BishopAccountability.org
	Accused Priest 'Uninterested in Money' At His First U.S. Church, He 'Didn't Want Anything to Do with Finances,' a Man Says By Calvin R. Trice Richmond Times-Dispatch [Virginia] January 16, 2007 http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/ RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192674112 The Catholic priest accused of stealing at least $600,000 from two Louisa County churches showed no interest in money when he arrived in America, a Virginia Beach parishioner recalls. "He had nothing to do with finances and didn't want anything to do with finances," Jim Burke said yesterday of the Rev. Rodney L. Rodis, who is from the Philippines. Rodis served as parochial vicar at St. Mark Parish in Virginia Beach soon after he arrived in the United States in 1991. Burke, a member of St. Mark, said he was stunned by the embezzlement charges. He recalled Rodis as being well-liked and a great theologian. Rodis, 50, retired pastor of both St. Jude in Mineral and Immaculate Conception Church in Bumpass, is scheduled to appear in Louisa Circuit Court on Thursday to face a count of felony embezzlement accusing him of stealing donations from both congregations. After serving St. Mark for a year, Rodis was chaplain for a year at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News and then led both churches in Louisa from 1993 until he retired in June. Rodis retired for health reasons, which he said included the effects of a stroke, treatment for prostate cancer and high blood pressure. It was revealed over the weekend that Rodis is living as a family man with a woman and three children in a subdivision outside Fredericksburg. Officials with the Diocese of Richmond believe he stole the money in Louisa over five years, beginning in September 2001. Church officials are urging members of both congregations and others who donated to the churches to send investigators copies of canceled checks that were deposited at the Virginia Heartland Bank in Fredericksburg. Authorities allege that Rodis opened an account there in the church's name and diverted donations he deposited at the bank for personal use. Records of donations deposited at the Fredericksburg bank range from $5 to thousands of dollars, said Crystal LaVoie Lang, the diocesan controller. Lang and John F. Barrett, director of finance for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, said they don't think Rodis could have diverted Sunday collections. But the two churches have been involved with major capital campaigns recently, and donations mailed to the church or given directly to Rodis were susceptible to diversion, they said. One parishioner at St. Jude said he believes as many as a third of the 250 checks he donated since Rodis became pastor were deposited to the suspect bank account. Another parishioner said she saw a do- nor hand Rodis a check for $10,000. One parishioner on Sunday complained to the diocesan representatives that Rodis spent almost none of his free time at the rectory near St. Jude. Rodis' neighbors in Spotsylvania County say he was living as a married man with a woman and three children at a house on Watson Lane in the Sheraton Hills East subdivision. The priest had to give up his passport and is now free on $10,000 bond in his Spotsylvania County home. When reached at the Watson Lane house on Saturday, he denied being married to a woman named Joyce, whom neighbors say he referred to as his wife. According to Fredericksburg General District Court records, a woman named Joyce Flores Sillador Rodis was charged on Jan. 9, 2003, with having an expired registration on her car. She paid a $25 fine and $47 in court costs, after waiving a trial. The diocese suspended Rodis' priestly faculties, which means he is not allowed to represent the diocese or perform priestly duties, such as celebrating Mass. The Roman Catholic Church has a long tradition of celibacy for priests, and the Catholic Diocese of Richmond does not allow its priests to be married. If convicted, Rodis could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. Conviction wouldn't automatically end Rodis' pension from the church, Barrett said. He would collect the money as long as he is still a priest, even if he is in prison. To end his pension, the Vatican would have to defrock him, Barrett said. Contact staff writer Calvin R. Trice at ctrice@timesdispatch.com or (434) 295-9542.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.