Christine Niles...says "today’s archbishop of Washington owns a penthouse in a complex valued at $43 million." That is a lie. He owns not a centimeter of his third-floor "penthouse," an apartment that sits atop Our Lady Queen of the Americas parish. Like bishops all over the world, he resides in a spot that was specifically designed for the local Ordinary. There is nothing scandalous about this Church patrimony.Hmmm....really? The bishop of an archdiocese overrun with the poor and underprivileged lives in a $43 million "apartment" and hobnobs with the political and cultural elite and there's nothing scandalous? I guess Donohue never read Jesus' admonition in Luke 14:12 not to hobnob with the rich and powerful but to invite the poor and crippled to your banquets. I wonder how many of the homeless in D.C. have seen the inside of the Wuerl luxury "apartment."
As far as the bishop "owning" or "not owning" the property, it seems to me Donohue and Niles are both right. When I and some friends were arrested at a Catholic Church in the Diocese of Arlington back in 1996 for challenging a dissent group meeting in a parish, we ended up in court. Bishop Keating was called as a witness because he is the legal "owner" of all the property in the diocese. Of course, he didn't personally "own" it, but was legally responsible.
It would be interesting to see the property in question. Does it have all the luxury appointments? Marble and hardwood everywhere? Is there an environmentally controlled wine cabinet? A restaurant equipped kitchen? Is all the furniture high end designer style? What is the bathroom like? Marble walls and gold fixtures? Something certainly makes "the apartment" worth $43 million. Donohue doesn't quibble in his article with the assessment.
As for Donohue's personal relationship with the Cardinal (It's so nice to be friends with the high and mighty), my perspective is different. I know priests in the Archdiocese of Washington called on the carpet for daring to speak the truth about true marriage and the homosexual agenda (and I'm not talking about the priest - Fr. Marcel Guarnizo - who got walking papers for refusing Communion to the out and proud lesbian Buddhist. The trumped up charge of intimidation was nothing but that -- trumped up). Faithful priests in D.C. have to watch their Ps and Qs if they don't want a call from the Cardinal.
Wuerl is a homosexualist -- one who enables homosexuality. He also enables pro-abortion politicians and plays the let's pretend game of "Don't politicize the Eucharist" when that's exactly what he does, giving pro-abort politicians politically correct permission to commit sacrilege.
Donohue calling other people "crazies," "right-wingers," and "character assassins"who "hate the pope," etc. is engaging in his own typical attack-dog style.. Presumably it's okay for him to behave in a way he condemns in others because his targets are the "right ones." He, on the other hand, like Superman, is acting for "truth, justice, and the American way."
