Pope Francis, please call your office. The German bishop whose high life that you have been critical of has a worthy US competitor.

The 4,500-square-foot home sits on 8.2 wooded acres in the hills of Hunterdon County, N.J. With five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a three-car garage and a big outdoor pool, it’s valued at nearly $800,000, records show.

But it’s not quite roomy enough for Newark Archbishop John J. Myers.

Myers, who has used the house as a weekend residence since the archdiocese purchased it in 2002, is building a three-story, 3,000-square-foot addition in anticipation of his retirement in two years. He will then move in full-time, a spokesman for the archbishop said.

The new wing, now just a wood frame, will include an indoor exercise pool, a hot tub, three fireplaces, a library and an elevator, among other amenities, according to blueprints and permits.
The price tag, the records show, will be a minimum of a half million dollars, a figure that does not include architectural costs, furnishings and landscaping.

It is hard work being a bishop these days, having to find ways to cover up all the abuse by the priests who work in your diocese and avoid criminal prosecution for them and you. Surely the guy deserves to be rewarded with a nice retirement home.