A statue of Ireland's patron saint from Sacred Heart Church in Newark has a new home that's getting a lot of visitors but is also raising eyebrows.
The statue has landed at Cryan’s Beef and Ale House in South Orange.
Jimmy Cryan, the bar’s owner, told the New Jersey Star Ledger that his family had long supported the church, holding fundraisers at the bar and pitching in for restorations.
“The response has been overwhelming,” he said. “It’s just nice to have a piece of old Sacred Heart around.”
But archdiocese officials, who plan to reuse items from the church in other religious buildings, are not pleased.
“The (Cryan) family expressed some interest in the statue because they had been involved in its restoration,” said Jim Goodness, an archdiocese spokesman. But church officials didn't know the statue was going to end up in a bar.
