BishopAccountability.org
	Former Sullivan Priest Accused of Spending Spree with Church Dollars By Andy Banker Fox 2 December 2, 2010 http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-sullivan-church-questionable-spending-120110,0,7830091.story [with video] SULLIVAN, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) — Amid the furor swirling around the spending practices of a catholic priest, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson visited a divided parish, St. Anthony's, in Sullivan, Wednesday night. The Archdiocese reported there were tens of thousands of dollars in question, spent at the Lake of the Ozarks and clothing stores like Abercrombie and Fitch, among other places. Carlson met with parish leaders and then held an open forum with members of the congregation. The meetings lasted for more than two hours. He hoped to promote healing. Most of those who attended seemed to think the meetings helped. "We're having a meeting with the archbishop this evening to try and move forward from all things that happened. It is, what it is," said Terri Miller, a member of the parish finance committee, said of the controversy. The priest in question was the former parish pastor. The archdiocese itself took the case to Sullivan Police and the Franklin County prosecutor. The parish seemed strongly united until the archdiocese audited parish finances when the pastor left for health reasons last year. The audit turned up what a statement from archdiocese called "suspected irregularities". "All this different stuff that he was buying, it just kept adding up and adding up and adding up," said parishioner, Tammy Emily, who had quit attending church in the wake of the investigation. Fox 2 obtained audit documents showing the pastor repeatedly spent hundreds of dollars at restaurants during at least 26 visits to the Lake of the Ozarks from 2005-2009; hundreds more at clothing stores like Hollister, Abercrombie and Fitch, Land's End and Aeropostale; hundreds spent on a golf cart his attorney said the pastor bought years ago; plus thousands of dollars spent on rectory remodeling and renovations: including a new deck, bay windows, and flat screen TV's. "When you saw the palace he was building ... you knew that something was really, really, desperately wrong," said parishioner Velma Maxner. "He was happy and did real good homilies and he was a very personable man. I loved to go to church at first. Then he just disintegrated before your very eyes." "My concern is that he's going to end up at another parish," Emily said. "They've told other parishes he would not have another parish. Yet we got him...I'm mad. He told us numerous times that he had wealthy friends who were paying for this stuff." The priest's attorney said much of the money did come from donors. He said the priest never got any personal gain. The attorney said the clothes were Christmas gifts for young people; the restaurant tabs were for meals with parishioners. Still, the new pastor at St. Anthony's sent letters to parishioners saying the archdiocesan insurance office was reimbursing the parish $60,000. "If my book keeping irregularities amounted to $60,000, don't you think somebody would be wondering ? I couldn't get by with that. I could be prosecuted," Maxner said. "I don't feel vindictive towards him or anything else but the man has issues that do not make him an effective priest...this problem is not skin deep. This problem goes to the very heart of our church, our whole church family." Former parishioner, Walter Korte said, the meeting with the archbishop did exactly what it was supposed to do: promote healing. There's some people here that have a contention with the amount money that was spent on the rectory down there. But the rectory is still here. I have always trusted him to do the right thing. I think he has.
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