By Matthew J. Malone
New York Times [Greenwich CT]
February 2, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/02/nyregion/02priest.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
The Rev. Michael R. Moynihan's taste for the good life was an open secret.
To book a trip to the Breakers, a luxury resort in Palm Beach, Fla., in the late 1990s, Father Moynihan reserved two first-class plane tickets and a room through a local travel agent. He cruised the Long Island Sound in a $200,000 yacht and the streets of Greenwich in a $59,000 black Infiniti sedan. Employees at expensive restaurants knew him by name.
Until Jan. 19 — when Father Moynihan was forced to resign as pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Church after an investigation found that he had maintained two secret bank accounts with church funds and could not document how he had spent more than $500,000 — few parishioners or his superiors in the Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocese openly questioned whether the priest should indulge in such luxuries or how he paid for them.
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| The Rev. Michael R. Moynihan in 2002. He had to resign last month from St. Michael the Archangel Church in Greenwich, Conn. Photo by Debbi Morello for The New York Times |
In fact, many congregants in the wealthy parish — including more than 100 who took out a half-page ad on Sunday in a local newspaper expressing their support for him — say his good works, not his good taste, are what matters.
"What he drives, what he yachts in, that's not what I'm concerned about," said Nigel Ekern, a Darien resident who was married by Father Moynihan and attended St. Michael's for several years. "Who cares? Have you ever heard Father Mike preach?"
Father Moynihan has not been charged, nor is it clear that a crime was committed.
As an ordained diocesan priest, Father Moynihan, 54, took no vow of poverty. But the chief financial officer of the diocese, Norm Walker, said in a recent interview that Father Moynihan was the trustee of a family trust, although he does not know how much money is in it.
And while the diocese expects priests to emulate the simple life of Jesus Christ, said Joseph McAleer, a spokesman for the diocese, it does not enforce a standard of living other than to remind priests of those expectations.
"We don't keep track of the make and model of every car a priest owns," Mr. McAleer said.
But the diocese has devoted greater resources to financial oversight of its 87 parishes since last May, when another priest, the Rev. Michael Jude Fay, was forced to resign from St. John's Church in Darien amid suspicions that he had spent church funds to support a lavish lifestyle, including ownership of a share of a Florida condominium with another man. Last summer, an audit commissioned by the diocese concluded that Father Fay had spent about $1.4 million of the church's money.
At about the same time that it was looking into Father Fay's affairs, the diocese also hired an auditor to examine the books at St. Michael, in part because a review in 2004 found several deficiencies in parish accounting. As a result of that review, the diocese had advised the church to make several changes, including requiring that Father Moynihan no longer write checks to cash.
In July, the F.B.I. alerted the diocese to the existence of one bank account maintained by Father Moynihan with $1.4 million. Federal officials declined to say Thursday whether the priest was under investigation.
Father Moynihan signed a letter in August saying that he had disclosed the existence of all accounts. But in December, the diocese discovered a second account — whose balance is still being determined — leading Bishop William Lori to ask that Father Moynihan resign from St. Michael's.
The diocese still insists it does not know yet how Father Moynihan supported his extravagant lifestyle. For now, he remains a priest in good standing, and the diocese says he will be reassigned, although to a post without any financial oversight.
Martin Maloney, the head of the parish finance council at St. Michael, said his group was satisfied with Father Moynihan's explanation of "99 percent" of the spending.
"You have a priest who is a perfect 10 in his ministry to his parishioners," Mr. Maloney said. "He gets a 21/2 for financial matters. I pose the question: How many of us would like to see that flipped?"
Mr. Maloney said Father Moynihan told him the boat was the gift of a relative who has since died. As for his Infiniti, Mr. Maloney said parishioners probably helped pay for it, or perhaps a dealership gave him a good deal. But since Father Moynihan's resignation and parishioners' subsequent outcry over his removal, no one has come forward to admit helping him pay for the purchases, according to Mr. McAleer and Mr. Maloney. Father Moynihan could not be reached for comment.
In fact, Mr. Walker said the diocese was not aware of the value of Father Moynihan's boat until it was reported last week in Greenwich Time. In 1993, he bought a 19-foot Cobia powerboat for $9,000.
Since then, Father Moynihan traded in boats for more expensive models five times. Most recently, in April, he traded in his $140,000 powerboat to upgrade to a 35-foot, 560-horsepower blue and white Chaparral. After the trade-in, Father Moynihan owed $93,000. In addition, local tax records show that since 1996, he has owned at least six Infiniti Q45s.
Mr. Maloney said Father Moynihan's resignation had nothing to do with improper spending, but everything to do with his hope to remain in the ministry. "He felt that if he fought this, his collar is gone," Mr. Maloney said.
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