Two priests steal 8.6 million from their parishoners

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Shoot!
Everytime I work up enough courage to say “yes!” to the preiesthood, something horrible like this happens.
I’m so tired of these scandals.
They always make me loose faith.
SHOOT!

Ahhh… I’ll be ok. Just gotta sleep on it.
 
DavidGonzalez said:
Shoot!
Everytime I work up enough courage to say “yes!” to the preiesthood, something horrible like this happens.
I’m so tired of these scandals.
They always make me loose faith.
SHOOT!

Ahhh… I’ll be ok. Just gotta sleep on it.
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I feel the same way. These scandals are the biggest obstacle to the priesthood, because they are spiritual obstacles (although I have plenty of worldly obstacles to overcome on my way too).

The scandals, especialy the sex abuse and child molestation, really make me depressed sometimes.
 
Catholic_Dude said:
“My reading of the probable cause affidavit indicates that the amount of money he’s actually accused of misappropriating amounts to about $325,000, which is a far cry from $8.6 million,” Johnson said.
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Yes, there is a big difference between those two amounts, but regardless of the figure it is still a sizable theft. The crime damages both the image of priests and the trust of the laity.
 
A few thoughts:
  1. Having a bookkeeper in on the scheme makes it much easier to steal the funds.
  2. You wouldn’t think of priests stealing money. That causes people to let their guard down. I know that according to accounting principles it shouldn’t, but people nonetheless do let their guard down on things like this with clergy.
  3. I don’t know how the finances work at all dioceses, but isn’t it possible for parishioners to direct funds to specific ministries, and therefore it is not subject to diocesan taxes? Would that make it easier to direct funds into these accounts and have them set up away from diocesan oversight?
Just a few thoughts!
 
lel said:
A few thoughts:
  1. Having a bookkeeper in on the scheme makes it much easier to steal the funds.
  2. You wouldn’t think of priests stealing money. That causes people to let their guard down. I know that according to accounting principles it shouldn’t, but people nonetheless do let their guard down on things like this with clergy.
  3. I don’t know how the finances work at all dioceses, but isn’t it possible for parishioners to direct funds to specific ministries, and therefore it is not subject to diocesan taxes? Would that make it easier to direct funds into these accounts and have them set up away from diocesan oversight?
Just a few thoughts!
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We should be able to trust clergy more than ordinary people.
 
Holly3278 said:
We should be able to trust clergy more than ordinary people.
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I agree, but everyone is human priest and ordinary people. In our parish our pastor has an accountant who oversees the financial reports and we have outside auditors who come into our parish and conduct an audit once a year. Our diocese conducts an audit as well, which is done by an outside auditing firm. No funds can be unaccounted for because of the auditing that takes place in our parish and diocese.
 
DavidGonzalez said:
Shoot!
Everytime I work up enough courage to say “yes!” to the preiesthood, something horrible like this happens.
I’m so tired of these scandals.
They always make me loose faith.
SHOOT!

Ahhh… I’ll be ok. Just gotta sleep on it.
Click to expand...
First you should realize that these type of scandals happen all the time in the secular world - they are actually less within the priesthood but still part of the human element. I have uncovered fraud many more times than I can even count. It is a fact of life.

Second, let me give you some encouragement for the priesthood. In our town we cannot even have Sunday Mass for all the parish for lack of a priest. Many of the rural areas around here are very lucky to get a communion service on Sunday and the deacons and priests must travel hundreds of miles to provide that. Daily mass is a thing of the past. Confession is difficult for the lines that form when it is available.

We desperately need priests so if you every get discouraged just come to my area of the country and you will feel so welcome you will never even question a decision to become a priest.
 
DavidGonzalez said:
Shoot!
Everytime I work up enough courage to say “yes!” to the preiesthood, something horrible like this happens.
I’m so tired of these scandals.
They always make me loose faith.
SHOOT!

Ahhh… I’ll be ok. Just gotta sleep on it.
Click to expand...
Isn’t it good that it happen before you enter seminary?
At least, you can think carefully whether you are ready to face the world as a priest. 🙂

and He asked… "And you - would you also like to leave? (Jn 6:67)
 
Thanks for your help guys, but don’t worry. I’m over it now. That kind of doubt happens every now and then but I’m getting used to keeping things in perspective.
By the way…
I’ve been thinking. Doesn’t $8.9 million seem like too much money to come out of a single parish? I know that my parish doesn’t make that much, and we have five masses a weekend!
 
DavidGonzalez said:
Thanks for your help guys, but don’t worry. I’m over it now. That kind of doubt happens every now and then but I’m getting used to keeping things in perspective.
By the way…
I’ve been thinking. Doesn’t $8.9 million seem like too much money to come out of a single parish? I know that my parish doesn’t make that much, and we have five masses a weekend!
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If I remember correctly, that $8.9 million was an attention grabbing headline and the real number was closer to $400k.
 
Liberalsaved said:
This is about money and media, not religion. You think religion is so persecuted in the media, but you don’t seem to understand the media. If it bleeds, it leads. Bad news always tops headlines and broadcasts, catholic, atheists, protestant, or Church of Moon Lad, if it’s bad they will air it.

An 8.6 million dollar theft far tops a 5000 dollar gift. People unfortunately want dirt, and the media give them what they want. The fact that they were Catholic makes no difference over the fact that the story is negative.
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You are entirely correct. Too many people wish to blame it on a conspiracy of the media against religion and especially the Catholic Church. Its money and media and like you said, if it bleeds, it leads.
 
Holly3278 said:
We should be able to trust clergy more than ordinary people.
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Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean that when accounting is involved that we should have any less oversight or any fewer checks and balances for parishes than for other businesses. While one would hope that you could trust clergy more with your finances, that doesn’t always happen.
 
Well, thank heavens this made the news! The reason it made the news is because it is unusual. When priests stealing parish money stops being newsworthy, then we need to worry.
 
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