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	Priest Testifies Spending Church Money Was "a Small Compensation" for His Service By Usan Spencer-Wendel Palm Beach February 20, 2009 http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/02/20/0220priest.html WEST PALM BEACH — In layman's cloth, the Rev. Francis Guinan folded his tall frame behind the witness stand Friday, a priest transformed to a small, simple human testifying in his own defense against allegations of grand theft fueled by the deadly sin of greed. In friendly questioning, his defense attorney, Richard Barlow, asked if Guinan felt he had discretion to spend St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church's offering money on such things as trips to Las Vegas and rounds of golf. Guinan answered that he felt it was all "a small compensation" for his service. Prosecutors in the evidence portion of the trial, which concluded this week, have emphasized seven trips to Las Vegas, three to the Bahamas, multiple others around Florida and to Ireland, luxury hotels, tickets purchased for females, even a charge for jewelry in the 20 months he was the church's pastor. "When you see it all together in one package, it looks terrible. I will agree with that," Guinan said. Guinan, 66, testified that he felt, under the rules of church law, he had discretion to spend money as he saw fit. Guinan said he believed a priest could spend $50,000 on one particular item, then avail himself of $50,000 more. He said he believed he had saved the Delray Beach parish upwards of $30,000 by declining to rent a home and living instead in a dilapidated residence on its grounds. And he acknowledged that he knew of errant accounting practices at the church - slush funds hidden from the Diocese of Palm Beach. "I was aware there had been, if you will, double bookkeeping," Guinan said. But he did not correct the practice in deference to the previous pastor, the Rev. John Skehan. "I didn't need him on my back," Guinan said. Skehan has pleaded guilty to grand theft and is due to be sentenced in March. Guinan took his glasses on and off as he testified and examined documents, scrunching his forehead as he listened to questions, correcting a prosecutor when he tallied up the number of trips incorrectly. One courtroom observer said Guinan seemed so bumbling and charming, he may well have talked himself out of a conviction. Closing statements in the case in front of Circuit Judge Krista Marx are scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday. Guinan faces possible prison time if convicted as charged of grand theft over $100,000. One accountant testifying for the prosecution said he estimates $487,000 went missing from the church under Guinan's tenure. Defense witnesses taking the stand Friday included a flock of priests in Roman collar, a sad sight in a criminal courtroom. They were so gentlemanly in such unfamiliar territory, pleasantly greeting the judge and jurors, unknowingly trying to get up from the witness stand before the questioning was over. One monsignor joked that the attorney could just call him "Father" if it was easier. Most of the priests testified that they were familiar with slush funds - accounts hidden from the diocese, as happened at St. Vincent Ferrer. And they felt they had wide discretion to use the money. The Rev. Thomas J. Rynne of Jensen Beach, ordained in 1956, said he had known of them his entire career. The intent in part was to keep money at the parish to help the poor as well as to avoid the diocese taking a cut. Prosecutor Mike Rachel asked if he, too, might spend the offering on trips to Las Vegas. "Just give me a moment please to think about that," Rynne said. "You see ... it's almost impossible for you people to understand what it is to be a priest." Rynne went on to testify about the "tremendous demands" of dealing with the public. "You can reach a stage where one day you wake up and feel like screaming. You feel like saying, 'Good Lord, how did I get into this?' In that situation I would do it, yes." But, Rynne said, he has never done so. Another key witness for the defense Friday was certified public accountant Martin Cass, who questioned how prosecutors could come up with valid figures on missing money considering lengthy testimony about shredded accounting books and false deposit slips. "The number is wrong," Cass said. "Maybe there is a number, but we don't know what that number is."
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