St. Louis Post-Dispatch
December 2, 2010
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_7a6d15c2-f290-51ab-b0dd-8b423739e737.html
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| December1, 2010 - Church officials including Archbishop Robert J. Carlson (third from right) leave the parish offices and cross the parking lot to the church to address members of the congregation at Saint Anthony Church in Sullivan Wednesday evening. |
SULLIVAN, Mo. -- St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson addressed parishioners of St. Anthony Catholic Church here on Wednesday night about $60,000 in "apparent irregularities" in their church's bookkeeping.
Internal and outside investigations into the missing money centered on St. Anthony's former pastor, the Rev. Dennis Zacheis, according to an audit by the St. Louis Archdiocese and obtained by the Post-Dispatch and the church's current pastor.
An investigation by the Franklin County prosecutor resulted in no charges being filed, according to the archdiocese.
After praying for healing in the parish about 65 miles southwest of St. Louis, Carlson told parishioners that the archdiocese turned up $300,000 in discrepancies after Zacheis' resignation in 2009. That finding triggered the audit, and Carlson reported the missing money to the police, he said.
Carlson said much of the $300,000 "came back to help the parish in a variety of ways," but auditors could not account for $60,311. The archbishop decided to reimburse the parish that amount from the archdiocesan insurance fund.
Before taking questions, Carlson asked all nonparishioners to leave the meeting.
Terri Miller, of the parish finance committee, which met with Carlson before the parishioner-wide assembly, said St. Anthony's was still struggling to deal with the division the issue has caused.
"This is a small town, and everybody knows everybody else," Miller said. "(The divide) is hard for us. It's caused some people to leave our parish."
The archdiocese said in April 2009 that Bishop Robert Hermann — then administrator of the archdiocese between the tenures of Archbishop (now Cardinal) Raymond Burke and Carlson — had removed Zacheis from the parish "for reasons of health."
In a letter to parishioners dated Nov. 1, St. Anthony's current pastor, the Rev. Paul Telken, said the Franklin County prosecutor's office investigated the missing money. The letter said prosecuting attorney Robert Parks informed church leaders in October he would not file charges.
Some parishioners said they were not satisfied with the $60,000 figure and suspect the amount missing could be twice that amount.
The audit mentions Zacheis repeatedly, including an entry that says the priest admitted to an archdiocesan financial official in July 2009 that he had paid the electric bill on his waterfront house in Lake of the Ozarks at various times with parish funds because he allowed "homeless people" to live there when he was not in residence.
Alan Vickers, a parish council member, said he considered Zacheis a friend and will remember the good he did for the church. But, he said, he has to remember the bad.
"It hurt me," Vickers said of the allegations. "I'm a Christian, and I feel if there was something done wrong, it'll come out, if not on this earth, then it'll come out when he meets his maker."
Zacheis has served at several parishes in the archdiocese and has run into trouble with parishioners in the past. In 2004, a parishioner insurrection at St. Alban Roe in Wildwood forced him out as pastor there even though he was supported by Burke.
Carlson did not speak to reporters after the meeting, but the archdiocese released a statement saying its pastors are expected to comply with its financial management manual and that internal audits are conducted regularly when a parish changes pastors.
Parishioners at the meeting said Carlson told them the archdiocese had found financial discrepancies at two other churches and those matters have been turned over to prosecuting attorneys for investigation.
Marlon A. Walker of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
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