Unholy Trinity

Trinity Episcopal Church over by Wall Street needs the services of a ghostbuster or exorcist. The place reeks.

Anyone who has been to Manhattan has probably seen the massive gothic spire of the church. To the unsuspecting, it might seem like an outpost of ethics and compassion in a sea of greed. Sadly, the only impressive things about Trinity are its architecture and address.

Lest you think me harsh, consider the rector Rev. James Cooper. He does not have to sell the gospel of prosperity. On the contrary, all he has to do is tell the prosperous that they are good people and deserve rewards in this life and for eternity. He is compensated handsomely for the privilege of serving the privileged.

Press accounts make Cooper sound like the modern Episcopal version of a Borgia pope. He received compensation of $1.3 million in 2010, awarded himself the supplementary title of CEO, and picked out a $5.5 million SoHo townhouse for himself, paid for by the church.

And Cooper learned a few tricks from the casino capitalists. Kick the downtrodden and leverage your assets for even larger returns.

... he shuttered Trinity's homeless drop-in center in 2009, then announced plans to borrow church money to build luxury condos on top of a palatial renovation of the church's offices.

Let the poor find shelter and a meal elsewhere. We have real estate to lease and sell. The unwashed tarnish the buzz.

And then there is the flock that Rev. Cooper shepherds.

An analysis of Trinity’s vestry (the governing board that manages the parish’s affairs) lends some significant weight to these concerns. Marked as up-to-date as of May 6, 2011, the vestry list reads as a who’s-who of the rich and powerful in New York, including Wall Street bankers, media and real estate executives, and in the most telling case, a former executive vice president of Brookfield Properties, the company that owns Zuccotti Park.

Even some of these titans are put off by the shenanigans of Rev. Cooper.

Cooper's excesses were too much even for some of his high-flying vestry, and they asked him to resign. When he refused, many quit. They've since been replaced by members more aligned with Cooper's way of doing things.

Can it be that some of these folks have a conscience or are they just jealous that Rev. Cooper gets to play in their sandbox completely tax free? It does not matter. He found fresh soulless blood.

Which brings us to why Trinity is in the news. You may remember the Occupy movement. They took up residence in Zuccotti Park to call attention to the obscene concentration of wealth at the top of the economic ladder and shrinking opportunities for everyone else. When the protestors were evicted from Zuccotti by tycoon Mayor Bloomberg, some of the protestors fled to an empty plot of grass and trees known as Duarte Square. Guess who owns Duarte Square. Why, Trinity church, of course.

And what did Trinity Church do with those protestors, including an Episcopal bishop, chanting and drumming on the sacred lawn? Had them arrested, of course. And Trinity's response to calls to drop the charges? No mercy, of course. They even lied, claiming the matter was out of their hands. Not quite. They have to agree to testify against the protestors and the church's lawyer intends to do just that. Of course. You can find Cooper's smarmy response here. (Gee, Rev. Cooper, do you really want to call protestors on the lawn "seizure of private property?")

After losing many cases in court over the Occupy movement, the NYC District Attorney is doubling down on prosecuting those arrested in Duarte Square. Recent protests in front of the church have included people on hunger strike. Their goal is to call attention to the hypocrisy of the church.

Some of the protestors have been carrying signs that read, "who would Jesus prosecute?" The answer can be found in Matthew (21:12–27), Mark (11:15–33), Luke (19:45–48, 20:1–8) and John (2:13–16). He took a whip to the money changers in the Temple and turned over tables.

I doubt Jesus would find much to like about Rev. Cooper. In a bygone era on the shores of the Mediterranean, Cooper would have been a Pharisee or Sadducee in good standing.

Praise the Lord and pass the derivatives and collateralized debt options. J'accuse! J'accuse!