BishopAccountability.org
	Diocese: Beach Houses Privately Owned By Peter E. Bortner Republican & Herald October 11, 2008 http://www.republicanherald.com/articles/2008/10/11/news/local_news/ pr_republican.20081011.a.pg3.pr11cullen_s1.2007333_loc.txt Many people love to go to the beach, and the Most Rev. Edward P. Cullen is no exception. Cullen, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown, owns two properties at the Jersey Shore, and church members are questioning why parishes are closing if the bishop appears to have wealth to spare. With the diocese having closed 47 churches, including 32 in the Schuylkill County region this year, many Catholics reacted with dismay to the disclosure that Cullen owns the properties. However, the diocese has attributed the church closings to the shortage of priests and changing populations. Cullen owns a house at 4660 Dune Drive, Avalon, N.J., and a condominium at Golden Shores Condominium, 8001 Second Ave., Stone Harbor, N.J., with a combined value of almost $2 million, according to Cape May County property records. A diocesan official says there is nothing wrong with Cullen owning property of any kind. "They are private properties owned by the bishop," said Matthew T. Kerr, diocesan director of communications. "The one in Avalon he has owned since 1988. The one in Stone Harbor he purchased in 2005." Furthermore, Cullen paid for the properties himself and continues to pay all expenses on them, Kerr said. "There's no diocesan money involved in this. He pays all the taxes," Kerr said. "The diocese owns no homes at the Jersey Shore." Diocesan priests such as Cullen, unlike priests from some religious orders, do not take vows of poverty and are not barred from having money and owning property. Kerr said Cullen rents out the condominium, which has an annual tax bill of about $2,000, especially to family members. "He has many brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. That's an investment property," Kerr said. The income from that helps to pay the taxes, about $4,800 a year, on the Avalon home, which Cullen uses himself, according to Kerr. The Avalon house is a block from the beach. About two miles apart on Seven Mile Beach, the properties actually are on the same road, which is called Second Avenue in Stone Harbor and Dune Drive in Avalon. The properties themselves are average by Avalon and Stone Harbor standards. Avalon residential properties have an average value of about $900,000, a spokeswoman for the borough assessor's office said Friday. However, that figure includes condominiums, which have lower values than houses, so the average house would have a higher value, she said. The average selling price for a house in Stone Harbor is $2.5 million, a spokeswoman for that borough's assessor's office said Friday. An average vacant lot alone sells for $1 million, she said. Cullen was a priest in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia when he bought the Avalon home.
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