Spending at parish soars with new priest

A noted Catholic thinker who was brought in to run St. Anthony Catholic Church in south Omaha allegedly spent more than $400,000 in 1 and 1/2 years - at a small parish that normally spent about $50,000 a year.

Police are investigating the Rev. Peter Stravinskas' handling of St. Anthony's parish funds after parishioners filed a report of a possible embezzlement. Detectives have told a judge it appears parish money was spent on Stravinskas' personal expenses, including travel, mortgage payments and credit cards.

In a court filing last month, Omaha police said two parish funds - one worth $82,000 and the other worth $71,000 - were nearly wiped out. Only $4,200 remained from the $153,000 total, detectives told a judge.

But The World-Herald learned this week that those funds represented only part of St. Anthony's savings.

And people knowledgeable about the situation said the money taken from those accounts was only part of a larger amount spent from August 2002, when Stravinskas arrived, until March 2004, when the Archdiocese of Omaha froze parish funds.

Stravinskas has not been charged with a crime and remains St. Anthony's temporary administrator. He has declined to comment. He was scheduled to return Friday night from a trip to Rome, said the Rev. Nicholas Gregoris, who answered the door at the rectory Friday.

The Rev. Gregory Baxter, chancellor of the archdiocese, declined to comment, citing the police investigation.

Police have declined to comment on the extent of Stravinskas' alleged misspending.

Church financial records published in parish documents indicate, however, that St. Anthony had $313,000 in savings in January 2002. It is unclear what that total was when Stravinskas arrived that summer, but parishioners said St. Anthony had no extraordinary expenses before Stravinskas came.

The parish typically brought in about $50,000 a year and spent that much, said Albinas Reskevicius, a parish trustee for nearly 40 years until early 2003. He said he had no knowledge of parish spending since that time.

Omaha Archbishop Elden Curtiss brought Stravinskas, 54, to Omaha from Mount Pocono, Pa. A clerical group Stravinskas had founded there, the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, had been disbanded.

Stravinskas has written numerous books and founded magazines, the Catholic Answer and the Catholic Response, defending traditional Roman Catholic teachings.

Stravinskas, a native of New Jersey, is a priest of the Diocese of Boise, Idaho, but hasn't worked there in 25 years.

Stravinskas shares Lithuanian ancestry with many of the St. Anthony parishioners, but there has been no more explanation of why such a noted priest landed in a shrinking neighborhood parish.

Curtiss declined to be interviewed Friday about the parish's finances or about how he knows Stravinskas or why he brought him to Omaha.

In a May 2002 sermon, the archbishop praised Stravinskas as "a first-rate scholar with a rich academic background," and "a herald of truth in the church."

Curtiss delivered the sermon in New York City to mark the 25th anniversary of Stravinskas' ordination.

"Now that I am 70, I will be fortunate to be associated with you and your ministry for another decade," Curtiss said. "You are a special priest and a special friend to me and many people who really know you. I consider you a gift in my ministry and in my life."

In Omaha, Stravinskas registered the Priestly Society of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman as a Nebraska nonprofit, based at the St. Anthony rectory.

Stravinskas also hired a contractor to renovate parish buildings. Contractor Mark Warsocki said the priest paid him and others to do $126,000 in work.

In the church, Warsocki said, he installed a marble floor in the sanctuary, painted the ceiling and repaired the tabernacle area.

Stravinskas wanted to convert the rectory, a former convent, into a more comfortable residence for himself, Gregoris and a seminarian, Warsocki said. They felt cramped in 9-by-13-foot rooms where nuns once lived, the contractor said.

He built a three-room suite for Stravinskas, plus a library, in the rectory's unfinished basement.

Warsocki installed new flooring, a patio door, windows, a wine rack and a deck on the rectory's main floor, he said, and converted four second-floor sleeping rooms into two living suites with individual bathrooms.

