Naples churches closed? Cardinal Sepe: "Not all are from the diocese". The former archbishop of Naples responds to the Report broadcast
He didn't want to reply “so as not to spark further controversy” but he heard “the obligation as a bishop to make the truth known” specifying "that not all the churches in Naples belong to the diocese, those that are under the Curia are just 15 percent”.
The former archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, called into question by the Report broadcast aired last Monday on the closed churches in Naples (some also the object of building abuses) is like a river in flood. Today he called a press conference at the Basilica del Buon Consiglio in Capodimonte, in Naples, to make his reasons heard.
“In Naples there are closed churches and a journalist should know how things are,” he attacked Sepe. "In the city we have hundreds and hundreds of places of worship and those that are the responsibility of the Curia do not even reach 15 percent. The others are of the Fec - Fondo edificio culti - then a good part is of the Municipality and finally of the state property", continued the former archbishop.
“For ours, some very old and sometimes abandoned, we decided to reopen them but not being able to take on the entire burden of the renovation we created a commission and made them available free of charge”, he further specified.
"Whoever took them must renovate them, then the purposes of the place of worship must be respected and where possible social and cultural works. And finally, do not sublet. And then if there were any abuses they were immediately thrown out.“, concluded Sepe.
For the apostolic citadel “we have fully respected Don Cascella's wishes” that is, “the rent from the structure is used to assist poor priests”. The former archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, said this in his reply to the Report program.
The apostolic citadel is a complex of buildings that in 1979 was bequeathed to the Curia of Naples by a Neapolitan parish priest, Don Cascella, to accommodate poor priests. But as reported by Report in last Monday's episode, the structure was leased for 18 years to an entrepreneur from Caserta (who allocated a hotel there) and the monthly sum, Sepe specified during a press conference, is donated, year after year, to the care and assistance of the elderly priests who live in the "Casa del Clero" in Capodimonte.
A rental operation that was also authorized by the Vatican, Sepe added, recalling that the entrepreneur now tenant of the properties has taken charge of the renovation costs that amount to several million euros. At the end of the rental contract, the Curia of Naples will have a completely renovated structure again "which was previously reduced to a real ruin", the prelate further specified.
Article published on November 9, 2022 - 17:29
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