Embezzlement reported in Catholic dioceses

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Frankly, I don’t understand how in our own diocese, a parish business manager managed to steal and gamble away over a million dollars…He is serving less than a year sentence for his crimes and there is no financial restitution expected. Instead, the parish has incurred this debt and has to repay it to the chancery to cover the cost of money outlaid to pay any outstanding bills not covered while the embezzlement was going on! How horrible! The business manager just got a slap on the wrist!
 
poster above makes a very good point, about this particular crime but also other criminal actions by church personnel–often the church gets blamed for the failures and laxity of the criminal justice system. Every parish should have a finance commission who oversees the business management of all aspects of the parish, and the books should be regularly audited by an independent accountant. but if malfeasance is discovered and reported, and the law does not take action promptly or appropriately, the church takes the blame for it. sad.
 
Civil action, vigorously pursued by people* upon* the Church, can also go the other way. A civil suit by the parishioners against a business manager can at least hold him/her accountable financially. Yet, chances are slim that anyone will even try this. I am incredulous at how little interest there is in protecting and upholding good moral principle. The Church militant has become lazy and cowardly. It seems that no one will lift a hand in this day unless something is personal. What happens “out there” seems to mean very little to most folks, even though it is slowly eroding the foundation of our laws. They cannot seem to see that it is *their selfishness *by the lack of effort toward the common good that allows more and more selfish individuals to violate it.
 
puzzleannie said:
poster above makes a very good point, about this particular crime but also other criminal actions by church personnel–often the church gets blamed for the failures and laxity of the criminal justice system. Every parish should have a finance commission who oversees the business management of all aspects of the parish, and the books should be regularly audited by an independent accountant. but if malfeasance is discovered and reported, and the law does not take action promptly or appropriately, the church takes the blame for it. sad.
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I think if Church finance wasn’t such a big secret, if the books were wide open and subject to audit (independant, not diocesian) we would have much less trouble. For example, if the book balances were reported on a monthly basis, the whole congregation could pick up on a million dollars missing.

Nohome
 
I belonged to a parish in Roseville, Michigan. A number of years ago, the pastor discovered that the business manager they hired had misused the income due to a gambling habit. It was almost a glaring eye-opener that he took the “bingo” money. [Income from *parish gambling squandered on personal gambling]

I remember the newspaper headlines dragging the church through the mud. Being a parishioner and catechist, I was able to learn that the pastor pardoned him, with the strict stipulation that he attend gamblers anonymous. Nevertheless, the parish still had to suffer the consequences of this man’s folly.

I liked Puzzleannie’s recommendation that there be more accountability through regular audit of a finance committee, at least quarterly, before the damage becomes extensive.
 
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