SAN JOSE (CA)
Newser
August 29, 2018
By Kate Seamons
Bishop Patrick McGrath says he realized he ‘erred in judgment in the purchase’
Bishop Patrick McGrath’s retirement digs won’t be as posh as initially planned. In response to the backlash that emerged after it was revealed the Diocese of San Jose in California had purchased for him a $2.3 million five-bedroom home in the city, the 73-year-old has now said he will not move into what was described as a “Tuscan estate,” reports the New York Times. He had originally justified the purchase, made last winter, by saying it was made using a fund that could only go to housing; that it was a sound investment for the diocese; and that he didn’t want to live in a rectory where he might disturb the priests. But that’s where he’ll end up: “in a rectory at one of our parishes,” McGrath said in a Monday statement.
“I erred in judgment in the purchase of a 5-bedroom home for $2.3 million,” he continued. “I failed to consider adequately the housing crisis in this valley and the struggles of so many families and communities in light of that crisis.” As for the fate of the 3,269-square-foot house, it will be relisted and sold, with any profits going to Charities Housing. “I assume full responsibility for this decision and I believe that the sale of the house is the appropriate action,” McGrath said in his statement.
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