Newark Archdiocese Announces a $100 Million Capital Fund-raising Campaign

By Jeff Green
The Record
March 1, 2014

http://www.northjersey.com/news/247988911_Newark_archdiocese_announces_a__100_million_capital_fund-raising_campaign.html


Jim Goodness, spokesman for the archdiocese, said that the campaign would go on for several years and that officials were still working on the logistics and strategy.

Archbishop John J. Myers announced in a January letter to the archdiocese's 1.3 million Catholics that half of the money raised during the capital campaign would go to the archdiocese and the other half to parishes.

The archdiocese would invest its half in long-term endowments for Catholic schools, struggling parishes, seminarians, clergy health care and other areas it regularly funds, Goodness said.

To prepare for the campaign, officials and an archdiocese consultant have conducted studies, spoken with pastors and sent out surveys to parishioners and clergy, Goodness said. The archbishop based his decision to let parishes control half of the money on the "candid feedback," he said.

But few other details have been determined, including whether the campaign would run parallel to the archbishop's annual appeal or supplant it. The appeal generates about $10 million each year for archdiocese programs, Goodness said.

"There are a lot of things that have been mentioned, but everything is still in the feasibility stage," Goodness said.

If the campaign is successful, Goodness said, the archdiocese might bring back some shuttered schools and will be able to sustain its programs well into the future.

Myers was harshly criticized after press reports last month about his plans to expand his residence on a sprawling estate in Hunterdon County, adding 3,000 square feet to his retirement home.

Before that, parents were irate over a new plan to take greater control over Catholic elementary schools. And for much of last year, Myers was criticized for his supervision of the Rev. Michael Fugee, who was accused in May of violating a court-ordered ban on working with children.

Email: greenj@northjersey.com