IGNATIUS GROUP____
Questions for Bishop Richard J. Malone:
1) Why do you waste Church funds to pay for one person (you) to live in a 7,000 sq. ft., 16 room, $1.2 million mansion?
2) As a spiritual leader, how do you justify the cost of your living arrangements when so many people are in need of food, medicine and shelter? "Decisions must be judged in light of what they do for the poor, what they do to the poor, and what they enable the poor to do for themselves." Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching, U.S. Bishops, 1986
3) What are your annual expenses for airline tickets, hotel rooms, taxis, parking, meals and entertainment for your travel to other states for the purpose of meetings, conferences and speeches? What benefit do these meetings serve for the people of Maine?
4) How many days per year are you away from the Diocese of Portland? Many chancery workers and diocese priests claim that you are too often away attending frivolous events, ignoring the work that needs to be done here for the people of Maine.
Is there anyone other than you, Bishop Malone, who believes that a prudent steward would invest $1.2 million of church resources in a costly 6 bedroom, rent-free home for one person to live in?
In addition, it is estimated that it costs Maine's Catholics more than $40,000 per year to pay the property taxes, maintenance and operating expenses for Bishop Malone to live in the mansion.
We continue to ask Bishop Malone to call for all meetings held under Church auspices, at the parish or diocesan level, no matter what their purpose, must begin with the agenda item: How shall what we are doing here affect or involve the poor?
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The Bishop's Mansion
Bishop Richard Malone lives by himself in a three-story, 7,000 sq. ft. brick mansion in Portland's most expensive neighborhood. His stately residence has sixteen rooms, including six bedrooms, four bathrooms and a three-car garage. The bishop refuses to tell parishioners the annual costs of heating, operating and maintaining his luxurious home.
The bishop's property has been assessed by the City of Portland at an approximate value of $1.2 million. Property taxes amount to more than $18,000 per year. It is estimated that the additional expense of heating, operating and maintaining the mansion cost approximately $22,000 per year.
Bishop Malone refuses to relocate to a more cost efficient and affordable residence, even though there is an abundance of comfortable living space available in any one of the nearby parish rectories.
