Would you like to work for a company that, when facing millions of dollars in lawsuits, buys you a multimillion-dollar house? How about an employer who adds a second story to your already-massive abode even while the government forces it to pay $5.2 million to settle a lawsuit?
Think it can only happen at Halliburton? Well, think again: you can enjoy all of this if you're a priest for the Catholic Diocese of Orange!
Yes, when Bishop Tod D. Brown became the spiritual head of Orange County's 1.2 million Catholics in 1998, he abandoned the Church's millennia-old practice of housing priests in humble rectories on parish grounds and began shacking up clergy in fancy digs few of the faithful could afford: quaint Balboa Island bungalows, beachside manses and other high-class abodes featuring three-car garages, walk-in closets and in-ground spas. In a confidential Sept. 3 memo written by Father Michael Heher to diocesan priests, Heher defended this practice by citing Brown's policy of allowing priests "to live off-site, affording them more privacy and a place away from their work environment." And just last month, Brown admitted to purchasing a gated-community lot on which he plans to have built a multimillion-dollar mansion for himself near the proposed site of the $100 million Christ Our Savior Cathedral in Santa Ana.
This is the same diocese currently pleading poverty in explaining why it can't reach a settlement with sex-abuse victims and why it laid off 11 diocesan workers in the spring. Brown has repeatedly said he will not sell church property - parishes, convents, church halls, etc. - to free up more money for his operation. But what about the $2 million house whose sole tenant is retired Monsignor Lawrence Baird? Or the San Clemente complex mere minutes from the ocean? Considering there appears to be more than enough room at the inn for priests in the diocese's 56 parish rectories, why doesn't Brown consider a fire sale of its secular properties? In fact, if Brown begins with the following 10 [see URL], then the diocese could reap something like $8,837,323 - very conservatively estimated - and get back to its main focus: paying out big-money settlements to victims of priestly rape.
The article goes on to provide photographs and cost estimates of the mansions owned by the parish as well as cost estimates for providing food and shelter to the needy. If it wasn't clear enough from that where the parish's priorities lie, how about this: Last year, the Diocese of Orange contributed $398,500 to its charitable arm, Catholic Charities of Orange County. This amount is one-third of what Brown's Santa Ana house costs and constitutes 8 percent of the organization's total assets (other revenue came from government grants and fund-raising).
Now is as good a time as any to do a cost/benefit analysis of providing tax exemption to religious organizations. I think you will find that we aren't getting our money's worth. Please refrain from donating to the religious organization of your choice this holiday season.
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