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Archdiocese plans to sell city mansion

By on January 2, 2012 2:02 am in US News / 8 comments

 

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Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has decided to sell the 16-room stone mansion that has been home to Roman Catholic cardinals here for 76 years.

Sources say his decision, which he will announce soon, appears driven in part by his expectation that he will be closing parishes and schools across the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in the next several years.

A person with knowledge of the announcement said Chaput, who was installed as archbishop in September, did not want parishioners to endure closings while he lived in a baronial home.

The sale would comport with a trend among Catholic dioceses to sell off their bishop’s mansions in favor of more modest dwellings. In 1999, when he was Denver’s archbishop, Chaput sold his predecessor’s villa and moved into the diocesan seminary.

One of the largest private homes in Philadelphia, the stately, three-story dwelling of nearly 13,000 square feet sits on 8.7 landscaped acres that sweep 900 feet from City Avenue to Overbrook Avenue.

Diocesan spokeswoman Donna Farrell would not confirm the report. [more]

SOURCE

Philadelphia Inquirer

 
 
 
 

8 Comments

  1. Mary Anne says:
    January 3, 2012 at 1:35 pm

    As a child growing up in the post-Great Depression era, how stunned I was at how well the priests lived at the rectory with housekeepers and cooks and lovely furniture while my parents and six brothers and sisters lived in near poverty. I felt a disconnect then. Something just didn’t seem right.

    Reply
  2. John says:
    January 3, 2012 at 8:11 am

    Those mansions for bishops were built in a Protestant-dominated time when Catholics were looked down upon. The Catholic rank and file were proud that their leader/bishop was a a person of stature in the community.

    Reply
  3. James Francis says:
    January 2, 2012 at 1:03 pm

    This is indeed a wonderful sign on the Archbishops’s part. The Bishops live in their own world of Royality and are at such a distance from the real world of people. There is a saying, “You can take the guy out of brooklyn, but you can’t take Brookly out of the guy.” You can take the Franciscan out of the his Franciscan Community, but you can’t take the FRANCISCAN out of the guy.

    Reply
  4. barbara haenn says:
    January 2, 2012 at 11:04 am

    The church has always supported the value of sign and symbol , especially in the sacramental life. There is a large “Disconnect” in that the church leaders have demonstrated they live lives that appear to be affluent, and at the same time identify themselves as the church which has a preferential option to serve the poor. These two positions cannot stand side by side.The rest of the world saw the contradiction and so the Bishops have slowly, but surely, lost the support of the “people in the pew”. I thank the Bishop of Philadelphia for beginning to reclaim the authenticity of his role as church leader. May other church leaders be inspired to follow suit.

    Reply
  5. Tony says:
    January 2, 2012 at 10:30 am

    Good decision on the part of the the bishop, all bishops would be wise to follow his example.

    Reply
 
 

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