Flock Fleeced of 500g Conn. Priest Paid off Credit Cards: Church, by Joe Mollica, New York Post [Greenwich CT], January 22, 2007

Flock Fleeced of 500g
Conn. Priest Paid off Credit Cards: Church

By Joe Mollica
New York Post [Greenwich CT]
January 22, 2007

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01222007/news/regionalnews/flock_fleeced_of_500g_regionalnews_
joe_mollica_in_greenwich___conn___and_dan_mangan_in__new_york.htm

A popular pastor in one of Connecticut's wealthiest Catholic parishes has resigned after spending more than $500,000 in church funds - without being able to document any of the expenditures, his bishop revealed yesterday.

The Rev. Michael Moynihan - who is being eyed by federal prosecutors in the case - used $185,000 of the money from St. Michael the Archangel in Greenwich to pay off his personal credit-card bills and make other payments to himself, Bridgeport Diocese officials said.

Included in that money was $32,000 for meals, nearly $19,000 for travel and another $13,000 allegedly spent on "equestrian training" bills at a parochial school that the priest helps oversee.

ALMIGHTY DOLLARS: The Rev. Michael Moynihan (above) has resigned from his post at St. Michael the Archangel Church in wealthy Greenwich, Conn.

Another $44,000 was given to people who did not work for the parish.

The money came from one of two secret bank accounts containing parish funds that Moynihan had set up - and whose existence he denied after being specifically asked about them during an ongoing diocese audit, officials said.

One of those accounts contained $1.4 million in church funds - and was opened just days after Moynihan was cited for shoddy bookkeeping in 2004. The other contained an as-yet-undetermined amount and also was used to make payments to the priest's personal bank account.

ALMIGHTY DOLLARS: The Rev. Michael Moynihan has resigned from his post at St. Michael the Archangel Church (above) in wealthy Greenwich, Conn.

"It is truly a nightmare," Bridgeport Diocese Bishop William Lori told St. Michael parishioners at Mass yesterday, two days after Moynihan quit as pastor. "I cannot tell you how sorry I am to share such tough, bad news with you."

One of those parishioners, Sophia Viola, said afterward, "I feel sad. I think he was a very good priest. We're all human, and sometimes we make mistakes. But I think, yes, it's a lot of money."

Moynihan, 54, also is the chaplain of SUNY Maritime College in The Bronx.

The scandal comes eight months after another of Lori's priests - the Rev. Michael Jude Fay - was exposed for spending $1.4 million in funds from St. John Parish in Darien on steaks, booze and romantic vacations with his handsome boyfriend. Fay remains under criminal investigation by federal authorities.

But diocese officials yesterday said Moynihan's case appears to be significantly different than Fay's.

While Fay took parish funds for personal use, Moynihan might be guilty only of being a poor bookkeeper who failed to keep proper track of his spending, said diocese spokesman Joseph McAleer.

In fact, the diocese took pains to say that Moynihan has not been found to have committed any "fraudulent" conduct and that he remains a priest in good standing.

According to the diocese Web site, he "departed from the parish for a period of rest and reflection ... and will be discussing a new assignment with Bishop Lori."

E-mail: joe.mollica@nypost.com