NJ Catholic diocese buying new home for bishop

[rug]

The Associated Press
Posted: Thursday, January 2, 2014, 9:17 AM

WOODBURY, N.J. (AP) - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden has bought a mansion from Rowan University to use for the bishop's home and church functions.

Diocese spokesman Peter Feuerherd tells the Courier-Post (http://on.cpsj.com/1g2O3QL ) that more space was needed for Bishop Dennis Sullivan to meet with donors, benefactors and use as workspace.

The $500,000 sale closed Dec. 23.

The bishop currently lives in an apartment at the St. Pius X Retreat House in Blackwood. The church is selling the Blackwood home where previous bishops lived.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20140102_ap_b7ae3c74e46f4fc9b37e94af89d88c73.html

Somebody is not getting the message. The Bishop of Camden, of all places, should not be buying a mansion.

[No Vested Interest]

1. Not knowing the whole story, I'll give him (and the diocese)

a pass on this one.
There are legitimate reasons for having a large facility/house for bishops-
they do have frequent meetings with groups of varying sizes, and I do not doubt that
much of it will be used for work space for various diocesan officials.
Perhaps the price was more reasonable than getting needed space at market price.

[47of74]

9. I think I would too

Not knowing what the diocese has for facilities I think I'll give them a pass too. Where I live they usually do large events at one of the two Catholic post secondary institutions, plus space from the Cathedral's rectory so they don't have a very large residence for the Archbishop.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

2. At least it's not like the Bishop of Bling in Germany

$500K is a long way from €30 million.

[No Vested Interest]

3. I imagine $500K doesn't buy much more than your average

upscale house in NJ.
In Midwest, where I live $500K buys a very nice house or condo, but face it, homes of that value are sold every day and no one blinks an eye.
Do you ever watch HGTV, where people are buying and selling homes? It's every day business that these couples/families have been approved for huge mortgages, up to $1M. So somebody is paying the big prices, and on a regular basis.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

4. In 1980, I was living in a four bedroom house in rural Wisconsin (outside Madison), about 2500 sq ft

On a fairly large lot. My landlord offered to sell it to me for $42K (remember, this was 30+ years ago). That year, I got a job in a Chicago suburb, and bought a considerably smaller house on a considerably smaller lot for almost exactly twice that.

[47of74]

10. 500K would buy a pretty good sized home around here.

[rug]

6. Yeah, but . . . .

http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/leave-your-comfort-zone-and-serve-the-poor-pope-francis-tells-priests-466766

[IrishAyes]

5. Somebody where I retired just bought a renovated 4&2 on 5 extra big lots for $38K.

I'd be a little jealous except that the house was built in the 1990's and their taxes will be at least 5 or 6 times what mine are. You can't beat $183 a year. They seem to go by age a lot here.

[goldent]

7. 500K doesn't get you a whole lot in much of NJ

but this is in the south where prices are lower. Still, I think mansion is a little misleading.

I found this very interesting:

The mansion has undergone extensive interior renovations, including a $700,000 overhaul that was completed by Rowan in 2002.

Sadly, I see small universities do this a lot - spend way too much on projects like this. I guess the diocese reaps the benefit in this case.

[IrishAyes]

8. Apparently.