Priest 's $18,000 groceries a year... eating the lifestyle of the rich and powerful sorcerer of God's flesh and blood

John Paul II lived in the lap of luxury at the Vatican so does Benedict XVI now live in the lap of luxury and so do all priests sorcerers of Christ flesh and blood.





http://www.savestmarys.net/following-the-money-trail/

Outraged Readers React

By St. Marys
on October 3, 2010
Here's just one. Requested that we attribute this piece as, "Submitted by another disgusted St. Mary's parishioner."

$18,000 in the Real World

What St. Mary's has endured the past couple years has been an education to say the least, but on a personal level, the recent disclosure of Fr. Ed Namiotka's annual grocery expenses has hit our household hard. While we fully realize that diocesan priests do not take a vow of poverty, neither do the laity. And yet I don't know anyone who spends anywhere near $19,000.00 a year on groceries for only two to three people.

Why does this matter to me? A couple of reasons.

First, we're in the midst of a recession. At our house, we fell on hard times not long before people started using the "R" word. My husband lost his job and with it, our health insurance. Now, because we try to live our lives a certain way, his former job was not one that brought in a tremendous income, either. He worked for a non-profit organization, believing the work he did for it did some good in the world.

After he lost that job, believe it or not, it was tough to find a even "crappy," menial work. It seemed that we were both considered "overqualified" for work at places like Wawa and Walmart. Finally he got one of those part-time jobs (because making you "full-time" means they have to give you insurance), and to make matters worse, it was a third-shift (overnight) position. We decided he should take it because we thought that eventually, he'd get a "real" job. But despite many interviews, for which he'd have to stay up all "night," nothing panned out. The jobs just weren't out there. So what started out as a job taken to fill-in-the-gaps for a month or two turned into a year.

We never saw each other. He slept by day, while I homeschooled and took care of the kids. I woke him up in time for me to go to work in the afternoon. He was paid not much better than minimum wage. We were barely surviving, but we took our ability to survive at all, to not lose our house and still (barely) eat as a sign of God's providence.

At that time, excluding my meager income, we were living off of approximately $13,500 a year. Throw in my part-time income and we came close to (still under) Ed Namiotka's annual grocery expenses. And that was for a family of four.

Now I'm not complaining about that year. We held onto our house. We still ate. We cashed in all our savings and retirement money and prepaid our mortgage and utilities for a few months, anticipating what was to come. But despite the hard times of that year, we felt that God's hand was on us, seeing us through it all. Things have been meager ever since because my husband started his own business, which we believed was the direction God wanted us to go. But when you have a new business, money doesn't come right away. You have to build up a clientele. And we really still don't have any savings to fall back on, like we used to.

So what bothers me? What bothers me is that two to three priests are eating a year's income. What bothers me is that it's not like they're even paying for this food. That bill is being footed by the people of Queen of Angels Parish in Landisville (Buena), and now, it seems, us.


As if that wasn't enough, Namiotka put it in a new kitchen with fancy granite countertops and high end stainless steel appliances only last year. Needless to say, our own kitchen has tile counter tops, and we like them fine. We don't have a microwave or dishwasher.

What else bothers me? All these extravagant expenses are happening at a time when Namiotka is telling us that we simply cannot afford to keep all our churches and cannot afford the things we need at St. Mary's. At the same time, he has hired a "personal assistant" whose salary is presumably coming from us (although neither Namiotka nor Kathy Mensinger, the assistant, will give us an answer on this). Namiotka is spending more than $18,000 per year on groceries at a time when many parishioners are truly struggling to keep afloat and feed their families.

But no matter to Namiotka. He's got a new car, a new kitchen, and he's eating just fine.

Let Them Eat Cake

By
St. Marys
on October 2, 2010

What makes the food expense of the rectory at Queen of Angels even more outrageous is the fact that the rectory is located in Landisville, where a whopping 24.6% of the population lives BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL. Click here for more details. The median household income before taxes is only $30,625/yr (not remarkably better than Camden), compared to nearly $20,000/yr. food expenses at Fr. Ed Namiotka's rectory.

"For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their "shame." Their minds are occupied with earthly things." Philippians 3:18-19.


This Little Priesty Went to Market
By
St. Marys
on October 1, 2010
FOOD EXPENSES for the Rectory at Queen of Angels in Buena, Fr. Ed Namiotka, Pastor (each of these figures is for the fiscal year ending in June):
2010: $18,531.24
2009: $18,272.44
2008: $19,937.45
During these time periods, Fr. Namiotka was living in the rectory with 1 or 2 other priests.

I believe it was St. Jerome, whose feast day we celebrated yesterday, who said,
"A fat stomach never breeds fine thoughts."