Questions Remain about Priest's Handling of Star of the Sea Funds; at Least $25,000 Is Missing
By Sandra Swain
Daily Astorian
February 3, 2009
http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=57994&TM=61844.96
Trouble continues at Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Astoria with calls for the ouster of the priest following the discovery of what the diocese describes as "financial irregularities."
More details are beginning to emerge about the conduct of Father Ted Prentice as the congregation splits into factions for and against his continued tenure in the Astoria and Hammond parishes.
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| Fr. Ted Prentice |
One critic condemns his "foul language" and "fits of anger" at the same time supporters commend his efforts to unify the congregation and blast The Daily Astorian for negative reporting.
And there is the question of Prentice's former fiancée, Antonia Valdes. If she is not really a nun, why is she known as "sister"?
Questions remain over the way the priest has handled church and school funds. At least $25,000 is unaccounted for.
The Portland Archdiocese has acknowledged financial irregularities and curtailed Prentice's financial authority. And Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis has asked the Astoria Police Department to investigate alleged financial improprieties.
Cindy Howe, whose daughter attends Star of the Sea School, said she will file criminal charges against Prentice if the Portland Archdiocese does not remove him.
"It's a shock," said Dr. Terry Campbell, the school's principal, who learned of the financial problems just last week. "I want us to be able to continue beyond the errors of an individual. I want what led up to this to be fixed. I don't want this to happen again."
Concern about story
The Daily Astorian received the following letter to the editor:
Reporter Sandra Swain's article regarding the schools of Star of the Sea and the parish of St. Mary's was filled with baseless facts and misrepresentation ("Star of Sea in turmoil over funds," The Daily Astorian, Jan. 30). While statements attributed to the Portland Archdiocese are accurate and true, the comments made by Walt Postlewait are completely false.
It is true that the school is struggling financially, as many organizations in this troubled economy are. We are currently operating with a deficit of more than $55,000, and our constituents are working hard to overcome this shortfall and pay all of our financial obligations by the end of the school year.
Postlewait stated that there was a $40,000 surplus of funds after last school year. In fact, we had a deficit of more than double the amount of this year's deficit, which can be directly attributed to the creation of a school bus system, which produced chronic cost over-runs. because of the high cost of transportation, we had to curtail our bus service and decrease our expenditures.
On the revenue side of the school budget, we raise only 50 percent of our operating revenue through tuition. The other 50 percent is raised partially through fund-raising in the broader community, but the primary source of additional funding comes through the generous support of our parish community.
Our school would not exist if it was not for the magnanimous actions of our parish and the archdiocese. Every student at the school in effect receives a direct subsidy from our parish community, which Postlewait is not a member of.
It is blatantly false that our school is about to shut its doors. While Fr. Ted Prentice's actions have hurt our community, the real damage is in the division within our Catholic faith. Without our church, there is no Star of the Sea School. We need the support of all in this community to survive. Prentice's actions are being dealt with internally by our church and through the archdiocese, and he deserves to receive due process.
Michael C. Covert
Star of the Sea School Advisory Council
Star of the Sea Parish Member and Star Parent
Astoria
The Daily Astorian received the following letter to the editor:
Reporter Sandra Swain's article regarding the schools of Star of the Sea and the parish of St. Mary's was filled with baseless facts and misrepresentation ("Star of Sea in turmoil over funds," The Daily Astorian, Jan. 30). While statements attributed to the Portland Archdiocese are accurate and true, the comments made by Walt Postlewait are completely false.
It is true that the school is struggling financially, as many organizations in this troubled economy are. We are currently operating with a deficit of more than $55,000, and our constituents are working hard to overcome this shortfall and pay all of our financial obligations by the end of the school year.
Postlewait stated that there was a $40,000 surplus of funds after last school year. In fact, we had a deficit of more than double the amount of this year's deficit, which can be directly attributed to the creation of a school bus system, which produced chronic cost over-runs. because of the high cost of transportation, we had to curtail our bus service and decrease our expenditures.
