Author Topic: N.J. Archbishop Under Fire for 'Vulgar' Home Building Project  (Read 561 times)

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Offline Rapunzel

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http://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/n-j-archbishop-under-fire-vulgar-home-building-project-n45211

N.J. Archbishop Under Fire for 'Vulgar' Home Building Project

The weekend home of Roman Catholic Archbishop John Myers is already a 4,500-square-foot getaway in suburban New Jersey. It features five bedrooms, three baths, a three-car garage, elevator and swimming pool set on 8 acres in Hunterdon County, one of the wealthiest counties in the country.



Wood framing marks the 3,000-square-foot addition to Archbishop John J. Myers' future retirement home in Franklin Township, N.J. Myers now uses the home on weekends. The archdiocese bought it for $700,000 in 2002.

Now, workers are tacking on a 3,000-square-foot extension to the house for Myers' retirement in two years.

But in a time when Pope Francis is preaching austerity in the church, spending $500,000 — mostly from the sale of church assets — to pay for the project has rankled Myers' flock in the archdiocese of Newark. Some worshippers are refusing to contribute to church collections in protest.

“It’s vulgar ... The church is changing around him,” said Kevin Davitt, a parishioner at St. Catharine’s Church in Glen Rock who has stopped donating to church appeals.

“He loves the pomp and circumstance, he loves the robes. That’s his world. There’s an obvious tone-deafness about him,” Davitt told Reuters of Myers.

News of the three-story extension has consumed worshippers in the archdiocese since the plans were first reported by the Newark Star-Ledger two weeks ago. The building will include a library, an indoor exercise pool and what the newspaper described as a hot tub.

In a harshly worded editorial about Myers in its latest issue, the National Catholic Reporter said the “arrogance and self-importance” required for such a use of diocese assets was “breathtaking.”

The archdiocese has implored parishioners to reconsider their protest.

It says most of the construction funding is coming from the sale of underused church property, along with some private donations, and the house will remain a church asset even after Myers’ death.

“By withdrawing their support, who are they harming?” Jim Goodness, the archbishop’s spokesman, said in a statement. “The very people that we as a Church are pledged to help.”

�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline sinkspur

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Re: N.J. Archbishop Under Fire for 'Vulgar' Home Building Project
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2014, 11:53:05 pm »
Arrogant bleep.

Myers insists on being called "Your Grace", rather than "Bishop" like most other bishops.  He is clearly tone-deaf, and starving the parishes of money will get the attention of most pastors who, in turn, will raise hell about money sent to the diocese.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline truth_seeker

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Re: N.J. Archbishop Under Fire for 'Vulgar' Home Building Project
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2014, 12:23:42 am »
Apparently the protestant televangelists and megachurchers don't have a complete monopoly on religious career path wealth extremism.


"God must love the common man, he made so many of them.�  Abe Lincoln

Offline sinkspur

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Re: N.J. Archbishop Under Fire for 'Vulgar' Home Building Project
« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2014, 12:49:21 am »
Anyone who claims to follow The One who had no place to lay his head and yet lives like a Saudi prince is an embarrassment to Christianity.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline Chieftain

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Re: N.J. Archbishop Under Fire for 'Vulgar' Home Building Project
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2014, 01:18:42 am »
Anyone who claims to follow The One who had no place to lay his head and yet lives like a Saudi prince is an embarrassment to Christianity.

Yes, but more specifically he is an embarrassment to the Roman Catholic Church.


Offline olde north church

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Re: N.J. Archbishop Under Fire for 'Vulgar' Home Building Project
« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2014, 10:43:37 am »
Yes, but more specifically he is an embarrassment to the Roman Catholic Church.

The "Roman" adjective in relation to the Catholic Church is actually a slur by the British that goes back to Henry VIII's days.  I didn't know that until a couple of weeks ago.
Why?  Well, because I'm a bastard, that's why.