Bankruptcy Court Approves Sale of Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral To Catholic Diocese

In Santa Anna, California on Thursday, a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Crystal Cathedral-- the modernistic home of televangelist Rev. Robert Schuller's ministry-- to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.  Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last October.  The Los Angeles Times reports that Chapman University had also been bidding for the Cathedral, and even upped its bid to $59 million, topping the $57.5 million sale to the Catholic Church approved by the court.  The Crystal Cathedral board and Schuller himself both strongly favored the sale to the Catholic diocese because it will consecrate the Cathedral as a Catholic Church. Chapman University wanted the site as a satellite campus and might some day have used the Cathedral for non-religious purposes. The diocese will allow Cathedral Ministries to lease back core buildings for three year. Chapman University had been willing to allow the church to stay on most of the property for as long as 20 years.