Archdiocese

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia said Monday that it had suspended a former Northeast Philadelphia pastor over a claim that he sexually abused a minor, four months after church officials publicly cleared him of another misconduct accusation. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput in May declared the Rev. Michael Chapman suitable to return to active ministry. The 56-year-old cleric was preparing to resume working as a priest when the archdiocese received a new accusation that Chapman had sexually abused a minor approximately 30 years ago, the archdiocese said Monday.

  VENTNOR, N.J. - With a bid of $4.125 million, Steve and Ilene Berger of Newtown Square won Saturday's auction of an oceanfront villa owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that played host to decades of vacationing and elderly priests. The Bergers said they planned to preserve the former St. Joseph's Villa by the Sea as a family vacation compound for their children and grandchildren, retain longtime caretaker Fran McManus, and have the priests over for an annual party. First, a second-story porch expansion, a total renovation - and a mezuzah, the ritual parchment placed on doorposts of Jewish homes.

VENTNOR, N.J. - With a bid of $4.125 million, Steve and Ilene Berger of Newtown Square won Saturday's auction of an historic oceanfront seashore villa owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that played host to decades of vacationing and elderly priests. The Bergers said they plan to preserve the former St. Joseph's Villa by the Sea as a family vacation compound for their children and grandchildren, retain longtime caretaker Fran McManus, and have the priests over for an annual party.

The private foundation managing the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's financially strapped secondary schools announced its goal Thursday to increase enrollment at its campuses by about 4,000 - to levels last attained during the mid-1990s. The initiative, which Faith in the Future chairman Ed Hanway dubbed "E20K" for the 20,000-student total enrollment called for under the plan, would be aided in part by a relatively new school-choice scholarship program state lawmakers established last year, he said.

SAINT JOSEPH'S University announced Friday that it has signed a letter of intent with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to buy the cardinal's mansion on City Avenue for $10 million. The 16-room stone house, on 8.9 acres adjacent to the university's 48-acre campus, was bought in 1935 by Cardinal Dennis Dougherty for about $117,500. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is living there now, but plans to move to an apartment at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood. "Acquiring this adjacent property presents an opportunity that will be integral to the university's long-term strategic planning," said St. Joe's president C. Kevin Gillespie.

Mary E. Rochford, former school superintendent for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, has been given one of the highest honors a lay person can receive from the Vatican. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput announced Thursday that Pope Benedict XVI had named Rochford to the pontifical Order of St. Gregory the Great. Chaput said the honor recognized Rochford's service to the archdiocese and lay leadership. Rochford, 59, the first woman to serve as superintendent of schools in the archdiocese, stepped down June 30 after nearly four years.

Saint Joseph's University announced today that it will buy the cardinal's mansion from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for $10 million. The residence, on 8.9 acres on City Avenue, has served as residence for the archbishops of Philadelphia since the 1930s, when it was acquired by Cardinal Dennis Dougherty for $115,000. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who assumed leadership of the archdiocese one year ago, announced in January that he was putting the 16-room, 13,000-square-foot stone house up for sale.