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Saturday, February 22, 2014

Newark parishioners pay for Archbishop’s luxury retirement home: Pope Francis is ignored

Newark Archbishop John J. Myers spends his weekends at his 4,500-square-foot home on 8.2 wooded acres at the end of a private drive in the hills of Hunterdon County, NJ. With five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a three-car garage and a big outdoor pool, it’s valued at nearly $800,000. The home, built in 1989, has property taxes of $18,695 last year -- before the addition.  But that’s not big enough or fancy enough for Myers.

So he is building a three-story, 3,000-square-foot addition which will be ready for his retirement in two years, according to the NJ Star-Ledger. The third floor will house a 28-foot by 28-foot gallery with sweeping views of the property and a fireplace on each level said the Ledger. A "wellness room" will connect the main house and the addition. It will include a hot tub and a 14-foot by 7-foot Endless Pool, where Myers can swim in place.
Who is paying for all of this luxury?  We are of course!  Myers’ spokesman, Jim Goodness, said that money for the addition will come from the sale of other church-owned properties – like churches and schools. Donors also have contributed to the project, Goodness said but wouldn’t tell which properties are being sold or how much was received in donations. While the property will revert to the church once Myers knocks on the pearly gates, there will probably be other greedy clergy to take his place.

"Archbishop Myers obviously is not paying any attention to the pope,"  Charles Zech, faculty director of the Center for Church Management and Business Ethics at Villanova University’s business school thinks that Myers is not listening to Pope Francis’ admonishment for clergy to live a simpler lifestyle. "This is extreme, way beyond what you’d expect to happen. I can’t believe the parishioners of Newark are going to allow this to happen," said Zech.
A parishioner, Joan Rubino, was furious when told about the work on the home. Rubino, who who regularly contributed to the archbishops’ appeal for funds — called Myers a "hypocrite." She said, "To ask people to make sacrifices and then to live in a sumptuous residence, it makes me very annoyed. Isn’t there a better use for this money? In plain English, I feel like people are getting screwed."

"This is taking money out of the pockets of parishioners," Zech said. "Current revenue and past revenue at one point all came from parishioners. If he thinks he can sell property and use it for his own extravagant needs, it’s mind-boggling."
Myers isn’t the only clergy with rich tastes. The pope suspended the bishop of Limburg, Germany, in October for spending $42 million to renovate his residence and other church buildings. The German press called the free-spending cleric the "Bishop of Bling."

The current Metuchen NJ bishop, Paul Bootkoski, contributed a portion of his own savings toward the purchase of a future retirement home near Lake Mohawk in Sussex County, The diocese picked up the remainder of the cost, but would not provide the precise amount. The diocese closed on the home for $471,000 last year, property records show.
Earlier this year, Camden Bishop Dennis Sullivan came under fire after using diocese funds to buy a historic 7,000-square-foot home in Woodbury. The house, with eight bedrooms and six bathrooms, cost $500,000. The bishop said he would share the house with two other priests – how generous of him.  What about a three bedroom apartment in a senior citizen home?

Most of us can’t even retire and certainly will downsize our homes and lifestyles. Living in luxury is not on our horizon, especially if we donate money to support life styles of the rich and famous clergy.

6 comments:

  1. This is theft, plain and simple. Most parishioners can't even afford to retire and these "princes of the church" think they are royalty, which in times past, wasn't far from the truth. I remember my parents wining and dining so many priests, but the nuns couldn't even come to our home unless someone was sick. The male counterpart of the catholic church has had it far too cushy for far too long, not to mention that these higher-ups haven't committed other crimes: obstruction of justice, child endangerment, accessory to rape and other heinous crime. Instead of plush retirement homes, they should be in prison. We need to pressure our representatives to seek justice in the name of the children who were so horrifically abused. I just heard about another "Cardinal Law" who has been given asylum in Rome. I'd love to be given asylum in Rome--what a gift and all for placing countless children in the path of danger. There's actually an International Tribunal that attempted to indict Ratzinger, which, in my opinion, is what caused him to retire to his castle to hide. These criminals have to be smoked out of their holes.

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    1. Yes, the pope (Ratzinger; Bergoglio) and the holy see are truly criminals. Ratzinger has a long history of crimes -- I wrote about him in my book, Smothered. If you would like a copy of the book, send me an email. You can create a separate email on Google or another internet provider and I could send it there.

