Plymouth Priest Reinstated after FBI Investigation Ends
By Robert Allen
Banned from his parish for nearly nine months, a popular Catholic priest will return to St. Kenneth in Plymouth after an FBI investigation ended, according to his attorney and the Archdiocese of Detroit. News of the Rev. Thomas Belczak's return drew a standing ovation from roughly 500 parishioners attending Saturday evening mass at the church on Haggerty Road near 5 Mile Road. "Father is not a thief. Father will never be a thief," said Robert Frigerio, of Plymouth, after attending the Mass. "I'm in tears. I'm a grown man, I'm 73 years old, and I'm in tears." Belczak, 61, was removed in October during an investigation into whether he improperly used parish funds — as his brother, also a priest, is accused of doing at a Troy parish. Thomas Belczak isn't facing any charges resulting from the investigation. He'll resume his duties June 27 with a delegate appointed to provide a closer watch over the parish's finances. An Archdiocese spokesman declined to specify what was found during the investigation, but said in an email that it had "identified concerns" regarding administrative and financial practices at the parish. Multiple people on Saturday told the Free Press they're happy to see Thomas Belczak back at the church. The priest, however, wasn't present Saturday for the announcement; his attorney said he had weddings and funerals scheduled that day and wasn't available for comment. While absent from St. Kenneth, he had been allowed to continue serving with pay as an assistant priest at a Bloomfield parish. He'd been stunned by the allegations and cooperated with investigators while maintaining his innocence, said his attorney, Karen Woodside. "The people had been praying that this would happen, and now it is," she said of his return. "His faith has been very unwavering; he's always had a very positive attitude throughout all of this." Dave Bartek, 55, of Livonia said he'd organized a Father Tom support group, writing letters to church officials and praying for the priest. "We knew he had done nothing wrong," he said. The FBI didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the investigation. Archdiocese spokesman Joe Kohn said in an e-mail that the FBI had previously approached the Archdiocese asking for audit data regarding St. Kenneth. Church officials previously declined to comment on whether the investigation was connected to the investigations of Rev. Edward Belczak, Thomas Belczak's brother in Troy. Edward Belczak and his church administrator, Janice Verschuren, were indicted in April 2014 on allegations they stole about $700,000 from St. Thomas More Church in Troy over eight years, according to federal prosecutors. The two used almost $110,000 stolen from parishioners to pay the closing costs of the 2005 sale of Verschuren's condo in Palm Beach, Fla., to Edward Belczak for $500,000, according to the indictment. Contact Robert Allen at rallen@freepress.com
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