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	Lawyer: Priests Can Open Accounts Experts: Diocesan Way of Banking Is Unlike That of Most Entities By Kiran Krishnamurthy Richmond Times-Dispatch January 18, 2007 http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FR TD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192713482&path=%21news&s=1045855934842 Fredericksburg -- Banking experts say documentation from a church's trustees or governing body -- not just the signature of a clergyman -- typically is required to open an account in a church's name. But in the Catholic Diocese of Richmond -- where a retired pastor is charged with embezzling priests are empowered to open accounts in their church's name, a diocesan lawyer says. "A Catholic pastor can do that. He's very much his own thing," said diocesan attorney William Etherington, adding that a parish's pastoral and financial councils serve only advisory roles. "He will routinely get a letter from the diocese saying he is the bishop's agent for fiscal matters for the parish," Etherington said yesterday. "When he needs it, he takes it out of the file cabinet and shows it to the bank." The Rev. Rodney L. Rodis, 50, is scheduled to appear in Louisa County Circuit Court today on a charge of felony embezzlement in connection with allegedly stealing more than $600,000 from two Catholic parishes he led in the diocese. State police say Rodis may have taken as much as $1 million from the churches by opening a third account in a church's name at Virginia Heartland Bank in Spotsylvania County. Etherington and banking experts agree the diocesan way of banking is different from that of most Protestant churches or businesses. Richard F. DeMong, a banking and finance professor at the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Business and Commerce, said a church typically would be considered a business in such a situation and, therefore, written documentation such as a resolution from church trustees or officers, or multiple signatures on the account, would usually be required. "Even the sororities and fraternities here at the university have to have documentation," DeMong said yesterday. "That's it, huh?" responded John W. Burdiss, an attorney and fraud expert in Cape Charles, when told how Catholic priests are empowered in financial matters. Burdiss said the onus is on churches, businesses and nonprofits to have accounting and auditing practices in place that might catch irregularities. E. Joseph Face, commissioner of financial institutions for the Virginia State Corporation Commission, said he is always surprised to see such oversight lacking in cases where, for instance, a youth-league official has embezzled. "You're giving someone the keys to the store," Face said. Ronald E. Davis, president/chief executive of Virginia Heartland Bank, has not returned at least a half-dozen telephone messages left at his office and on his cell phone over two days seeking comment about the institution's practices for opening and maintaining accounts. Rodis retired from St. Jude Church in Mineral and Immaculate Conception Church in Bumpass in late May after leading the congregations since 1993. The Catholic Diocese of Richmond has said he took more than $600,000 from the parishes since 2001. The diocese became aware of financial irregularities in the fall when a donor to Immaculate Conception Church requested verification of a $1,000 contribution for tax purposes and the parish could not find a record of the donation. On Dec. 13, police seized a computer, bank records, a file folder labeled "receipts" with contribution records, folders containing a St. Jude directory and donor list, and other items from Rodis' Spotsylvania home. They also seized records for a First Union Bank account from February 1996 to July 2003. Police indicated on the warrant that they were looking for records from Wachovia Bank, which merged with First Union in 2001. Etherington said he does not know anything about that account. Rodis and Joyce F. Sillador-Rodis, a woman living at the home, are identified as husband and wife on a 2005 deed of trust filed in Spotsylvania Circuit Court. Jail records in Louisa say he lives with a wife and three children, though the documents do not say the children are his. Rodis has told The Times-Dispatch he is not married to the woman. 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. Rodis, a Philippine national, surrendered his passport and was released from jail on $10,000 bond last week. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted and could lose his church pension if defrocked by the Vatican. Diocesan officials are looking into recouping some funds through insurers or civil action. Diocesan officials told parishioners last Sunday that sacraments performed by Rodis -- such as marriage and baptism -- are still valid. Contact staff writer Kiran Krishnamurthy at kkrishnamurthy@timesdispatch.com or (540) 371-4792.
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