Boon or boondoggle? Nobody's saying in Detroit

A delicate female hand dangles a single key attached to a bright red heart.

"Treat the one you love to an unforgettable escape," reads the new luxury hotel's online marketing pitch. The $189 "weekend romance" package features "rose petal turndown service, truffles and breakfast for two" at the resort's "casually elegant" restaurant. The Bloody Mary bar will be open.

"The rest," continues the tease, "is up to you ..."

Those of greater means can choose the 1,600-square foot presidential suite, whose "breathtaking bathroom emanates decadence with natural stone flooring, granite countertops, impressive vanity including a cosmetic mirror, oversized shower, Jacuzzi tub, bidet, European amenities, and cotton robes designed to wrap you in luxurious comfort."

The complex's 27-hole public golf course offers recreational opportunities to guests who prefer outdoor sport.

This "unparalleled elegance and luxury" comes courtesy of the Detroit archdiocese. Or, more specifically, its archbishop, Cardinal Adam Maida, who, according to the Inn at St. John's Web site, "brought to life a vision of reviving the [former seminary] property as a resource for diocesan youth and families."

The Detroit church is not unique. Under both canon and civil law, enormous financial power is concentrated in the hands of the man the pope chooses to head a diocese. The old saw that a bishop answers only to God and to Rome is largely true, especially when it comes to the money. Whether the bishop has the temperament, training and skill to manage such wealth matters not at all.

"Unlike corporations, which provide quarterly financial statements to the SEC and hold quarterly conference calls with outside analysts, the church is subject to almost no recurring outside financial scrutiny," Villanova University researchers Charles Zech and Robert West said in their recent study, Internal Financial Controls in the U.S. Catholic Church. "Since they are not required by law to be transparent and accountable in their finances, [many dioceses] choose to keep their finances private."

Case in point: Detroit and The Inn at St. John's.

A seminary transformed

Shuttered since 1988 and slated to be sold by Maida's predecessor, Cardinal Edmund Szoka, the seminary site got a reprieve when Maida chose a different course for the 192-acre property in the Western Detroit suburbs. In 1996, the St. John's Center for Youth & Family opened on the south side of the property. Two years and $11 million in improvements later, a conference center and reception hall were added. That renovation took advantage of the picturesque onsite chapel's appeal as a wedding venue.

An additional $9 million was spent to expand the golf course to 27 holes and construct the driving range and golf store on the site, according to Crain's Detroit Business.

Next came the hotel. Opened in early 2006, the 118-room facility boasts two ballrooms, 22 meeting rooms, "a breathtaking two-story glass Atrium which provides a truly unique setting for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and music for up to 600 guests," and easy access to both the golf course and a heated driving range.

The conference rooms bear biblical names, with "Judea" and "Galilee," for example, each providing more than 3,724-square-feet of meeting space. A New Testament motif is present outside: The golf course's front nine is labeled "Matthew," the middle-nine "Mark," and the back-nine "Luke."

Maida's influence is unmistakable. The lobby of the conference center features a nearly life-size portrait of the cardinal. He celebrated the 50th anniversary of his priesthood on the site, complete with a large ice sculpture portrayal of his likeness and four-color 44-page homage to his priesthood. A refurbished apartment will serve as his retirement residence.

But there's also another hallmark of Maida's 17-year tenure in Detroit present at the Inn at St. John's: Secrecy.

No one, save the cardinal and those he chooses to inform, knows what the development cost, whether it has proved boon or boondoggle, or even who invested in the project. The hotel project "was funded entirely by private investors, who have asked to remain anonymous," Maida said in a February 2006 letter to Detroit priests. "I intend to honor their request."

So what exactly is the hotel's relationship to the archdiocese?

"The Detroit archdiocese leased land to the entity developing the hotel, but cannot comment on the identity of the developer of the hotel or the details of the lease out of our concern for the privacy of the developer/investors," Ned McGrath, the archdiocese's spokesman, said in an e-mail response to NCR's inquiries. The inn "is not owned, managed or supported by the Detroit archdiocese. No archdiocesan funds were used for its construction," said McGrath.