I have previously written about the Catholic Church’s need to be realistic about its property needs — in terms of schools, churches and presbyteries. If a property is no longer needed or the revenue generated from its sale would be a better use of the asset, assuming it’s not going to be disproportionately detrimental to the faithful in the area, it should be sold.
In cities, that means the ability to sell presbyteries that are currently housing one priest and having him — and possibly another nearby parish priest — move into a four- or five-bedroom presbytery that used to house a parish priest and a couple of curates. It means selling churches that can be sold if there’s another parish two kilometres down the road, which is the case in some New Zealand cities.
Catholic schools have largely been growing in recent years, especially primary schools, while some secondary colleges have been merged in recent decades. For whatever reason, a Dunedin school had become surplus to requirements and the decision was made to sell it. Regardless of how much money was generated from the sale, it will be put to better use than paying insurance and rates on an unused building. Read more
Sources
- Gavin Abraham in The Catholic Soapbox
- Image: Zoodle Property
Gavin Abraham, a journalist for more than a dozen years, has spent most of the last six years working in Catholic media.
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News category: Analysis and Comment.
