Vegas priest who stole church money to gamble sentenced to prison

He was widely admired by his flock at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, which he helped build into one of the largest Roman Catholic parishes in the Las Vegas area. But at the same time, he was stealing money from the church.

He stole from the gift shop. He stole from the votive candle collection. He stole from a fund for novenas, or Masses in honor of the dead. Over nearly a decade, he pocketed about $650,000.

His motive was all too familiar in slot-machine-heavy Nevada. McAuliffe was a gambling addict.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan sentenced the priest, who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the thefts, to more than three years in prison and ordered him to pay restitution. In doing so, the judge waved off the defense's request to give McAuliffe probation.

McAuliffe’s attorney, Margaret Stanish, asked the court to consider his lifelong devotion to the Catholic Church, which started with helping nuns when he was a schoolboy. McAuliffe has also been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and depression, she said, but in recent months had “excelled” in gambling addiction treatment.

Interest in “Salvation”, you MUST be kidding!

I’m a practical atheist, constantly amused by the antics of the loudly “Devout” and their “Faith”.
Don’t usually comment on them unless they attack me (Usually as a vile “Secular Humanist”), or are such obscene self-serving frauds as this thieving priest.

I recall reading that there ARE ways to void an involuntary “Baptism”, who do I have to offend to get excommunicated? LOL
Not really worth my effort to “Undo” such inane superstition.

Never attended a day of ANY church since I was old enough to escape it, the “Sunday School” indoctrination did not work.
So far as I know the silly “Baptism” was my only day in Catholic clutches, ever.
Granny passed several years ago, I have no idea what she was thinking, SHE was not a true believer, and so far as I know not even Catholic!

I did attend a friends Catholic funeral service, forgot what they called it.
Found the ceremony demeaning to my friend, he was clearly an afterthought, he was barely mentioned, but the church was praised over and over!
Got to love the symbolic cannibalism too!

>>If works could do it, Christ died for nothing.<<

Rom. 11:6 "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."

It’s either grace or works. It’s not grace and works. It’s a serious thing to teach that somehow works or effort on our part is required for salvation or even adds to our righteousness. What we do adds nothing to our righteousness.

Gal. 2:21, I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.

Our righteousness comes through our faith in Christ. It’s His righteousness that we are clothed with.

Phil. 3:9, "and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."

The comforting thing is that it’s not even our faith that we need to rely on. It’s the faith of Christ in us that sustains us.

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: Philippians 3:9

It’s His faith that is given to us when we accept Him.

Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

When we understand that it’s totally Christ who wraps us in the His righteousness and works in us to do His will we can give glory to Him rather then vainly think we have pleased Him on our own.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:30-31

AS Adam Clarke comments,

The Gospel proclaims liberty from the ceremonial law: but binds you still faster under the moral law. To be freed from the ceremonial law is the Gospel liberty; to pretend freedom from the moral law is Antinomianism.^[11]

Noted commentator Albert Barnes states

The laws of the Jews are commonly divided into moral, ceremonial, and judicial. The moral laws are such as grow out of the nature of things, and which cannot, therefore, be changed - such as the duty of loving God and his creatures. These cannot be abolished, as it can never be made right to hate God, or to hate our fellow-men. Of this kind are the Ten Commandments, and these our Saviour has neither abolished nor superseded. The ceremonial laws are such as are appointed to meet certain states of society, or to regulate the religious rites and ceremonies of a people. These can be changed when circumstances are changed, and yet the moral law must be untouched. A general in an army may command his soldiers to appear sometimes in a red coat and sometimes in blue or in yellow. This would be a ceremonial law, and might be changed as he pleased. The duty of obeying him, and of being faithful to his country, could not be changed. ^[12]

Nor do they understand that freedom doesn’t mean freedom to do what you want, but freedom from the bondage and penalty of sin.

I now have the freedom to choose to do right and good, whereas before I was still a slave to sin and to sin was my default setting, the natural and automatic reaction to everything that happened to me.

It appears that Catholics think that people (and themselves) are basically good until they chose to sin, and then they reject Christ and that by their own effort they can attain that goodness by refusing to sin.

They don’t realize that the human race is sold as slaves to sin, bound in its power until set free by the Son in the new birth experience. Only then can we be considered *good* and even then, it’s not our own inherent goodness but rather the goodness of Christ imputed to us.

The unredeemed man is not basically a good man who sins occasionally, but rather a reprobate who sometimes manages to do good.

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