N.J. Nuns Get Million Dollar Mansion

PITTSGROVE, N.J. - Why are five New Jersey nuns living in a mansion that should be in Beverly Hills? That is what angry parishioners want to know in a Diocese shuttering half its parishes.

Slideshow: Images Of Nuns' Mansion |  Raw Video: Nuns' Mansion

The five nuns in southern New Jersey got a significant upgrade in their living quarters over the weekend. They exchanged their modest three-bedroom house for a country estate.

The new home is located on several acres in Pittsgrove, N.J., and it comes complete with a horse stable, wet bar, a five-car garage and a fountain.

Parishioners are not happy about it. Critics say the lavish lifestyle is more suited for a corporate executive than a nun:

The property also includes a six- bedroom house with 4,100-square feet of space.

"It's completely contradictory for what the purpose of nuns are," said Leah Vassallo, a parishioner.

"They take a vow of poverty. Their whole purpose is to serve the church and live humble modest lives, which this house is anything but."

Until last weekend, the five nuns in a fairly modest three-bedroom home. But Camden Diocese officials say the sisters were running out of space.

"We anticipate by later this summer that there will be six, seven, or eight sisters, and obviously a three-bedroom house would not be adequate to house those sisters," said Andrew Walton, a Diocese spokesman.

So the Diocese decided to turn the country estate into a convent.

Diocese officials bought the property for what they call a bargain price. It went on the market for $1.5 million. But the owners, who are Catholic faithfuls, sold it to the diocese for $800,000.

"A new convent for the sisters would be two to three million dollars. To refurbish or retrofit an existing facility would be far more costly than $800,000," said Walton.

"I don't think very many parishioners would say this is a wise expenditure of church funds," said Vassallo.

The diocese is closing half its parishes. Churches like St. Mary's in Malaga will soon be shuttered.

Church officials say they made the difficult decision because church attendance has fallen dramatically, and priests are retiring without replacements to fill their positions.

"If the diocese has that much money that they're just going out, finding good values in real estate and buying them, maybe they should do something to help the parishes that are having difficulty," Vassallo said.

Critics suspect the church bought the property possibly as a retirement home for its current bishop.

But the diocese insists that's not true.

Instead, the diocese says the convent will also serve eventually as a retreat for its parishioners, although no plans have been drawn up for that yet.