Newark archbishop's future retirement home undergoing a $500K addition

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VanSensei said:
Northern New Jersey is one of the country’s most affluent parts. 800k for a house like that is probably the norm.
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VeritasLuxMea said:
I was about to say this. While it might be above the norm, in fact, it’s certainly not ludicrous as many in other states in the U.S. might think. My parents house in a similar type of area is worth about the same, give or take, and while they have it pretty well they aren’t what you might call wealthy.

My young wife and I have looked at houses again in a similar area and finally settled on something worth about $400K, but we are just starting out in life. The costs of housing (and everything else) are inflated in these parts, but with salaries to match.

Anyway, it’s hardly surprising for any retiree who has worked hard all of his/her life to have housing slightly better than the norm. If only all hardworking retirees were so justly rewarded.
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Those are very good points. Real Estate has gotten insane and that amount is nothing compared to what happened in Germany.
 
I really have no idea whether or no His Excellency is justified in this renovation, but I wonder at the wisdom of doing it. Pope Francis’ embrace of poverty, even if it is unnecessary, has had a tremendously positive impact on the public opinion of the Pope. Perhaps priests and bishops should follow suit, if not for their sake than for the sake of the souls in their diocese.

Still, it’s His Excellency’s decision and I have no doubt that it was made with prudence. I’m sure that everything is fine.
 
saintjohnxxiii said:
Those are very good points. Real Estate has gotten insane and that amount is nothing compared to what happened in Germany.
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It’s an affluent part of the nation because the people there work in New York, where average salaries are very, very high, but want actual housing and a closer commute as opposed to Connecticut. It’s a 2-hour roundtrip from NYC-Connecticut vs. 1 hr. Newark-NYC.
 
It’s also a wealthy part of the country not only because of its proximity to NY, but it’s also home to over 20 fortune 500 companies, and scores of companies that fall just short of that rank. Hunterdon County, the wealthiest in NJ and location of the Arch Bishop’s retirement home is a good hour outside the city.

Being born and raised in NJ I can tell you there has to be some kind of mistake, similar houses in the area go for double that. The property taxes alone would be at least $30,000 a year.

Also being from NJ I can tell you that Arch Bishop Myers doesn’t have a large fan club. He’s said some troubling things about the abuse scandal (of which his handling has been heavily criticized) and is very standoffish.

I really don’t know what to think about this whole thing. I hope it’s more than just him living there. We have a huge problem meeting the needs of retired clergy as it is and it bothers me to think that there are priests, brothers, sisters, etc that are living in sub standard conditions after having given their life to the church.
 
VanSensei said:
It’s an affluent part of the nation because the people there work in New York, where average salaries are very, very high, but want actual housing and a closer commute as opposed to Connecticut. It’s a 2-hour roundtrip from NYC-Connecticut vs. 1 hr. Newark-NYC.
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Newark- NYC round trip is about 25 minutes and Newark is obviously not a wealthy area. The really rich parts of NJ are about a 2 hour round trip to the city.
 
Cricket2 said:
Honestly, I would much rather see priests living a life that matched that of the poor a bit more. Most of the lay people I know don’t even have retirement. They lost it due to the economic practices started under Reagan in 1981 and since then. Maybe if we saw our priests living the kind of life we are forced to live they would be more believable. Sorry, but in 30 years I have known only one priest I would say was truly poor. The rest seem to have it pretty good.

This is an insult to the poor.
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Why do you know all of this?
I don’t know the financial state of any of my priests. I’ve had friends tell me that one priest I know lives in a very large house… but, I’ve never seen it. I just think we shouldn’t be judgmental Pharisees who are finding fault with our priests, and telling these priests to remove the speck in their eyes, while we have a plank in ours.

The media loves things like this, because they try to get parishioners angry at their priests. Well, guess what, St. Francis was told by a group of angry townspeople that there was a priest in their town who was secretly married to a mistress. They wanted St. Francis to have an altercation and throw him out of the town. St. Francis went up to the priest, knelt on the ground, and kissed his hands, saying, “These are the hands which give me Christ”.

That attitude caused the priest to end his affair, and repent.

If St. Francis had gone up to the priest and condemned him, and forced him out of town, do you think he would’ve changed?

What do you want to do, kick the Bishop from his house? Maybe you could get a mob of angry parishoners outside his house… you know, maybe you could start throwing stones at the windows!

Y’all don’t have sin.

Y’all can just throw stones at that Bishop.

:coolinoff:

Its ridiculous. Ridiculous.

