Simple living. Sacrifice. Service to the poor.

Pope Francis’ emphasis on everyday people and his rejection of the material trappings of the papacy have registered with Catholics and non-Catholics alike. His leadership by example is speaking loudly to both clergy and parishioners.

But it’s not registering as forcefully as many church members in the Diocese of Newark would like. More than 22,000 have signed a petition asking why Archbishop John J. Myers needs $500,000 in diocese money for an addition to his $700,000 home in Franklin Township, Hunterdon County, which he uses on weekends and which will become his retirement in a few years.

At a time when church members are struggling to pay mortgages, dealing with the closing of Catholic schools, reacting to sex-abuse scandals — and in many parts of the world, confronting issues of daily survival — they’re objecting to the bishop's quest for such a large, luxurious home. The expansion at the Hunterdon property includes an elevator, hot tub, an indoor exercise pool and a library, bringing the residence to 7,500 square feet.

So far Myers’ response has been silence — except for a diocesan spokesman’s comment that the petition would be reviewed, following Myers' refusal to meet with a group of petitioners after a Palm Sunday service. The spokesman noted that money used for the home is being funded by the sale of other church-owned properties, along with private donations, and it will be owned by the diocese, not the bishop.

Many retired bishops and priests live in relatively modest apartments in church-owned residences. Some bishops, including Paul Bootkoski, of the Diocese of Metuchen, contribute personal funds toward the purchase of a future retirement home, which Bootkoski has done with a house in Sussex County, according to a diocesan spokeswoman.

Still, the issue of lavish housing for high-ranking church officials isn’t going away, and change is in the offing. Pope Francis, who gave up the traditional papal residence for a small apartment in a Vatican guest house, fired an archbishop in Limburg, Germany — the so-called “Bishop of Bling” — for spending $43 million in church funds to renovate his residence.

The Archbishop of Atlanta, Wilton Gregory, recently apologized to church members and announced he will sell a 6,100-square-foot, $2.2 million home he built using personal and church funds.

Also in New Jersey, parishioners in the Diocese of Camden are questioning Bishop Dennis Sullivan’s use of church money to buy an eight-bedroom, six-bathroom house in Woodbury.

These are church issues, to be sure, but such investments are insultingly insensitive to the needs of its people, not to mention the teachings of Christ. Parishioners are calling for a new direction in how the church conducts itself. Francis has called upon bishops to stop expecting to live “like princes” and return to the roots of their faith — words that should be resonating in New Jersey and beyond.