BY ELAINE MAGLIARO
It appears that Newark Archbishop John J. Myers has “outgrown” the house in Franklin Township, New Jersey that has served as his weekend residence since 2002—when it was bought by the Archdiocese. In order to make the snug little 4,500 square foot home a more livable and spacious retirement home for Myers, a new 3,000 square foot, three-level addition is being built for him. I should note that the house, currently valued at $800,000, “already boasts five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a three-car garage and an outdoor swimming pool.”
According to Mark Mueller of the Star-Ledger, the new wing of the archbishop’s future retirement home “will include an indoor exercise pool, a hot tub, three fireplaces, a library and an elevator, among other amenities…” Mueller said the cost of the addition will be at least a half million dollars. That figure, however, doesn’t include “architectural costs, furnishings and landscaping.”
Michael Powell said in his recent New York Times article titled A Church So Poor It Has to Close Schools, Yet So Rich It Can Build a Palace that the Archdiocese of Newark–just two years ago–“shuttered” Mater Dei Academy, a Catholic elementary school that “tossed a lifeline to the immigrants who, wave upon wave, washed ashore here.”
The reason given by the Archdiocese for closing Mater Dei Academy and seven other schools in 2012 was “because of declining enrollments and fragile finances.” I guess the Archdiocese’s finances aren’t as fragile today as they were two years ago.
SOURCES
Newark archbishop’s future retirement home undergoing a $500K addition (Star-Ledger)
Archdiocese Closes School Due To Lack Of Funds, Then Builds Palace For Bishop (Talking Points Memo)
A Church So Poor It Has to Close Schools, Yet So Rich It Can Build a Palace (New York Times)
Newark Archdiocese to close St. Anne’s School in Jersey City, Mater Dei Academy in Kearny (The Jersey Journal)
Archdiocese of Newark to close 8 more parochial schools (Star-Ledger)
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Flowers For Socrates 
New Jersey’s ‘Bishop Of Bling’ Is Taking A Ton Of Heat
Tom Kludt
February 21, 2014
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/newark-archbishop-john-myers-retirement-home-backlash
Excerpt:
It turns out that a lot of people don’t like the idea of a man of God living in a home with an indoor swimming pool and a hot tub.
There’s a growing public backlash, both in New Jersey and within the Catholic community, over the Newark Archdiocese’s plans to build a $500,000 addition to the retirement home for Archbishop John J. Myers.
The 3,000-square-foot expansion to the home, replete with a host of luxurious amenities, is unseemly to many.
The Bergen Record ran a devastating editorial on Tuesday that called on the archdiocese to sell Myers’ “princely palace.”
“Let the profits from the sale fund something more important than Myers’ desire to live like one of the Real Housewives of New Jersey,” the editorial read.
A day later, New York Times columnist Michael Powell blasted the archdiocese for building the home’s expansion two years after it closed one of its Catholic schools due to a lack of funding.
The archdiocese’s spokesman Jim Goodness told TPM that the criticism was unfair because school closures stem from low enrollment, but such rebuttals have done little to quell the public outrage. The archdiocese’s official Facebook page is currently littered with negative comments about the home.
The Record Editorial: Archbishop Myers’ princely palace
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/245923351_The_Record__Myers__palace.html
Excerpt:
WITHIN THE Catholic hierarchy, a priest has to reach the rank of cardinal to be called a prince of the church. But in the Newark Archdiocese, a soon-to-retire archbishop can lack the title and still have the princely lifestyle.
John J. Myers turns 73 this summer and must hand in his resignation at age 75. He could retire sooner; the Vatican named a coadjutor bishop last year to begin taking over the reins of the archdiocese. This was a good development for North Jersey Catholics. Myers’ poor handling of the case of the Rev. Michael Fugee, who had entered into an agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to avoid jail time, showed how little Myers cared about the people he was charged with shepherding.
Fugee was not supposed to have any unsupervised contact with minors, but he did. Myers’ response was to chastise the media for reporting the story. Now, Myers is looking toward retirement, and his lifestyle is looking up. So far up that he needs a private elevator, a hot tub and an indoor exercise pool. The archdiocese is expanding a 4,500-square-foot home in Franklin Township, Hunterdon County, that Myers has used as a weekend retreat.
The house is expanding by 3,000 square feet. The prince of Newark will live in a 7,500-square-foot home. This is more than outrageous; this is an obscenity.
According to the Census Bureau, the average size of a new single-family home in the Northeast in 2012 was 2,582 square feet, and that is a big leap from the average size of 1,595 square feet in 1973. Any way you look at it, Myers’ house will be huge.
Diocesan bishops do not take vows of poverty. No one expects them to live on Skid Row. But Pope Francis expects bishops to live modestly. The pope has chosen to live in small quarters and has admonished bishops not heeding his example. The full weight of the Vatican should descend on Myers.
Perhaps Bishop Myers is trying to keep up with the Sullivans.
Camden, N.J., Bishop, Dennis Sullivan, just purchased a 7,000-square-foot mansion with eight bedrooms and six bathrooms for $500,000. The home had previously undergone $700,000 in renovations and includes an in-ground pool, three fireplaces, a library and a three-car garage.
The money for Bishop Myers’ renovations supposedly comes from the sale of other church-owned properties and donors. (An excellent example of the bishop leading others to sin?)
Interestingly enough, their boss, Pope Francis, refused the papal palace opting instead for a modest guest apartment. He also refused a Mercedes in favor of a Ford opining that Church leaders should be part of a “poor church for the poor.” The Pope suspended the “Bishop of Bling” in Germany for spending vast sums to renovate a residence and other church buildings. Perhaps he needs to do the same with Jazzy Jersey Pulpiteers.
“the new wing of the archbishop’s future retirement home “will include an indoor exercise pool, a hot tub, three fireplaces, a library and an elevator, among other amenities…””
No bunny dorm???
“Interestingly enough, their boss, Pope Francis, refused the papal palace opting instead for a modest guest apartment. He also refused a Mercedes in favor of a Ford opining that Church leaders should be part of a “poor church for the poor.”
Blouise,
Am I being too pessimistic in thinking that Pope Francis’ health and life are something to be worried about, given the devotion of these “religious Princes” to luxury?
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/francis-appoints-like-minded-cardinals-from-periphery He is beginning to be able to appoint some “like minded ” cardinals. More will follow but it will take time.
“Am I being too pessimistic …” (Mike S)
I view that as a realistic thought.