You know, when I went on this thread, I didn’t expect to find the Spanish Inquisition…
 
ServusHumilis said:
I think he would be fine with a nice apartment but as mentioned this may be a place for several priests to retire to. Perhaps it may also be used as a place for some guest priests to stay while in the diocese. It’s also an investment for the diocese. In my city you wouldn’t find a property half as nice for double the money. The older dioceses around the world surely have much more extravagant villas handed down from over the years than this.
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Perhaps. But I do have a problem with this kind of extravagance when so many are going without. I am aware of a rectory that could house no less than four priests. Only two live there. The office spaces are empty and the rectory sits empty 98% of the time.

My great grandfather owned some land that eventually was used to build a shopping Mall. He left that land to the Church in his will so she could use it for the further glory of God. She saw fit to sell it for the building of a local Mall. This was not what he had in mind and the Church made a good chunk of money on the deal, none of which was ever seen by the folks in the pews.

This kind of mentality that seems to serve the upper echelon before it actually serves the needs of the community or the poor gets under my skin a bit more than some because of this. More people would have benefited if my great-grandfather had decided to leave the land as a park or for a building site for a hospital. Wish he had.
 
ServusHumilis said:
Perhaps it may also be used as a place for some guest priests to stay while in the diocese.
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Another odd thing about this story is that this house is located in the Diocese of Metuchen, and is quite a drive from anywhere in the Newark Diocese.
 
This is often a VERY shrewd and lucrative investment strategy used by dioceses. You buy a property (sometimes it is donated) at a value price with temporarily surplus funds needing investment. You improve it in a manner that can be recovered later via selling the property (this means you have to make market-appropriate improvements). You put it to a legitimate diocesan use so that it is real estate tax exempt. You sell it for a big tax-free profit later on when / if the funds are needed.

In the meantime, the property appreciates in value, the diocese pays no property tax and the bishop gets a retirement home out of it. If it’s done right, the diocese makes out VERY well on the deal.
 
manualman said:
This is often a VERY shrewd and lucrative investment strategy used by dioceses. You buy a property (sometimes it is donated) at a value price with temporarily surplus funds needing investment. You improve it in a manner that can be recovered later via selling the property (this means you have to make market-appropriate improvements). You put it to a legitimate diocesan use so that it is real estate tax exempt. You sell it for a big tax-free profit later on when / if the funds are needed.

In the meantime, the property appreciates in value, the diocese pays no property tax and the bishop gets a retirement home out of it. If it’s done right, the diocese makes out VERY well on the deal.
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This is one reason I am starting to oppose tax exempt status for “non-profits.” I didn’t use to feel this way, but I now feel that this status is abused by too many NPO’s. Given the environmental impact any facility has on the surrounding area I am starting to think they should have to pay a tax for that, and that all lands should be taxed.
 
It is important to note taxes ($18,695 last year) was noted as being paid.

For the sake of accuracy I wanted to post the Newark Archdiocese official blog response.
Response to Recent News Coverage About Construction on the Archbishop’s Residence
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The current news coverage about the construction at the Archbishop’s weekend residence contains a number of misrepresentations. In addition, comments from readers that have appeared along with these news stories also contain numerous errors and mistakes.
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The current weekend residence and future retirement home of Archbishop Myers was purchased in 2002 with funds from the sale of a prior residence at the Jersey Shore that had been donated to the Archdiocese more than 20 years ago. The planned construction is being paid for by donations from individuals specifically given for this purpose, and through the sale of other residential properties that the Archdiocese owns but does not need. The sale of these properties is expected to not only pay for the construction, but also to return funds to the Archdiocese for other ministry uses. No parishioner funds or Archbishop’s Annual Appeal contributions are being used on this project. Similarly, no convents, schools or other Archdiocesan buildings are being sold to provide funding for this project. The Archdiocese does pay real estate taxes on this property.
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It is also important to know that in recent years the Archdiocese of Newark, both directly and through subsidies by parishes, has provided some $15 million annually to maintain Catholic schools within the Archdiocese. Under the Lighting the Way strategic plan, the Archdiocese will continue to provide substantial financial support to Catholic elementary schools, and also will devote more resources toward marketing and enrollment services – two areas that many individual schools have not been able to master on their own.
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Support for Catholic Charities and other outreach ministries continues to be provided through the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal, and remains a key commitment to serving the needs of people, regardless of their religion…
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I also found a blog post on this topic from Te Deum Laudamus to be thoughtful.
 
