Cardinal Chaput Offers to Sell His 61 Room Palace in Philly

$200 Million Property - 16 ? Rooms

Cardinal Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia is threatening to sell his 61 room Mansion at 5700 City Avenue in Philadelphia.  Yeah right.  It is perhaps a sincere for the moment and or a feigned gesture to offset all the pain of school and parish closings coming on the scheduled January 6, 2012 announcement.

The Philadelphia Inquirer misreported the scale and dimensions of this mega mansion that Philadelphia Archbishops have lived in since the 1930s with the infamous Cardinal Dougherty being the first.  Dougherty was the one that staged a successful Catholic boycott of the “Jewish Movie Industry” in the 30's in order to censor every movie produced in Hollywood at the time.  Can’t find a decent photo of him on the net but I believe there is a Thomas Eakins portrait of him in the Philadelphia Museum of Art when he was an ambitious monsignor on the make.  Thomas Eakins portraits did not come cheap back when.  Humble.  Humble. Humble.

Anyway, the Inquirer that these days seems to censor and or clear all its reporting of Cardinal Chaput’s new regime through the Chancery, had posted a niggardly photo, cloaked by massive trees, of the back of the mansion, the servant's wing no doubt, and states that it is 16 rooms (on which floor?).  More like 61 rooms in this “Neverland” fantasy palace for the bishops of Philly.  Cardinal Krol had a three hole golf course on the back part of this 8.7 acre chateau. 

I estimate you could build at least 200 luxury condos on the property at an easy one to two million minimum apiece.  Money, money, money is needed for the tens of millions of dollars going to the lawyers and child abuse settlements and show trials about to begin in the Spring there in Philly. Sell the Prince Crib or close a dozen or two high schools and grade schools? Tuff choice. Whatever.

Cardinal Chaput is only offering to sell the property to offset all the pain the faithful will have to endure on the Feast of the Three Kings January 6. The offer of this property sale and its likely million dollar a year upkeep will be no doubt be forgotten January 7 and misreported and or never again reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Whatever again.

Have a nice day. 


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