By Edgar Sandoval, Veronika Belenkaya and Tracy Connor
Daily News
August 15, 2008
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/08/14/2008-08-14_father_flim_flam_finds_new_flock.html
Father Flim Flam has gone from making confessions to taking them.
Msgr. John Woolsey, who copped to stealing from a Manhattan parish, has found a new job as associate pastor of a Westchester church.
"He's paid the price. He knows he has done wrong," said Msgr. Ferdinando Berardi, who didn't hesitate to offer Woolsey the No. 2 slot at Holy Family in New Rochelle.
"He's in pain for what he has done, but he needs to begin a new life," Berardi added. "He can be a very effective priest because he is one who has suffered."
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| John Woolsey |
Holy Family parishioners don't have to worry about Woolsey dipping into the till again because he won't have any control over finances, Berardi said.
"At his own personal request, he has asked me to limit his service to spirit and pastoral matters," Berardi said.
Woolsey, 71, was accused of swiping nearly $1 million from St. John the Martyr and swindling an elderly parishioner to finance a lavish lifestyle. He pleaded guilty to misappropriating $50,000 and spent a year behind bars before he was released last September.
The Archdiocese of New York called Berardi a couple of months ago and asked if they could send the scandal-scarred priest to Holy Family.
"I immediately said yes," Berardi said.
Woolsey started his new job Aug. 1 and will be saying regular Masses, performing baptisms and hearing confessions.He could not be reached for comment but he wrote a note in the parish bulletin. "I enter this new phase of my priestly journey with deep gratitude and joy," he wrote.
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