Politicians are now suing priests in an intensifying holy war over a sacꦗred Staten Island site.
Two pols accuse the Jesuits who run the beloved Mount Manresa Retreat House of raising donations for 🌸its rehab at the same time they were planning to sell the bucolic 10 acres to a developer for $15 million.
Sta✱te Sen. Diane Savino, a Democrat, and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Repಌublican, have joined neighbors fighting to keep the century-old Catholic retreat from becoming condos.
The Jesuits “had beenꦅ soliciting for the better part of two or three years from people to maintain and protect the property, soliciting contributions from people when they had no intention” of keeping Mount Manresa open, Savino said.
Savino, Malliotakis and a group of residents filed suit last month to stꩲop the s🐲ale and won a temporary restraining order blocking the transaction. A judge will decide on Oct. 1 whether to make the order permanent.
“We’re not looking to depꦺrive♛ the Jesuits of anything,” Savino insisted.
The politicians were hesitant to get involved, Savino said, aware that the propert🌱y is privately owned, but the pair argue that the priests can’t be al🧜lowed to hawk such a jewel to the highest bidder.
Savino and Malliotakis took their cues from the ♏grass-roots Comm🤪ittee to Save Mount Manresa.
“It’s not a cas𝓀e of ‘Not in my backyard,’ ” Savino said. “It’s about getting a better outcome for the people of Staten Island. [The Jesuits] have a𝔍n obligation to the host community.”
The group was able to convince the state Attorney General’s Office to withdraw its approval of the sale, saying more needed to be done to protect the trees at the retreat and the historic nature of the compoun🔯d.
Opponen𝓀ts of the sale want time to raise fu🧸nds to buy at least a portion of the property and preserve it, she said.
The Jesuits’ announcement that the property w🎐ould be sold to the Savo Brothers firm was a shock, Savino🐷 said.
“That scared the hell out of people. We know what they’re capable of building, and it’s not going to be something that allows for the ꩲpreservation of the property. It’s not going to be anything that allows for public access,” she said. “It’s going t🐠o be, quite frankly, a couple hundred schlock town houses we don’t need anymore of on Staten Island.”
The Jesuits have 💞said they need to sell because the land is too expensive to maintain at a time when fewer Catholics are taking spiritual retreats.
The🉐y’ve offered to return money to any donor who wants a refund, but so far, no one’s asked, saꦦid the Rev. Vincent Cooke in a statement.
“The Jesuits did not so꧅licit funds unfairly,” he said.