Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, shown here in a file photo, calls the Legislature's move to bar religious groups from selling headstones an intrusion into religious freedom.
On the heels of passage in the state Assembly, the state Senate today re-approved legislation that would bar religious groups from expanding their business interests in portions of the death industry.
The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Chris Christie, who conditionally vetoed a nearly identical measure last month. While supportive of the bill, Christie objected to its immediate enactment, recommending that it instead go into effect a year after becoming law.
The Assembly, after inserting the recommendation, passed the revised legislation by a vote of 68-7, with one abstention, earlier this month. This afternoon, the Senate approved it 31-2.
The measure, while applied broadly to all religious institutions, is designed to counter a move by the Archdiocese of Newark in 2013 to enter the headstone business at its Catholic cemeteries. Sales of headstones and family crypts had previously been handled exclusively by private companies.
Through their trade association, the Monument Builders of New Jersey, the dealers persuaded lawmakers the change would swiftly drive them out of business. The group argued the archdiocese, as a tax-exempt organization, had an unfair competitive advantage and would undercut them.
John Burns Jr., president of the Monument Builders of New Jersey, led the campaign against the Archdiocese of Newark after it began marketing headstones and mausoleums to the public. (John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
The bill goes well beyond the sale of headstones and crypts, barring religious groups from owning funeral homes and mortuaries as well.
"Bottom line, they're a tax-exempt religious organization," said John Burns, the trade group's president. "They have no business getting involved in for-profit activities. This bill keeps things open and balanced."
The archdiocese — home to 1.2 million Catholics in Hudson, Essex, Union and Bergen counties — is the only New Jersey religious institution that has marketed headstones and family crypts, typically large enough for two to eight people.
Burns has argued the practice would quickly spread to other Catholic dioceses, then to cemeteries of other faiths, and finally to non-sectarian burial grounds.
He said the archdiocese had captured 36 percent of the headstone market in less than two years and predicted its share would climb to well over 50 percent within 10 years.
Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said after the Senate passage: "We continue to be disappointed by these actions. At the same time, we are thankful that there is a one-year delay in its implementation."
Late last year, Archbishop John J. Myers waged a public relations offensive against the measure, characterizing it in opinion pieces and in a letter to Catholics as a government intrusion into religious freedom. Myers urged parishioners to fight against it by contacting their lawmakers.
"We cannot stand by and watch the Legislature ignore the religious freedom we enjoy in this country as they attempt to insert themselves into the religious practice of Christian burial," he wrote.
Mark Mueller may be reached at mmueller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkJMueller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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