Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
How Much is Too Much for the Bishop of Camden?
How Much is Too Much for the Bishop of Camden?
Jul 12, 2025 7:57 PM

Back in October, I was a guest on the radio show World Have Your Say on BBC World Service. The occasion was the suspension by the Vatican of the Bishop of Limburg, Germany,Franz-Peter Tebartz-van-Elst, known as the “bishop of bling.” The bishop had reportedly recently spent 31 million euros (roughly $41 million) for the renovation of the historic building that served as his residence, inciting his suspension and a Vatican investigation into these expenditures.

Using this as a springboard, the subject of the BBC discussion was “Should Religious Leaders Live a Modest Life?”

Today, Tim Roberts of the National Catholic Reporter records a similar, but perhaps more ambiguous, case with regards to the Camden Bishop Dennis Sullivan:

Camden Bishop Dennis Sullivan has purchased a new residence, an historic mansion that once served as the home of the president of Rowan University.

The New Jersey diocese purchased the 7,000 square foot home with eight bedrooms and six bathrooms for $500,000. The residence will provide Sullivan with more room for entertaining dignitaries, hosting donors and for work space, according to Peter Feuerherd, diocesan spokesman.

He said the bishop will live there “with at least two other priests, maybe more.”

The home, built in 1908, has been on the market for about two years. According to a report in the Camden Courier Post newspaper, the home was purchased in 2000 for Dr. Donald Farish, then president of Rowan University. Under the university’s ownership, the house underwent about $700,000 in renovations.

Some of the amenities include an in-ground pool, three fireplaces, a library and a five-car garage.

In fairness, Roberts continues,

The bishop currently lives in a modest apartment on the grounds of St. Pius X. Retreat House in Blackwood, N.J. The diocese is selling a separate home that previously served as a bishops’ residence, also in Blackwood. Feuerherd said the sale of that home, for $395,000, would be finalized in the spring.

Thus we may estimate the actual increased housing cost as roughly $105,000 ($500,000 – $395,000).

Nevertheless, this story, as indicated by many ments, is still fairly scandalous. Indeed, one might wonder what “dignitaries” the bishop hopes to entertain in New Jersey or why “an in-ground pool, three fireplaces, a library and a five-car garage” would be necessary to do so.

This situation, at least, is a bit less straight-forward, however. It is clear that the bishop of Camden already had a rather modating residence. It is also clear that he plans on sharing the space and using it for more than himself. We might wonder what else the previous residence was being used for and whether this new mansion will be used for more of the same.

Perhaps more interesting, then, is that this is news at all. It is clear that many people would answer the BBC’s question with a resounding “yes!” Pope Francis has set an example of simplicity that people want to see other bishops emulate. However, unlike Germany’s bishop of bling, I would be surprised to see action from the Vatican in this case. That instance was nearly 100 times the cost. This residence may be pricey, but (so far as I know) the bishop of Camden has not at this point purchased any $30,000 bathtubs for himself.

This raises an important and difficult question though. Just as I had trouble answering Ben James’s question on the BBC, “What is the line that you would deem acceptable…? How rich can you be without being too rich in that position [i.e. clergy]?” We may additionally ask, “At what point is a clergy person’s luxury too much? What is the line across which they should not go for fear of Church discipline?” My answer to James’s question was that one must follow his/her conscience, but with regards to this question, we are talking about disciplinary action — barring fairly unquestionable cases like the bishop of bling, does some sort of line need to be drawn for discipline to be just?

That is one purpose of having written laws, after all, whether civil laws or Church canons. They must be public (to all concerned, at least) and clear to be justly enforced. Or is it enough, as in the case of the bishop of bling, that one’s lack of simplicity offend the conscience of others? Can conscience be the measure, even when it is not one’s own conscience?

