State Police Say Parishioners Are Still Calling In, and Canceled Checks Are Still Being Examined
By Kiran Krishnamurthy
Richmond Times-Dispatch
January 17, 2007
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Spotsylvania -- State police now say the Rev. Rodney L. Rodis may have stolen more than $1 million from two Louisa County churches.
The Catholic Diocese of Richmond has previously said Rodis took more than $600,000 from the parishes since 2001.
Virginia State Police Sgt. Kevin Barrick said yesterday that investigators are still hearing from parishioners whose donations can't be accounted for yet.
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| Rev. Rodney L. Rodis |
Federal law allows banks to destroy some records after six years, he said, so investigators are looking at parishioners' canceled checks to determine more accurately how much is missing.
Court records show that police last month seized from Rodis' home in neighboring Spotsylvania County bank records and other items, including a receipt for Lucky Money dated May 24, 2006, which is around the time he was retiring. It is the only receipt itemized on the search-warrant document.
Lucky Money Inc. is a service for wiring money to the Philippines, Rodis' home country.
Rodis, 50, retired from St. Jude Church in Mineral and Immaculate Conception Church in Bumpass in late May after leading the congregations since 1993.
He and Joyce F. Sillador-Rodis, who are listed as husband and wife on a deed of trust, repeatedly refinanced the mortgage on the Spotsylvania house they share and were released from $76,000 in mortgage debt on May 26, 2006, according to records in Spotsylvania Circuit Court.
Rodis left for the Philippines in mid-June and was to live with his parents, but he later returned to the United States to seek treatment for prostate cancer, according to the diocese.
He is scheduled to appear tomorrow in Louisa Circuit Court on a count of felony embezzlement. A judge reduced his original $100,000 bond to $10,000 after Rodis agreed to surrender his passport after his arrest last week.
Rodis has told The Times-Dispatch he is not married to Joyce Sillador, though neighbors say he has referred to her as his wife for the past decade. He said she knew he was a Catholic priest before the investigation started, but he would not say whether any of the three children who have lived at the home are his daughters.
Jail records in Louisa say he lives with a wife and children, though the documents do not say the children are his.
The Roman Catholic Church has a long tradition of celibacy for its priests. No priests are allowed to be married in the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.
Neighbors who were stunned to learn Rodis is a priest say he told them he was in the import-export business and that he told them he frequently traveled to the Philippines. He declined to comment when asked by The Times-Dispatch whether he spent any of the missing money or whether any of the money was in the Philippines.
Police searching Rodis' home in Spotsylvania's Sheraton Hills East subdivision on Dec. 11 seized a Dell computer; bank records; a file folder labeled "receipts" and containing contribution records; folders containing a St. Jude directory and donor list; the Lucky Money receipt; and more, according to a documents filed in Spotsylvania Circuit Court.
Authorities allege Rodis opened an account in a church's name at Virginia Heartland Bank in Fredericksburg, deposited donations in the account and then diverted them for personal use.
The diocese became aware of financial irregularities in the fall when a donor to Immaculate Conception requested verification of a $1,000 contribution for tax purposes and the parish could not find a record of the donation.
Ronald E. Davis, the bank's president/chief executive, did not return phone messages left yesterday for him inquiring about bank policies, including how many signatories are required on a business or church account and how long signature cards are retained.
Police also seized from Rodis' house records for a First Union Bank account for the period of February 1996 to July 2003.
Court documents show Joyce Sillador bought the house on Watson Lane in June 1994 for about $115,000. A 1998 deed of trust says a Joyce F. Sillador-Rodis was "formerly known of record as Joyce Sillador." Diocesan officials were surprised to learn of Rodis' living arrangements, according to William Etherington, a lawyer for the diocese.
Rodis was ordained a priest in the Order of St. Camillus in the Philippines on March 25, 1986, and has been living in the United States since 1991.
After coming to the diocese, he was parochial vicar at St. Mark Catholic Church in Virginia Beach for one year and then chaplain at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News for one year before going to Louisa.
Parishioners say Rodis suffered a stroke and walked with a cane when he retired. He used a cane during a court appearance last week, but he walked without assistance when briefly interviewed at his front door over the weekend.
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted and could lose his pension if defrocked as a priest by the Vatican. Diocesan officials are looking into recouping some of the missing funds through insurers.
The Rev. Dan Klem, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Norfolk, was pastor of St. Mark Catholic Church in Virginia Beach in the early 1990s. Asked yesterday about Rodis, Klem said, "I don't have any comment. I can't."
He said the duties of an assistant pastor would depend on situation but would not say what Rodis' were in Virginia Beach.
Contact staff writer Kiran Krishnamurthy at kkrishnamurthy@timesdispatch.com or (540) 371-4792.
Staff writer Bill Geroux contributed to this report.
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