Catholic Survey Shows Strong Support for a Cathedral in Santa Ana

The Diocese of Orange released survey results late Monday that showed overwhelming support from a broad base of Roman Catholics for a new cathedral in Santa Ana and a $100-million capital campaign.

Bishop Tod D. Brown said the diocese soon will undertake an ambitious fund-raising drive to raise money for land purchases, construction, Catholic education and clergy needs for the growing church.

But the decision whether to build a new cathedral won’t be made for at least a month.

“We needed the feasibility study simply because our future needs are clearly apparent to us,” Brown said. “What we haven’t done yet is actually decide what specific causes will be funded.”

Brown said he will meet with Catholic clergy and laity across the county during the next few weeks and hopes to have spending priorities in place by Easter.

The Catholic Church in Orange County has experienced explosive growth in the last decade while adding little infrastructure.

To ease crowded conditions for the county’s estimated 1 million Catholics, the diocese has embarked on an aggressive expansion campaign that, when finished, will see the renovation of six churches and the building of six parishes.

One new parish church is proposed to be built on 15 acres of bean fields in Santa Ana near South Coast Plaza. The parish could also double as the diocesan cathedral, if the latter is approved by the bishop.

The current Catholic cathedral--Holy Family in Orange--was converted from an ordinary parish church when the diocese was founded 25 years ago. The cathedral holds seven Masses each Sunday to accommodate worshipers.

Each Catholic diocese has a single cathedral, which serves as the bishop’s home church and central place of worship. The diocesan offices will remain at Marywood Center in Orange.

A cathedral under construction in downtown Los Angeles has sparked controversy from, among others, Catholic social workers outraged by its $163-million price tag.

Brown said the proposed Orange County cathedral would be quite modest by comparison. And local members of Catholic Worker--an independently funded nonprofit agency that serves the poor--have been pleased so far with the proposed Santa Ana site, close to needy neighborhoods, and the inclusiveness of the diocesan survey.

Brown said he was pleased with the study’s findings. “I found the results of the survey very encouraging,” he said. “They were even better than I had anticipated.”

The survey, conducted from October through January, consisted of 154 personal interviews, 239 written responses and five regional focus groups.

Of the Catholics interviewed, 76% ranked land purchases for future parish sites as a “first priority.” Another first priority for 69% of the respondents was church construction, including the building a cathedral. Respondents were allowed to list more than one first priority.

Seventy-four percent of those interviewed said they would be either “supportive” or “strongly supportive” of a diocesan capital campaign. And 77% of laypeople and 56% of clergy surveyed said they would consider giving to the campaign.

Indicating that such a campaign could succeed, 54% of those interviewed said a $100-million goal was attainable. Only 39% of those who responded in writing believed $100 million could be raised.