BishopAccountability.org
	The Embezzlement Plate Palm Beach Post [United States] January 16, 2007 http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/ epaper/2007/01/16/a14a_diocese_edit_0116.html It is counterintuitive for faith-based organizations to need safeguards against breaches of faith. That's probably part of the reason religious leaders of all denominations still are looking for ways to ensure that the donations of the faithful go where they're intended. Villanova University researchers just surveyed the nation's 174 Roman Catholic dioceses and found that 85 percent of the 78 that responded had discovered embezzlement of church funds during the past five years. In 93 percent of those cases, church officials filed police reports, 11 percent of which involved more than $500,000 missing. Embezzlement isn't exclusively a Catholic problem, but the Diocese of Palm Beach had three cases surface last year. The most egregious scandal was in Delray Beach, where police accused two former priests, Francis Guinan and John Skehan, of misappropriating $8.6 million and spending much of it on trips to Las Vegas, vacations and personal investments. Bishop Gerald Barbarito responded with a plan to strengthen financial accountability and give parishioners more oversight. All parishes in the five-county diocese now must have a finance council, each parish and school is subject to an independent biennial audit, and each must submit quarterly and annual financial reports. The diocese also has a finance council - the bishop, clergy members and lay people - with access to forensic accountants. The more people who know how much money comes in and where it ends up, the less likely mischief becomes. Irregularities need to be reported to the police, not handled internally. The diocese has helped restore credibility by working with Voice of the Faithful, a Boston-based reform group that advocates financial transparency and accountability on other church problems such as sexual abuse by priests. Peter Amann of Palm Beach Gardens, chairman of Voice of the Faithful in Palm Beach County, wants to open lines of communication: "Our goal is to establish a collaborative dialogue among the faithful and the hierarchy." The faithful place great trust in their clergy. But as recent events have shown, no church can take everything from its clergy on faith.
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