'They're not going to get another penny out of me': Parishioners outraged over Archbishop’s $500,000 home renovation project

Daily Mail (UK)
March 2, 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2571560/Parishioners-outraged-Archbishops-lavish-home-renovation.html

Controvery: Myers lavish retirement plan has parishioners refusing to donate to the church

House of God: Once renovations are finished the house will feature swimming pools, large study with attached library, full-floor gallery, two bathrooms, three fireplaces, and an elevator

In need: Diocese officials say renovation funds do not come from donations and have urged parishioners not to abandon the church fundraiser

Newark Archbishop John Myers is facing an enraged flock as news of his plan to spend $500,000 renovating his retirement home spreads through the pews.

Myers, who prefers to be addressed as 'Your Grace,' is using the money to build an expensive addition to the house in New Jersey's Franklin Township that he now uses as a weekend retreat.

Contractors have already begun adding 3,000 square-foot addition including bedroom with sitting area, large study with attached library, full-floor gallery, two bathrooms, three fireplaces, and an elevator to the three-story house.

The archdiocese purchased the house in 2002 for $700,000 with real estate proceeds.

It currently features five bedrooms, three full-bathrooms, a three-car garage, and a basement office.

Myers, 72, will be at mandatory retirement age in 2017.

Many of the archdiocese 1.3 million Catholics across four counties are now snapping their wallets and purses in protest.

Joe Ferri, 70, told the Star-Ledger he donates a $100 check every year for the archbishop's annual appeal. Or at least he used to until now.

'If this is the only way I can be heard, so be it,' Ferri said. 'I'm disgusted. The archdiocese is not going to get another penny out of me.'

The extravagant home seems in especially poor taste at a time when many Catholic schools are closing and the pope has asked bishops to turn their back on the trappings of luxury.

At Holy Family Church in Nutley, parishioner Maria Bozza, 69, is also asking that Catholics withhold contributions.

'We need to start an ‘empty envelope month’ to replace the archbishop’s annual appeal,' she said. 'If parishioners in every church in the Newark Archdiocese sent in an empty envelope, then they will get the message.'

Other faithful worry Myers' retirement plan could have repercussions for more humble servants of God.

'Unfortunately, this is going to hurt giving everywhere,' said the Rev. John Bambrick. 'The average priest lives in two rooms with a bathroom, and the pope lives in a hotel room. I don’t understand why a 75-year-old man needs a 7,500-square-foot mansion with two swimming pools.'

Myers' people also find themselves parsing whether his 'Grace' needs an exercise pool or hot tub, as shown in documents.

'The press says it’s a hot tub; it’s a whirlpool,' diocese spokesman Jim Goodness told The New York Times. 'He’s getting older – there are therapeutic issues'

Goodness also claimed expansion funds were not coming for parishioners, who he begged not to forsake the current fundraising drive.

'It all goes to people in need,' he said.

The diocese's annual appeal typically raises $10 to $11 million, about half of which is earmarked for Catholic schools. Another $3 million goes to Catholic Charities with a final $1 million being shared with parishes that meet fundraising goals.

'It’s painful to hear some people talking about stopping their contributions to the annual appeal and to the church in general,' Goodness wrote. 'By withdrawing their support, who are they harming? The very people that we as church are pledged to help.'