NEW JERSEY
The Record
FEBRUARY 21, 2015
THE ARCHDIOCESE of Newark is playing down the significance of removing “archbishop” from the annual fundraising appeal. An archdiocesan spokesman told The Record the appeal is “not so much identified with one individual.” Well, it is. And that was the problem.
Archbishop John Myers will reach the mandatory retirement age of 75 next year. He will retire well. Very well. Into a more than 7,000-square-foot mansion in Hunterdon County. The existing 4,500-square-foot home wasn’t big enough for the archbishop, so the archdiocese is spending $500,000 to expand it. The lavish retirement digs have not sat well with parishioners. Last year’s appeal, despite an improved economy, took in $200,000 less than the year before.
Despite calls by many to sell the home, Myers has not. His stance is in direct conflict with the one taken by Pope Francis, who has shunned the lavish trappings of the papacy, choosing to live in simple accommodations. Francis has rebuked bishops who live like kings and princes. The pope has placed a coadjutor archbishop in Newark, Bernard Hebda, who is expected to succeed Myers after the archbishop retires.
The archdiocese has long said Hebda’s presence in Newark has nothing to do with Myers’ poor handling of a priest who violated an agreement made with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to stay away from minors; that Myers just asked Rome for help and got it. But Hebda is a sign that the doings in Newark were not going unnoticed by the Vatican. Rebranding the annual appeal may help fundraising, but it is unlikely that donors are unaware who the archbishop of Newark is regardless of whether the word “archbishop” is on the appeal literature.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.