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  2. In life we get the government that we elect, and we also get a similar situation in our churches, because the members of the church are afraid to stand up and tell the clergy how they feel, and what they expect from them as professionals. ----- Here is the all important question that really needs to be answered. ---- Why are the Catholics still supporting the Catholic Church with money, when the Church has acted VERY unprofessionally with regards to the Altar Boy Issue, and the child abuse issues in their schools and institutions? ----- The membership of the Catholic Church should be horrified over these issues, and they should be withholding all financial support until the management of the Church in Rome gets their act together. ---- But this will not happen because the members are brain washed by the Catholic Clergy. ---- They have consumed so much "Catholic Cool Aide" over the years that they can no longer think clearly. ----- The Catholic Clergy simply has no respect for the membership of the Catholic Church. They use the membership as a source of money, and then they use the money as hush money to cover up their crimes. I was born and educated in Catholic Schools for twelve years, and I would not give one dime to the Catholic Church. It is the most corrupt organization on the face of the earth. Contrary to popular belief, Catholic Schools DO NOT provide a high quality academic education, but rather, they are "indoctrination centers" to create loyal robotic members who will feed the church with children and money. If you want to destroy a child's life send them to a Catholic School for twelve years. The Catholic Church has distorted the Christian Religion because they want to control the membership. If you want a healthy / happy life stay far away from the Catholic Church and the Catholic Clergy! ---- Just my opinion!

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  3. It is time for everyone, (who is a member of the Catholic Church), to consider leaving the Catholic Church!

    Here are some reason to consider taking this action:

    1.) The clergy of the Catholic Church have no respect for the membership of the Catholic Church. ---- They see the membership as a continuous source of money. ---- They live the "good life" on the backs of the Cool Aid drinking faithful.

    2.) The Crimes of the Catholic Clergy against children in Catholic Schools and Catholic Institutions.

    3.) The cover up of the crimes of the Catholic Clergy against children by the administration of the Catholic Church. The administration does not care about children.

    4.) The Catholic Clergy have lost their credibility within the Christian world. ---- They have lost the respect of the membership.

    5.) The Catholic Church has always been about money, and the indoctrination of children in their schools.

    6.) The sermons are always negative. The priest never presents God in a positive / loving manner. ---- The priest never speak about the possibilities of life.

    7.) There is no Christian Fellowship attached to the services of the Catholic Church. ---- The members of a parish do not know one another. This is done by design so that the members cannot voice their opinion and / or opposition! They are not organized! They do not share ideas!

    8.) The clergy of the Catholic Church are fakes, frauds and phonies. ----- They are not to be trusted with your children and they are not to be trusted with your soul. ---- They always have hidden agendas. ---- They manipulate people for their own agenda!

    9.) The church is NOT bible based, but rather it is church rule based.

    10.) The church is not designed to meet the spiritual needs of the members, but rather, it is designed to meed the needs of the clergy. ----- It is clergy focused not people focused!

    11.) The church is built on putting "guilt" on the individual member. ---- The people are never "ok"! ---- They are always deficient in some way! ----- NOTE: If God made you in his image and likeness then by definition your are "ok!"

    12.) The Catholic Church is all about obeying meaningless rules. My wife and I could not have the traditional wedding march at our wedding because the music director of the church did not like that piece of music! QUESTION: What gives him the right to make that decision at our wedding! He said that it was only a song! So if is only a song, why can't he play it?

    13.) My wife and I have finally decided to stop attending the Catholic Church and our lives have improved 100%. We now look at life from a positive point of view. No more negativity in our life. The money that we would have given to the Catholic Church we give to people who perform a service for us as a tip. ---- In this way, we know that it will not be spent as hush money or on lavish living!

    The CHOICE is yours! ---- If we all take away the financial contributions the Catholic Church will WAKE UP very quickly! ---- People are leaving the Church daily! ---- They have simply had enough of the lies! ----- All the best to you. ---- God bless. ---- Just my opinion.

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    1. I agree with everything that you pointed out about the Catholic Church & it's leaders....This is 2014" more people need to wake up and stop drinking the Catholic Cool Aid, I have been emailing President Obama & Vice President Biden, in my email I just asked them both" .....what is the difference between" War crimes & the crimes of the Catholic Church ? I feel the victims & all others who care about children will cut out the middle man and ask our commander an chief;" the same question" maybe someday soon" we will all have an answere on the difference between War crimes & crimes of the Catholic Church. The administration; should get to know" see" and hear" the victims" because when a little tid-bit of news comes out about the victims" being abused " the news and the victims are silenced very quickly, we all know that this is the truth;" This is only my opinon" We need to saturate the air waves; about the abuse and to keep it going, this way we can make it impossible to be silenced again.....

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    2. Writing to government leaders is only one step to correct the problem. ---- We need to get everyone, who has been abused in some way as a child, to write on blogs such as this, and tell their story so that the whole world can see just what the Catholic Church is all about! ---- When people read these stories, they will start to think about their relationship to a very sick organization who is very power hungry and worships money above everything else. ---- We all need to start a movement to change the operating system of the Catholic Church. ----- The Catholic Church has lost it's soul. It is not longer a Christian Organization, but rather, it has become a player in the world community, and it uses the finances of the faithful from the United States to work their evil magic around the world. ----- Just research the young women who were held in the laundries of Ireland against their will for years. The Catholic Church and the nuns made money off of the work of these young women, and they treated them very poorly in the name of God and Christianity. ----- QUESTION: --- Where was the Christian love and concern? ---- The only thing that the Catholic Church is concerned about is money and their existence. ----- From the Pope down to the parish priests and nuns there is total corruption, and a lack of concern for the membership of the church! They are being used for their money! -------- Just my opinion. God bless.

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