Hannan, in retirement, had wealth to give to his television work
Published: Sunday, May 06, 2012
Archbishop Philip Hannan, who lived simply and built a network of charities to care for the poor was, at least in retirement, wealthy enough to purchase a $1.15 million tract of land in St. Tammany Parish to support the Catholic television ministry he founded. A few clues to Hannan’s personal assets emerge in his handwritten will filed in February in Civil District Court. One leads to the discovery that a half-century-old Maryland real estate investment yielded $2.34 million the year before his death.
Enlarge TED JACKSON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Philip Hannan retired archbishop of New Orleans, center with former President George H.W. Bush and Saints Garrett Hartley before the start of the NFC Championship between the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans Sunday, January 24, 2010. Archbishop Philip Hannan throughout the years gallery (40 photos)
At his death on Sept. 29, his pension amounted to just $2,701 per month, more than he ever made in salary during 23 years as archbishop, according to the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
The value of his estate, which includes his personal belongings, real estate, bank accounts or other assets, has not yet been established, said Hannan’s lawyer, Virgil M. Wheeler III. But it is less than $1 million, he said.
Hannan’s will, dated Sept. 9, 2009, contains two references to real estate holdings he owned at the time: a commercial property in Rockville, Md., near Hannan’s native Washington, D.C., and Terra Mariae — “Mary’s Land” — a small retirement community northeast of Covington that Hannan developed in the late 1990s with a succession of partners.
According to Wheeler and J.T. Hannan, the archbishop’s grandnephew, the Maryland property was lucrative and a major background source of income; but the Covington investment proved to be a major drain.
Unlike priests in religious orders, diocesan priests like Hannan do not take vows of poverty; they are free to inherit, invest and disburse their income as they wish.
J.T. Hannan said in 1953, the future archbishop and his brother, Jerry, bought “essentially a ditch, in the middle of Montgomery County, Maryland.”
In time, the wealth of sprawling suburban Washington overtook the region and transformed the property. A McDonald’s restaurant was built there, providing the Hannans with a regular but undisclosed income.
Wheeler said he did not know whether that income began arriving during Hannan’s tenure, or in his retirement.
Montgomery County property records show that the year before his death at 98, Hannan, having acquired his brother’s share, sold the land for $2.34 million.
Decades earlier as archbishop, Hannan had partnered with state and federal authorities to found and administer a network of charities to feed and house the poor. That network became the public legacy of his episcopacy.
“I don’t want to use the word ‘embarrassing,” but it would be something that he would not be boastful of, or proud of, that he wound up with anything more than the poorest of the poor, because he viewed them as his equal,” Wheeler said.
“We have no idea” how much money Hannan may have contributed personally to those agencies, either during his tenure or in his retirement, Wheeler and J.T. Hannan said.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond, who knew Hannan for decades, said he “was extraordinarily generous in giving his money to others.”
“In my life, Archbishop Hannan was one of the most generous people I have ever met,” Aymond said.
Hannan left almost all his possessions to his family, including his nieces and nephews. He instructed his sole surviving sibling, Jerry, to disburse them as he saw fit.
The will contained one gift beyond the family: a bequest of $25,000 “to the Archdiocese of New Orleans for the parochial schools in the poor section of the Archdiocese.”
It also asked that at his funeral his thanks be expressed to local priests, nuns and laypeople who worked with him, “as well as my heartfelt apologies to those whom I have hurt or insulted.”
St. Tammany property records show that in 1996, seven years after his retirement, Hannan purchased 104 acres in St. Tammany, putting up an unspecified amount of cash and borrowing the rest.
The next year he donated the entire property to his nonprofit, Focus Syndicate Inc. Focus assumed the outstanding debt, as well.
Hannan used Focus to launch a second career as a pioneer in satellite-based Catholic television. During the 1990s he was an on-air anchor and foreign correspondent. Behind the scenes, he tried to enlarge its footprint and bring its Catholic programming into more homes.
According to public records, Focus later returned 71 acres of the St. Tammany land to Hannan. He used that land to launch a residential development called Terra Mariae through a new entity he created, St. Christopher Development.
In interviews and in presentations before St. Tammany planners, Hannan described Terra Mariae as a retirement community and a future home for Focus.
He said he hoped to locate its studio there and support it with volunteers from the neighborhood.
“Any money he made privately was typically put toward public ventures that would benefit the church,” like Focus, said J.T. Hannan. Terra Mariae would have been no exception, he said.
However, at early hearings in 1997, planners balked at the residential density of Terra Mariae, situated a few miles northeast of Covington. It was the first of several setbacks the developing community would face.
Hannan also would eventually leave the Focus board after 2008. J.T. Hannan said the board “had ideas and a direction that were not consistent with his direction and mission. And a time came for a break.”
Janie Harney, the Focus business manager, declined to comment, except to say that the organization revered Hannan, then and now.
Today, Terra Mariae contains about 60 homes, never having achieved the scale of 196 units Hannan first envisioned.
Wheeler said he doubts Hannan or his partners realized any money from the development.
“It was always a cash-consumer,” he said.
And although Hannan had reaped $2.3 million from the Maryland investment, Wheeler said Terra Mariae was draining that. The cash portion of Hannan’s estate today stands at less than $1 million, he said.
Near the end of Hannan’s life, with his health failing and the expenses of independent living mounting, friends urged Hannan to divest himself of Terra Mariae, Wheeler said.
So Hannan gave his interest to his partner, developer Kenneth Lopiccolo, in exchange for relief from its debts.
“Here’s a person that had a vision with a cash-consuming development, and if just left unattended he could’ve ended up with zero.” Wheeler said.
>>>So what is the real purpose of this article? I'm not sure, after reading this multiple times, if the intent is to show the continued generosity of the Archbishop or to question why he was able to accumulate some wealth. In any discussion of the good and holy Archbishop, it should be noted that he lived a long productive life. In no way did the Archbishop live lavishly; in fact he remained a humble servant up until his death. Things like WLAE-TV, Focus Worldwide Ministry, not to mention the Archdiocesan wide programs for the poor and the elderly, and that still memorable visit to New Orleans by Pope John Paul II will be his legacy.
I hope I'm just struggling with the overall content of this article and possible misreading intent. I take great comfort in the words of Archbishop Aymond that Archbishop Hannan is the most generous person he has ever met. I will echo that; generous to the end with his time, his talent, and his treasure.
Well done good and faithful servant!
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