Posted on 05/21/2002 10:08:21 AM PDT by NYer
CHICAGO (AP) _ Cardinal Francis George said he's considering selling the mansion that has been home to Catholic archbishops for more than a century, and some of the profits could pay legal fees in priest sex-abuse cases.
The three-story red brick building in Chicago's ritzy Gold Coast neighborhood was built in 1885 and has been visited by the likes of President Franklin Roosevelt and Pope John Paul II. It could bring millions of dollars to an archdiocese that faces new lawsuits over allegations of sexual abuse.
``If there is money (needed) to meet the new allegations, that would be a convenient place to look for it,'' George said. But he said his main reason was the search for simplicity. As a priest, the archbishop took a vow of poverty. ``I would like to conform my own life to a model that's more simple,'' he said. Archdiocese spokeswoman Dianne Dunnegan said church officials learned of the cardinal's feelings Saturday. She said George could not make the decision on his own and would have to convince archdiocese Chancellor Jimmy Lago and the archdiocese finance committee.
``He's thinking about it,'' she said. ``There's no plan yet.'' Luxury real estate specialist Jim Kinney said the property _ with 19 chimneys, a carriage house and some 10 city lots of landscaping _ would fetch at least $12 million.
On the Net: http://www.archdiocese-chgo.org AP-ES-05-21-02 1158EDT
That would seem to be a good place to begin.
The Church must liquidate non-core properties, make restitution as best it can, open all its files on the perps, and move on.
This is probably a good idea. The one fly in the ointment is that an archbishop has to entertain a lot of people, hold meetings, and house a staff. It might not save that much money to sell the house, unless they can find other places to do these things.
The other thing that is interesting is how property and possessions actually ARE involved in this. Many of the priests we are seeing hauled up on charges now seem to own property all over the country (examples: our drug dealing priest here in Florida, with his condo in New Orleans; "Fr." Shanley with his gay resort in Palm Springs).
Getting rid of property and encouraging the clergy to live simply would probably not be a bad idea. A sort of Franciscan reform from within.
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