Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California, United States...
which serves the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the...
, Christ the Light is built with protective measures against earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
damage.
A small garden on Christ the Light's grounds is intended to serve as a place of healing for survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Designed by a survivors' group in collaboration with the Oakland Diocese, the garden features a basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
sculpture and a plaque inscribed "This healing garden, planned by survivors, is dedicated to those innocents sexually abused by members of the clergy. We remember, and we affirm: never again."
Orgues Létourneau Limitée
Orgues Létourneau
Orgues Létourneau Limitée of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec is a prominent Canadian builder and restorer of pipe organs. The company was founded in 1979 by Fernand Létourneau, its president, owner and artistic director....
Organ Opus 118 was intalled on both side of the Vesica.
Costs and criticism
The Catholic Cathedral Corporation of the East Bay was an outgrowth of a February 2000 meeting of representatives from parishes of the Diocese of Oakland. The summit reached consensus to proceed with the planning of a new cathedral. The newly incorporated Catholic Cathedral Corporation of the East Bay, a non-profit organization independent of the chancery of the Diocese of Oakland, began soliciting donations for its Cathedral Campaign.Despite considerable support, the Cathedral Campaign gained critics concerned with its price tag for construction increasing from $131 million in 2003, when the design was chosen, to $190 million. Some questioned whether the money should not have been spent more appropriately elsewhere. Proponents countered that the Diocese of Oakland spends $350 million on social services and education annually while the $190 million cost of the cathedral would be spread over three years of construction and four years of design. They also noted that the cathedral was financed by donations solicited specifically for the project. Suggestions were made to use the donations for other projects instead, like those administered by the diocese to help the poor or to build new schools.
Concerns over the price were magnified when in 2005, the Diocese of Oakland due to its reduced finances was required to take out a loan to cover half its $56.4 million settlement with 56 sex abuse victims. The diocese announced in January 2007 that the fundraising campaign for a new Catholic high school in Livermore would be halted temporarily to allow officials to focus on raising money for the cathedral's completion.
While some have praised the cathedral's innovative, modern design and stripped-away iconography, traditionalists have questioned its fidelity to Catholic doctrine and tradition. Rev. Leo Edgerly Jr., who serves on the cathedral advisory board, replied to the critics: "You can go to Europe and see Gothic cathedrals," he said. "You can come to Oakland and see this."