Response to Recent News Coverage About Construction on the Archbishop’s Residence
The current news coverage about the construction at the Archbishop’s weekend residence contains a number of misrepresentations. In addition, comments from readers that have appeared along with these news stories also contain numerous errors and mistakes.
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To begin with, the Archdiocese has not maintained a residence for the Archbishop in the Llewellyn Park area of West Orange for decades. The last Archbishop to live in that house was Archbishop Boland, who retired in 1974. That house was sold decades ago. It is also important to know that Archbishop Myers’ principal residence has always been the rectory of the Cathedral Basilica, where he lives in community with four other priests. Like Archbishop Myers, both Archbishop Gerety and Cardinal McCarrick used the Cathedral Basilica rectory as their principal residence. Both had also maintained weekend residences as well.
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The current weekend residence and future retirement home of Archbishop Myers was purchased in 2002 with funds from the sale of a prior residence at the Jersey Shore that had been donated to the Archdiocese more than 20 years ago. The planned construction is being paid for by donations from individuals specifically given for this purpose, and through the sale of other residential properties that the Archdiocese owns but does not need. The sale of these properties is expected to not only pay for the construction, but also to return funds to the Archdiocese for other ministry uses. No parishioner funds or Archbishop’s Annual Appeal contributions are being used on this project. Similarly, no convents, schools or other Archdiocesan buildings are being sold to provide funding for this project. The Archdiocese does pay real estate taxes on this property.
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It is also important to know that in recent years the Archdiocese of Newark, both directly and through subsidies by parishes, has provided some $15 million annually to maintain Catholic schools within the Archdiocese. Under the Lighting the Way strategic plan, the Archdiocese will continue to provide substantial financial support to Catholic elementary schools, and also will devote more resources toward marketing and enrollment services – two areas that many individual schools have not been able to master on their own.
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Support for Catholic Charities and other outreach ministries continues to be provided through the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal, and remains a key commitment to serving the needs of people, regardless of their religion.
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newarkarchdiocese.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/response-to-recent-news-coverage-about.html
 
I’ve read the article, the response, and the very thoughtful Te Deum Laudamus! blog post.

If the “4,500-square-foot home…on 8.2 wooded acres in the hills of Hunterdon County. With five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a three-car garage and a big outdoor pool…” which will be augmented by a “three-story, 3,000-square-foot addition” and which will have an “indoor exercise pool, a hot tub, three fireplaces, a library and an elevator” is not also used to house other retired priests or sisters, in addition to His Excellency, then something is extremely wrong.

This particular Archbishop is apparently one of those who still just don’t get it, and has clearly not been paying attention to Pope Francis and his wish for bishops to live a lifestyle characterized by simplicity. Talk about being thoroughly tone deaf.
 
Some not very well-informed opinions on NJ real estate on this thread. All of the NJ communities on the list of 100 wealthiest communities are within an hour to 75 minutes of NYC. Farther out and you’re outside normal commuting distance and property values go down.

Hunterdon County is not that close to Newark, making it less than an ideal location to continue to work for the Archdiocese.

Some of the parishioners that contributed the money to buy the real estate that was sold to pay for this renovation don’t even make the $18,000+ that it takes to pay the taxes on this estate.

And you can bet that if this were to be a retirement home for a number of priests, the statement released by the Archdiocese would have emphasized that.

It’s believed that Archbishop Myers is already on shaky ground with the Pope, who last year appointed a coadjutor archbishop to “assist” Archbishop Myers. Most people believe it was prompted by Myers’ poor handling of sex-abuse cases in the Archdiocese.
 
I would be very careful about making assumptions and drawing conclusions about one of our bishops based on what is in all likelihood only a small part of the story.

I know a retired bishop who lived at a retreat center that could have been described in much more luxurious terms (with the numbers of bedrooms and square footage). But it was a retreat center.

I highly doubt that this is all for Archbishop Myers. It is a diocesan asset and will remain so long after Archbishop Myers has gone from this earthly life. I doubt he is the only consideration with these plans.
 
Joe_5859 said:
I would be very careful about making assumptions and drawing conclusions about one of our bishops based on what is in all likelihood only a small part of the story.

I know a retired bishop who lived at a retreat center that could have been described in much more luxurious terms (with the numbers of bedrooms and square footage). But it was a retreat center.

I highly doubt that this is all for Archbishop Myers. It is a diocesan asset and will remain so long after Archbishop Myers has gone from this earthly life. I doubt he is the only consideration with these plans.
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If that were the case, why didn’t they say so to diffuse the situation?
 
Joe_5859 said:
Also, here is the official word from the Archdiocese (always a good place to go to evaluate these sorts of stories coming from the secular press):

newarkarchdiocese.blogspot.com/2014/02/response-to-recent-news-coverage-about.html
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I believe there had already been a link posted to this. Also, the blog post that you previously cited is just that… a blog post, and also “conjecture.”

If there are to be other priests living in this residence, then the archdiocese should get that info out there pretty quickly.

If it didn’t dawn on someone that bishops living like noblemen in palatial residences is a terrible idea, then it should have. I wait with bated breath to hear - officially - that His Excellency won’t be living there in solitary splendor.
 
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