Why The Interest In Cardinal Wuerl's Living Arrangements?

Some have voiced concern that George Neumayr and others may be making "much ado about nothing" when it comes to Cardinal Wuerl's living quarters.  They ask why it's important.  For an answer, we'd have to ask Pope Francis himself for it is he who made quite clear his expectations for bishops to live simply.  Let us recall that he went so far as to remove German Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, commonly known as the "bishop of bling".

Did other DC prelates live there?  At most, only Cardinals McCarrick and Hickey could have.  Why do I say that?  Well, the one preceding them was Cardinal Baum and apparently he was implicated in his own dust-up back in 1974, according to this Church Militant report.  The price that he paid back then was $525k, but that was 1974 dollars.  At any rate, he unloaded the place and took up residence in the rectory of St. Matthew's Cathedral.

But that was then and this is now.  As most readers know, I disagree with Pope Francis on many things.  However, no one can gainsay his authority over the bishops and how they are to conduct themselves.  Father Peter Daly, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington (and I've written about him) is a fairly regular writer for the Not-At-All Catholic Reporter.  Two years ago he wrote a piece in which he excoriated the "bishop of bling" and other prelates who (in his judgment) weren't in compliance.  However, no mention is made in that piece of the situation of Cardinal Wuerl.  That's not so odd when one considers that he serves under Wuerl, but the double standard is still obvious.

I'll close this with a link to a piece written by Phil Lawler.  While he decries Neumayr for being "shrill" (I might be "shrill" if I were ejected by police on someone's whim), he does acknowledge that Neumayr, as a journalist has a right to ask questions of someone who is obviously a close ally of the pope and who wields much influence.  As quoted in my original post on this topic, Neumayr's requests for an interview have been stonewalled by the chancery and now he's being chased away by police at the apparent behest of Cardinal Wuerl.  A reasonable person could surmise that indeed there is something to hide.