"Collection Racket"

"The arresting frequency of parish embezzlement"

"Father's minding the parish till, but who's minding Father?"


It's not just Brackettville's St. Mary Magdalene's Catholic Parish anymore...

where our own so - called $ random account balance entry fluctuations $ seem to be running $30 to $60 thousand a year...



Adapted from the May 2009 issue of U.S. Catholic. Article is by journalist Robert McClory.


"If the pastor had not stepped down, the embezzlement might have continued indefinitely.

"But when Father Brian Lisowski , pastor of St. Bede the Venerable, a large parish on Chicago's Southwest Side, resigned in 2004, the Sunday Mass collection suddenly ballooned by more than $2,500 a week.

"A police investigation indicated Lisowski had stolen about $1.1 million during his five - year tenure.

"Father William Stenzel, who replaced Lisowski as pastor at St. Bede's says No one suspected a thing.

"The collection had been kept Sunday nights in a large basket in the rectory where Lisowski had helped himself to cash (never checks [except for five $100 money orders + one envelope w/$100.00 cash in Brackettville, in Oct/Nov of 2007, huh?! :) ] ), squirreling his spoils away in a secret safe in his bedroom.

"On Monday mornings the remaining contents in the basket were carefully counted and dutifully recorded by parish volunteers [ here at St. MM by the Parish Finance Committee ] and then picked up by an armored car...

"The former chief financial officer of the Cleveland diocese was found guilty in federal court of netting $750,000 in diocesan money through an elaborate kickback scheme in which he illegally steered $17.5 million in accounting and computer business to an associate.

"The diocese's legal counsel and the bishop denied having any idea of the scheme."


she had been dealing with mental issues...


"The bookkeeper of a parish in Longboat Key, Florida was arrested and charged with stealing some $330,000 from the church for personal use.

"Parishioners described her as your stereotypical sweet church lady.

"Her lawyer said she had been dealing with mental issues.

"Prosecutor's in Kaua'i, Hawaii were preparing opening statements for the trial of a parish volunteer [Finance Committee, or what, exactly??!!] charged with misappropriating more than $85,000.

"Instead of depositing counted and stamped checks from Sunday Masses in the parish bank account -- one of her duties -- she allegedly deposited them in the account of a Catholic social club, of which she was a treasurer..."


Wake - up, St. M.M.!

Thanks to our local system, this last example may be the best clue yet!