Take a Closer Look at the Makeup of Faithful America

By James Goodness
The Express-Times
April 17, 2014

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/04/letter_take_a_closer_look_at_f.html

Newark Archbishop John J. Myers' residence in Hunterdon County is undergoing a $500,000 expansion.

I’m responding to The Express-Times editorial about the archbishop of Newark’s retirement home (“Bishops’ homes are over the top,” April 16).

In the days since the Faithful America petition was delivered, we have reviewed it thoroughly. From a claimed 22,500 signatures (their number/statement):

Only 483 names claim residency in the archdiocese. However, none of these provided evidence or corroboration of affiliation as donors, parishioners, or members of the Catholic faith. (Of the 483, only 13 are actual signatures.)

There are numerous duplicate entries/listing of names.

100 pages (two-sided) in the document are totally blank.

50 pages of blogging appear (as if lifted from newspaper sources).

98 percent of the document is a typed listing of names/towns from states other than New Jersey — primarily the Midwest and West Coast (including Alaska and Hawaii), with no apparent evidence or corroboration of the individuals’ affiliation with the Catholic Church.

An extensive number of names in this document clearly indicates the petitioner is a member of the clergy of a Protestant or other denomination, given designations as Reverend and Mrs., Reverend and Mr., Pastor Jill, etc.

For those unfamiliar with the group that is the source of this petition, Faithful America is an online activist organization begun by the National Council of Churches of Christ to advocate for “progressive issues.” It has been supported financially over the years by the prominent atheist George Soros.