VENTNOR (NJ)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Amy S. Rosenberg
Inquirer Staff Writer
VENTNOR, N.J. – The sight of elderly Catholic priests rocking in wicker chairs outside the grand oceanfront home on Princeton Avenue has been a familiar part of this seaside town for nearly a half-century.
But that era is about to come to an abrupt close after an order by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput to shut the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s 19-room vacation home at the Shore by Saturday and put it up for sale.
“It’s not listed with a broker yet, but will be soon,” archdiocesan spokesman Kenneth Gavin said of the property at 114 S. Princeton, which stretches a full block along the Boardwalk and is assessed at $6.2 million.
The retired priests who had planned a stay at Villa St. Joseph by the Sea were recently told that their reservations would be canceled as of Saturday, the end of the archdiocese’s fiscal year. Facing a $17 million operating deficit and a price tag of at least $11.6 million for its response to the 2011 Philadelphia grand jury report on clergy sex abuse, the archdiocese has been engaged in massive restructuring, cost-cutting, and selling of assets.
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