In the Press on Saturday, it was announced that the Catholic church in Christchurch has sold an older person’s housing complex to pay for a new Cathedral building. The values of the bishop have been demonstrated that housing the elderly is of less importance than building a monument to stupidity.
If you think that building a massive church building makes sense, think again. The bishop has agreed to pay Philip Carter $21m for an empty section he owns, $11m to Ben Gough for another and $18m to a Singaporean company for another. According to my calculations that’s $50m before the building even starts.
You know what would have saved $50m? Rebuilding on the site the old Cathedral was on. Then the Church would have been able to continue ministering to the elderly under their care.
I have only had one meeting with the bishop. It was over affordable housing, and the meeting was at his request. I was underwhelmed by his understanding of the poor and their housing needs.
As well as selling this housing complex for the elderly the bishop is closing several parishes and selling their land.
I wonder what Pope Francis would think about these misguided deals.
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