In this case, I would prefer written law. Make it clear and relatively flexible but let clergy know where the line is, especially when the new pope has ushered in a new standard of simplicity. Conscience, after all, is inherently subjective, though it testifies to an objective moral order (i.e. the natural law). In order for others to know to what extent the status quo has changed, further clarity is called for.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Acton Line podcast: Prince Harry’s population bomb; A doctor diagnoses Medicare for All
In a recent interview for Vogue, Prince Harry declared to British anthropologist Jane Goodall that he and Meghan plan on having only two children, due to environmental concerns. Alarmist predictions about the results of overpopulation is nothing new, of course. Even Goodall herself said in 2010, that “[i]t’s our population growth that underlies just about every single one of the problems that we’ve inflicted on the planet.” So, is earth really overpopulated? And will having less children save the planet?...
The cultural mandate and the final frontier
“Space,” proclaimed the memorable opening to the original Star Trek series, is “the final frontier.” The image of the frontier, and its historic importance to Americans especially, has been part of our national discourse since at least historian Frederick J. Turner’s famous essay, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.” I reflected on the significance of Turner’s thesis for space travel, and Martian colonization in particular, in an essay a few years ago on the hit film The Martian:...
Daniel Hannan addresses Greta Thunberg’s ‘Manichaean’ views
The sight of teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg setting sail today for the United States has dominated global headlines. The 16-year-old, who is taking a year off school to demand a radical reorganization of the global economy, plans to attend the UN’s climate action summit in New York on September 23. As she prepared for the two-week cruise, she warned ominously, “There are climate delayers who want to do everything to shift the focus from the climate crisis to...
The EU shuts citizens out of abortion funding policy
When nations rejected the European Union out of fear it would not be accountable to EU citizens, politicians unveiled a new proposal: a citizens’ initiative known as the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). When a broad cross-section of EU citizens support an issue, they can bring it to politicians’ attention through a successful ECI – unless those politicians ignore it, as the European Council just did to an ECI intended to rein in EU spending on controversial causes. Roger Kiska analyzes...
Trump backs off his decision to tax Bibles
Is President Trump finally beginning to understand how tariffs harm Americans? On Tuesday Trump said he was backing off his September 1 deadline for 10% tariffs on some Chinese imports. “We’re doing this for Christmas season, just in case some of the tariffs would have an impact on U.S. customers,” Trump told reporters. “Just in case they might have an impact on people, what we’ve done is we’ve delayed it so that they won’t be relevant to the Christmas shopping...
Mass shootings and the vocation of hero
If you wonder why there are so many mass shootings in America lately you might start by asking why you don’t know the name of Leo Johnson. Seven years ago today, Johnson, the operations manager for Family Research Council (FRC) was temporarily manning the front desk at the organization’s Washington, DC headquarters when a terrorist entered with a handgun and 100 rounds of ammunition. As the shooter drew his weapon and began firing, Johnson charged the man. Although Johnson was...
Book Review: A brief primer on the ideas of Milton Friedman
The Book: Milton Friedman: A concise guide to the ideas and influence of the free-market economist by Eamonn Butler The Gist: As the subtitle suggests, this short book provides a concise overview of the ideas and influence of the late economist, Milton Friedman The Quote: “[T]he supporters of tariffs treat it as self-evident that the creation of jobs is a desirable end, in and of itself, regardless of what the persons employed do. That is clearly wrong. If all we...
Europe is (again) in economic trouble
With some Americans wondering whether the United States is headed for a recession, it’s worth looking across the Atlantic to see what is happening to the economies of Western Europe. Alas, there are many indicators that much of the old continent is headed, yet again, for a significant economic slide. The economy to watch is Europe’s largest. Germany’s unemployment rate ticked up in July, and industrial production and factory orders declined in June. That is bad news for an export-orientated...
Book review: ‘Reason, faith, and the struggle for Western civilization’ by Samuel Gregg
Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization. Samuel Gregg. Regnery Gateway. 2019. 192 pages. Reviewed by Rev. Ben Johnson. Next to his ubiquitous quotation about the corrupting nature of power, Lord Acton’s best-known aphorism may be that “liberty is the delicate fruit of a mature civilization.” In his newest book, Samuel Gregg plunges deep into the roots that nourish the ecosystem of human freedom. Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization explores how ratio et fides– reason and...
Common grace and natural law
It has been a topic of much dispute in the last century or so of Protestant theology, but the status of natural law, and particularly its connection with the doctrine mon grace, continues to be of significance. Nathaniel Gray Sutanto, who has done a great deal of work on the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck, points to a fascinating passage in Bavinck’s newly translated Ethics, vol. 1, that provides, as he puts it, “a crystal clear statement mon grace … as...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved