Posted on 06/23/2004 6:17:11 AM PDT by Land of the Irish
BOSTON — Boston Catholics grieving the loss off 65 diocesan churches are even more downhearted to learn that their former places of worship are being sold as luxury condominiums.
The Archdiocese of Boston (search ) last month announced it would sell off some of its churches in order to balance the budget.
Bernie McFarland and his father bought St. Peter and Paul's Church, one of the most venerable in Boston, to turn it into high-priced condos.
"We retained as much of the interior as we could to make a beautiful living space," said McFarland.
With the original plaster work, stained glass windows, arches, moldings and even the paint on the ceiling, these condos are selling for between $300,000 and $1 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Ping
This article can't be true. Hasn't Fox News heard that it's "springtime" in the church?
Just like the numerous articles about Buddhists worshipping their false gods at the altar of the Fatima shrine or the Pope giving Holy Communion to Tony Blair aren't true.
If a modernist doesn't agree with it, it's not true.
I hate to say it, but it might be a better use than "card" Law and his gang of Homosexual Thug Priests made of the churches for the past 40 to 50 Years or more.
Anyone with a Gripe should write to "Arch priest B. Law" at St.Mary Major Basilica, Rome ,Italy where he recieves $12000.00 per month as a stipend.
Law and his 180 or so other bishops should be real proud of how they "Protected" our Churches.
Ping.
"I hate to say it, but it might be a better use than "card" Law and his gang of Homosexual Thug Priests made of the churches for the past 40 to 50 Years or more."
And the designs for these condos aren't nearly as bad as some of the wreckovations that have been performed to "update" churches "in the spirit of Vatican 2".
I'd read that Law's post as archpriest was unpaid. Can you document the $12K stipend?
Sell your holy habitatsExcerpted from This Disco (Used To Be A Cute Cathedral)
this ship's been deserted by sinking rats
the exclusive place to go
it's where the pious pogo
don't you knowThis disco used to be a cute cathedral
where the chosen cha-cha every day of the week
this disco used to be a cute cathedral
but we got no room if you ain't gonna be chic
Just for comparison...
http://www.sdnewsnotes.com/ed/articles/2003/0303rk.htm
The first one to report the monthly 12K stipend was Bill Press (author of "Bush Must Go") and then the NYT picked it up along with the National Catholic Reporter and other media outlets. Then it was reported the stipend was 5K monthly, later some said it was honorary only with and there was no stipend and the latest from the National Catholic Reporter is that the stipend only covers monthly expenses. Who cares anyway? I'm glad I'm not Cardinal Law.
Hope the following info is helpful to you. This was posted on Free Republic, I got it thru Google.
Cardinal Law Not Exactly Homeless
The New York Times | May 28, 2004 | Al Baker
Posted on 06/02/2004 4:24:38 PM PDT by Arguss
May 28, 2004 Cardinal Law Given Post at Vatican By AL BAKER
ROME, May 27 - Cardinal Bernard F. Law, who was forced to resign as leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston after a long and painful sexual abuse scandal involving clergy members, was chosen by Pope John Paul II on Thursday to head a basilica in Rome.
A statement released in the Vatican's daily bulletin announced that Cardinal Law, who resigned in 2002, would become the archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica, a church in a downtown neighborhood of Rome that is under direct Vatican jurisdiction.
The statement said that Cardinal Law, 72, would succeed the 82-year-old Italian Cardinal Carlo Furno, but it did not say when. It made no mention of Cardinal Law's new responsibilities, but a Vatican official said that "now he will be responsible for one of the four most important basilicas" in Rome. "He will be in charge of the administration of the priests and anything related to the basilica," the official said of Cardinal Law. He added that the post "is not a position of power."
The appointment angered the cardinal's critics and others who see it as a reward.
David G. Clohessy, the national director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, a nonprofit support group based in Chicago, chided church leaders in Rome for what he called insensitivity to abuse victims.
"Why can't the Vatican officials see that any position of honor afforded to Law will inevitably and needlessly cause more pain to hundreds who have been abused and have already suffered enough?" Mr. Clohessy said. He added, "It just rubs salt into already deep wounds for parishioners, victims and their families."
Cardinal Law, who has been serving as chaplain at the Sisters of Mercy of Alma convent in Clinton, Md., could not be reached for comment.
It was at a meeting in the Vatican on Dec. 13, 2002, that Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation of Cardinal Law, then the senior American prelate in the Roman Catholic Church. The resignation came after nearly a year of revelations that the cardinal and archdiocesan officials that he supervised had repeatedly allowed priests accused of sexual abuse to remain in the ministry. The news of Cardinal Law's new position seemed to tear at emotional scars from those events.
