Politicians are now suing priests in an intensifying holy war over a sacred 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.
State Sen. Diane Savino, a Democrat, and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican, have joined neighbors fighting to keep the century-old Catholic retreat from becoming condos.
The Jesuits “had been 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 stop the sale 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 deprive the Jesuits of anything,” Savino insisted.
The politicians were hesitant to get involved, Savino said, aware that the property is privately owned, but the pair argue that the priests can’t be allowed to hawk such a jewel to the highest bidder.
Savino and Malliotakis took their cues from the grass-roots Committee to Save Mount Manresa.
“It’s not a case of ‘Not in my backyard,’ ” Savino said. “It’s about getting a better outcome for the people of Staten Island. [The Jesuits] have an 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 compound.
Opponents of the sale want time to raise funds to buy at least a portion of the property and preserve it, she said.
The Jesuits’ announcement that the property would 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 preservation of the property. It’s not going to be anything that allows for public access,” she said. “It’s going to 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.
They’ve offered to return money to any donor who wants a refund, but so far, no one’s asked, said the Rev. Vincent Cooke in a statement.
“The Jesuits did not solicit funds unfairly,” he said.