On the revenue side of the school budget, we raise only 50 percent of our operating revenue through tuition. The other 50 percent is raised partially through fund-raising in the broader community, but the primary source of additional funding comes through the generous support of our parish community.
Our school would not exist if it was not for the magnanimous actions of our parish and the archdiocese. Every student at the school in effect receives a direct subsidy from our parish community, which Postlewait is not a member of.
It is blatantly false that our school is about to shut its doors. While Fr. Ted Prentice's actions have hurt our community, the real damage is in the division within our Catholic faith. Without our church, there is no Star of the Sea School. We need the support of all in this community to survive. Prentice's actions are being dealt with internally by our church and through the archdiocese, and he deserves to receive due process.
Michael C. Covert
Star of the Sea School Advisory Council
Star of the Sea Parish Member and Star Parent
Astoria
But he said the 113-year-old school is strong and its doors will stay open.
Meanwhile, in an e-mail to Star of the Sea Middle School parents, Howe and Walt Postlewait call for parents to insist that the archdiocese remove Prentice. Besides accusing Prentice of stealing funds from the parish and the school, the two express concerns in the letter about Prentice's behavior.
Howe said she has personally witnessed the priest on many occasions "using foul language, having fits of anger" and behaving in ways she considers to be "mentally disturbed." Last week, Howe said, Prentice had a loud argument with the parish's bookkeeper, Monica Steele, who was so frightened at what he might do "in a fit of rage" that she went home.
"I hope and pray that (Prentice) will get the help that he needs but not at the expense of the safety and security of our children," Howe wrote in the letter to parents. She and Postlewait are appealing to other parents to send e-mails to Campbell, the principal, complaining about Prentice, as a way to pressure the archdiocese into removing the priest until all the facts are established.
Prentice, 45, took over as priest of Star of the Sea and its satellite parish in Hammond four years ago. It is the first priestate for the former mechanical engineer, who was ordained in 2004.
In response to an increasing volume of complaints by parents of students at the school and other parishioners, a review was conducted recently by the Portland Archdiocese. The review uncovered "significant irregularities" in the way Prentice has been handling finances for the parish and the school, wrote Fr. Dave Gutmann, priest of Holy Trinity Parish in Beaverton, in a letter dated Jan. 26.
"Many archdiocesan policies were not followed in financial transactions, and there were funds that were inappropriately used for Fr. Ted's personal charities," Gutmann wrote. However, the funds "were not used for (Prentice's) personal use or gain," but instead the money went help people Prentice knows personally who were in need, Gutmann wrote.
And, he continued, the archdiocese has put new oversight in place to make sure parish funds "are being used only for legitimate and known causes" and Prentice is "currently making arrangements to repay all parish funds spent on his personal charities."
One of those personal charities is the nonprofit corporation Nuestro Futuro Inc., formed Feb. 24, 2003 with Theodore R. Prentice as its registered agent and Antonia Valdes as its president. (The name means "our future.") Its principal place of business is the address of a house in Portland owned by Prentice's parents. Valdes, who apparently is not actually a nun, calls herself Sister Antonia and has taught Sunday School at Star of the Sea. Before Prentice decided to enter the priesthood, he and Valdes had been engaged to be married. Prentice characterizes her as a "consecrated virgin."
Although Prentice has come under fire for financial irregularities, many church members have expressed their support for him. In an e-mail, Mike Covert, a member of the school advisory council, said, "While Fr. Ted Prentice's actions have hurt our community, the real damage is in the division within our Catholic faith ... Fr. Prentice's actions are being dealt with internally by our church and through the Archdiocese and he deserves to receive due process."
Covert also criticized The Daily Astorian's coverage, saying Monday's story was "filled with baseless facts and misrepresentation."
Reynaldo Goicochea also criticized the story in an e-mail, calling it biased. He said Prentice is an upstanding priest who has worked tirelessly during his tenure. "His attempt to unify our church is not only brave, but also very commendable," he wrote.
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