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	Priest to Repay Local Churches $1.4 Million By Amanda Lehmert Cape Cod Times [Massachusetts] October 14, 2006 http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/priestto14.htm Within a week, Catholic parishes in Woods Hole and Wellfleet will receive checks totaling more than $1.4 million - a long-awaited payment from a disgraced priest. And the cash comes as good news for Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Wellfleet, which plans to break ground on a new church hall in April. The payments - an estimated $1.1 million for St. Joseph's in Woods Hole and $300,000 for Our Lady of Lourdes - are part of a $1,445,884 settlement agreement between the Fall River Diocese and the Rev. Bernard Kelly. The settlement includes $72,900 for accounting and legal fees related to the case, according to a diocese spokesman. Diocese officials sued Kelly in civil court after he admitted to misusing church funds in 2003. Kelly still faces criminal charges for the alleged embezzlement. His trial is set for Nov. 14 in Barnstable Superior Court. Although Kelly can no longer perform the functions of a priest, the diocese has not publicly disclosed any movement to punish or defrock him. Kelly could not be reached for comment yesterday. He retired from St. Joseph's parish in November 2003, after the murder of 20-year-old Jonathan Wessner of Falmouth put him in the spotlight. Kelly was a friend of Paul Nolin's, the man convicted of killing Wessner. Kelly and Nolin also had a sexual relationship, according to investigators. In the weeks before the Wessner murder, Kelly willed part of his Cape Cod estate and his Berkshire County summer home to Nolin, who had recently been released from prison after serving 18 years for raping a child. Nolin worked as a part-time handyman at St. Joseph's. After Kelly's retirement, St. Joseph parishioners called for an investigation into Kelly's accounting and use of church funds. A diocese audit uncovered $860,000 worth of unaccounted expenses at St. Joseph's and Our Lady of Lourdes, where Kelly was pastor before he was assigned to Woods Hole, according to court records. In 2005, Kelly reached a settlement agreement with the diocese to pay $1.3 million - the cost of the missing funds plus interest - upon the sale of his 4.3-acre Cummaquid estate. But Kelly had a difficult time selling the house and dropped the $3.5 million selling price three times. The diocese threatened foreclosure. Last Sunday, diocese officials informed parishioners that the house was sold to the Humane Society of the United States and proceeds from the sale would be returned to the diocese. "I promised both parishes that the diocese would do whatever was necessary to recover the missing funds and I am very pleased that we are now able to do that," Fall River Bishop George Coleman told parishioners in a statement. "Of course, as important as the resolution of our legal case is, I know it won't alleviate the hurt and disappointment that lingers in the wake of this case. I continue to experience those same feelings." For Our Lady of Lourdes, the money is welcome at a time when the 400-family parish is raising funds for a new church. The parish sold its Wellfleet location and has been holding services in the Church of the Visitation in North Eastham for several years. "We've got close to $3 million with this $300,000," said the Rev. John Andrews. "It will take about $4 million to build this new church." The new church will be located on 10 acres off Route 6 in Wellfleet. Andrews said they hope to break ground next April and open the church a year later. The sale of the Church of the Visitation will also contribute money to the construction effort. The Rev. Joseph Mauritzen, pastor at St. Joseph's, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Amanda Lehmert can be reached at alehmert@capecodonline.com.
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