Lansdale Councilmen Writing Archdiocese to Oppose Potential St. Mary Manor Sale

Lansdale Borough will not get involved in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's potential sale of St. Mary Manor, but one councilman has asked his peers to 'soul search' and write to the Archdiocese to try and save the convalescence home.
Councilman Jack Hansen, at last week's council meeting, said he was approached by Monsignor Joseph Tracy of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Lansdale, who informed Hansen of the Archdiocese's marketing plan for various cemeteries and nursing homes, including St. Mary Manor.
"I think very highly of St. Mary Manor, but it brings in anyone of any faith to be cared for at this facility, regardless of their ability to pay," he said. "I think most of the people in this borough either know someone that has been there, or has a family member that has been there, or they may be there themselves in the future."
Hansen said Tracy had a request: Approach council and ask them to send a letter to the Archdiocese in opposition of the potential sale.
Hansen said he had a lengthy discussion with borough Manager Timi Kirchner. She advised—and Hansen agreed—that it would not be a good thing for the borough to get involved in the issue.
"But, we as councilmembers ourselves can write individual letters to the Archdiocese to ask them to reconsider that," Hansen said. "I'm not asking each of you to do it; I'm asking you to do some soul searching and think for yourselves whether you are willing to do this or not." 
Hansen said he would be writing a letter, identifying himself as a borough councilman, and asking not to sell off St. Mary Manor.
"(If sold), it could go to another secular group or go into private hands," he said. "If it goes into private hands, it becomes a business and they want to make money, and that would eliminate the possibility of a number of people in this area who, in the future, may need it."  
Councilman Mike Sobel said he too would be writing to the Archdiocese as a private citizen, but will be identifying himself as a councilman.
"It's something very personal. My mother and aunt are there," Sobel said, "so my family is concerned about it." 
Kenneth Gavin, of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said St. Mary Manor—along with Immaculate Mary Home in Philadelphia; Villa Saint Martha in Downingtown; Saint Francis Country House in Darby; Saint John Neumann Home in Philadelphia; Saint Martha Manor in Downingtown; and Saint Monica Manor in Philadelphia—are being marketed at this time. The process, he said, is open-ended.
"Nothing definitive is happening," Gavin said. "That could take any amount of time. It's not definite that St. Mary Manor or others would be sold off. The Archbishop will make the decision whether or not to sell them." 
If the nursing homes are sold, Gavin said the Archdiocese envisions them to remain nursing homes.
"We hope the buyer would be Catholic, and any buyer would have to, as condition of sale, maintain the current residence," Gavin said. "We envision to sell them all to one buyer." 
Gavin said the Archdioceses expects interest to come from those who operate health care systems.  
"That would be a firm condition: if they are sold, any buyer would have to retain the residences," Gavin said.
The Archdiocese is also seeking an "outsource management agreement"—not a sale—of 11 cemeteries in Chester, Delaware, Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. 
"We've looked at all different assets and entities," Gavin said. "These are two that potentially have some great value to go forward. That's why we are moving on with an exploration process and marketing." 
Gavin said the Lansdale councilmembers' letters would be the first from elected officials.
"I have seen correspondence from certain individuals. We did keep elected officials in the loop," Gavin said. "People have expressed concern, and they have all received correspondence (from the Archdiocese) thanking them for the concerns they voiced."  
The reason for the potential sales and management agreements has nothing to do with the cost in lawsuits racked up by the Archdiocese in its defense of alleged sexual misconduct and abuse by its priests, Gavin said.
It is because of the Archdiocese's $39.2 million operating deficit for fiscal year 2012, he said. It is also because of incessant balance sheet issues creating a gap of hundreds of millions of dollars, Gavin said.
"This is not an option we want to even have to pursue, but it's something we have to look at," Gavin said. "The problems have to be addressed at some point or they will get worse. It's an unfortunate condition we have to look at these sort of things."  
Gavin said the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been "pretty transparent" of its financial problems.
"The potential sale of nursing homes and outsource management is not going toward the operating deficit; it will go toward fixing things that are balance sheet issues: the insurance reserve bond, the trust and loan program operated by the Archdiocese, the priest and employee pension plan," Gavin said. 
"All of them are funded at a certain level," he said. "They are not funded at the 100-percent level that they ideally should be at." 
Gavin said the Archdiocese has already laid off employees at its Pastoral Center, sold numerous properties at the Jersey Shore, and even sold Archbishop Charles Chaput's residence.
"A lot of poor management decisions were made at various levels over a few decades," Gavin said. "The operating deficit, the balance sheet issues—Chaput is telling people these are the problems, that they are real and we need to fix them. That's what we're in the process of doing."