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	Diocese to Foreclose on Priest's Home By Amanda Lehmert Cape Cod Times May 19, 2006 http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/dioceseto19.htm The Fall River Diocese will foreclose on the home of a priest alleged to have embezzled from two Cape churches, a diocese spokesman said yesterday. The Rev. Bernard Kelly, who is scheduled to be in Barnstable Superior Court today to answer to criminal charges for the same incident, has been unable to sell his Cummaquid estate and horse barn in the year since he agreed to use the proceeds of the sale to pay a $1.3 million settlement to the diocese. A diocese audit of financial records from St. Joseph's in Woods Hole and Our Lady of Lourdes in Wellfleet found that Kelly diverted $860,000 for his personal use, according to court papers. "Parishes will be returned all the money misappropriated by Father Kelly plus interest," diocese spokesman John Kearns said. Kelly was suspended and later retired from St. Joseph's in 2003, after questions emerged about his relationship with Paul Nolin, who was convicted of killing a Falmouth man. Investigators alleged Kelly was having a sexual relationship with Nolin, reportedly a handyman at the church. When Kelly retired, he admitted to diocese officials that he "misappropriated" about $50,000 in church money. But auditors claim the amount is much higher and the diocese sued Kelly. After Kelly was indicted on criminal embezzlement and tax fraud charges in 2005, the diocese reached the settlement agreement with him to recover the lost money plus interest. But Kelly has not been able to sell his Cummaquid home for the $2.5 million price tag. The sordid situation has left some parishioners wondering whether the diocese will ever see its money - and whether Kelly will be punished. "As close as I was to that parish and to him, I never would have suspected it," said Dick Huefelder, a parishioner at St. Joseph's for nearly three decades and a former member of the parish council. "When it all came out, it was quite a shock." Huefelder said it seems hard to believe Kelly could have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from such a small parish. But he said if Kelly is found guilty, the priest should go to jail like anyone else. Charles McGowan, another longtime St. Joseph's parishioner, wants the diocese to review Kelly's case and decide whether he should be defrocked. "There is no doubt about it, he violated many of the terms of proper behavior," McGowan said. Kearns said any decisions about defrocking priests must be referred to the Vatican by Bishop George Coleman. The diocese spokesman would not say whether that has happened in Kelly's case, but said the priest has already been stripped of his authority to say Mass or act as a priest. Amanda Lehmert can be reached at alehmert@capecodonline.com.
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