"It's pretty offensive for most Catholics, and the timing couldn't be worse," said David Gibson, author of "The Coming Catholic Church" (Harper San Francisco, 2003). "They're just cleaning up the mess in Boston and closing parishes, and he's getting the ultimate golden parachute. He's getting a beautiful apartment in Rome in one of the four major basilicas in Christendom."
Despite his resignation in Boston, Cardinal Law has remained a powerful American figure in the Vatican. He has posts in as many as nine Vatican congregations, or departments, including the one that determines church leadership worldwide by nominating candidates for bishop. He is a member of the Congregation for Clergy, which has a role in handling sexual abuse cases that are sent to Rome. Now that Cardinal Law is an archpriest in Rome, it will clear the way for his successor in Boston, Archbishop Sean O'Malley, to be made a cardinal, Mr. Gibson said. Cardinals can vote in the conclave to choose the next pope.
The appointment could be financially lucrative for Cardinal Law. His predecessor in the job, Cardinal Furno, received a 10,000 euro monthly stipend, or about $12,000, said a former Vatican official who is a friendly acquaintance of Cardinal Furno. Cardinal Furno lived in a palatial apartment alongside the right flank of the basilica that is reserved for the archpriest, said the former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"It's the classical Roman apartment with frescoes on the wall," the former official said. Cardinal Furno paid for costly renovations, he said, adding, "It's endless."
Thanks for the info.
The only reason I care at all is that they are closing Churches in Boston and other cities because they don't have money.
Well they seem to have money to do what they want.
Law is almost singularly responsible for the damage in Boston and a whole bunch of Catholics will lose their parishes due to the Malfeasence of these Evil Men.
While law lives in the Lap of Luxury, he should be in Prison.
"Cardinal Law isn't being given "a cushy job at the Vatican". It's not even a job, much less at the Vatican. For being an archpriest of the basilica, Cdl. Law will receive precisely no (that's $0.00) remuneration. It's not a real job. He will receive no stipend, salary, or honorarium of any kind (no archpriest of a Roman basilica does, as an archpriest per se) from the basilica.
"But, as cardinal archpriest of the Roman basilica, he will be expected to give substantially to the Basilica, and raise money for its maintenance and support. So this move will likely cost the cardinal.
"So whatever this appointment is, it's not a sinecure. It gives him no income, and certianly no power. As a lowly parochial vicar of my parish, I have more power than Cardinal Law does as Archpriest of St. Mary Major.
"Furthermore, as an archpriest of the basilica he has no regular duties or responsibilities. He will not be given a place to live there, nor is it customary for the cardinal archpriests of Roman basilicas to reside in Rome, unless they also have full-time Vatican appointments - which Law has not been given. It is unlikely that Law will live in Rome as a result of this appointment, as he'd be on his own to support himself there. And Rome is an expensive place to live (I know, as I've lived there). So wipe away any images of Law lolling about in Rome in some luxurious palazzo enjoying his "sinecure".
"He won't be hanging around in the basilica. Given that cardinal archpriests of Roman basilicas aren't provided with lodging, receive no remuneration, and that Law would have no means of support in Rome, that's extremely unlikely. If he were to "hang around" in Rome in the manner some envision, he'd almost certainly make a pest of himself and quietly be told to go find something to do. Because the bishop(s) who really run Santa Maria Maggiore won't stand for some nosy American interloper to be underfoot for very long."
My personal opinion? Law may or may not receive an apartment and a pad at the basilica. I happen to know of a choice apartment there that'll be vacant quite soon. But even if Law receives nothing but a title it's more than he deserves or even needs. The best thing that could have happened, for the Church's sake and that of Law's own soul, would have been for him to be made a hospital chaplain in Calcutta.
With respect I'm more inclined to believe the N.Y. Times story than the story from Fr. Rob Johansen.
Which is about the first time I have sided with the times, and haven't read it in years.
Unfortunately it is near impossible to believe anything out of the Vatican or the Pope these days.
Fr Johansen is mistaken. Cardinal Law does live and work at the Basilica and a fine job he is doing too. He has concerned himself with the poor of the city of Rome and is setting about establishing various initiative to help them. He has tried to reach out to the numerous visitors and nearby residents so that their visit to the Basilica will leave them spiritually renewed and uplifted. The Cardinal is carrying out his pastoral duties with humility and kindness and he has already won over many Romans. His gentle manner and clear homilies are widely appreciated. He lives in modest surrounding and drives a modest Ford automobile there are no signs that he aspires to a life of luxury; Far from it, the only impression one is left with after meeting him is of a sincere servant of the Lord wanting to serve the people of the Basilica as a true Pastor. To place the whole American clergy misconduct crisis on one man is facile and unjust. Let's not forget the good work the Cardinal has done in the past - his involvement in the civil rights movement, work for Christian Unity and the pastoral care of immigrants to the US. Leave the past to the mercy of God the present to his care, the future to his providence.</p>
Sell off the empty Churches, and build Churches where the people live.
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