Atlanta Archbishop to Sell Controversial $2.2-Million Home

Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta said Saturday that he will sell the $2.2-million mansion into which he moved three months ago and plow the proceeds into meeting “the needs of the Catholic community,” the Associated Press reports.

Mr. Gregory’s construction of a Tudor-style home in an upscale Atlanta neighborhood, made possible by a $15-million bequest to the archdiocese, raised an uproar among parishioners, who called on him to heed Pope Francis’s call for Catholic leaders to live more modestly. The archbishop sold his previous home to the city’s Christ the King Cathedral, which plans to expand the residence and use it to house priests.

“He is the person we follow locally. He sets the mood. He sets the example for all of us to follow,” said Laura Mullins, one of a group of local Catholics who had been asking since January that Mr. Gregory sell the house. “If he is choosing to use a gift so personally, what does that tell the people sitting in the pews?”