Warsocki said Stravinskas also had hired him to create two more living suites. But Warsocki said Stravinskas stopped the work on Good Friday 2004, after the archdiocese audit. The contractor said he had $16,000 worth of labor left to do.

Warsocki described the work as needed and not lavish. He said Stravinskas had him buy materials from home improvement stores with the priest's personal credit card.

Warsocki said he undercharged because of inexperience and a desire to improve a parish where his grandfather and father had belonged.

So now Father is on public trial for a lavish lifestyle. Very interesting. Is that illegal?

And you must have a crystal ball to be able to divine that someone who likes fine wine is also a thief! Imagine, if the police would have just contacted you, they could have saved themselves all this time and trouble.

You offered to buy a bottle of wine....maybe YOU should have told the waiter what your price limit was. And I assume you were also eating in that restaurant, not just hanging around taking notes on Father Stravinskas.

Or were you practicing self-denial and fasting on that occasion? You seem to be the expert on it.

Maybe Father was table hopping because he is an outgoing person with many friends and acquaintances. Having been to dinner functions where Father was present, I can attest to the fact that Father rarely has to buy a meal because people fall all over themselves offering to pay his bill!

But I'm sure they are all "cult Catholics" who have been hypnotized into serving Father's every request.

Next time you're in Omaha, why don't you come hang out at the Parish for awhile and personally observe the lavish lifestyle. I'm sure the neighborhood drug dealers would enjoy some fresh faces. In fact, the rectory is so lavish it doesn't have any air conditioning to battle Omaha summers. Maybe you could replace the broken rectory window too, and the water damaged floor in the kitchen.

Don't mind the gunshots and graffiti either. It is all part of the ambiance that is South Omaha.

Too bad we all can't share in that lavishness.

I've had dinner with Father Stravinskas many times and never had this experience. In fact, there have been times when he picked up the tab! But I can say this: this arrogant, condescending, power hungry mongrel works 7 days a week. He is available virtually anytime for confessions or to care for pastoral needs. He teaches two classes per week at the parish, and celebrates mass and vespers daily.

He does not complain about living in a 'hood that is crime ridden and drug saturated, but has earned the respect of the locals by opening a food pantry that caters to the locals, none of which are parishioners.

He is not perfect, but he is what a priest should be.

Now, now. You know perfectly well that Father spent no parish money on personal expenses. No matter what you claim. The accountants have verified that.
Surely you know that Father has other sources of personal income from his publications and speaking engagements. He doesn't need to raid anyone's coffers to pay for his meals.
And you also know, since you were at THE meeting, that the money was used on remodeling, repairs and renovations of the parish grounds.
You also know that a parishoner was paid $27,000 for his part in the renovations and then lied about it on TV. "Ve don't know vere de money went." Really, I have a copy of the invoice right in front of me.
But that's not what this is about is it? You want him out, period. And at any cost.

Why don't you start answering some of the questions I have asked before regarding this situation. To date, you have not answered one of them.

How willing would YOU be to undergo an investigation of your involvement with the parish finances before Father's arrival?

Where are the records? Why where there no audits done? Why was a trust fund converted to a mutual fund and why are there no records of ANY of the financials available at the rectory? What were you people doing there? Who was running the parish? It certainly wasn't any of the "part-time" priests.

What if the World Herald reporter showed up on your doorstep and asked you the same questions?

You think that everything you have done is hidden, and everyone you have talked to is keeping your secrets?

Do you really think that your trusted confidants within the archdiocese are trustworthy?

Do you think that everyone you have made snide remarks to about Father to has forgotten that? Do you think that no one has kept count of all of the other incidents where you and your mob have tried to "get" Father?

Good grief, get a clue. Everyone at the parish knows who you are, what you are doing and why.
Your goofy little posts and quips just reinforce that fact.

Dear Concerned Catholic,

Do you have any evidence that Father paid for my dinner with parish money, or is this just another false accusation that you grabbed out of the dung pile. Can you support this accusation or is this just another example of the libel and slander that we have become so used to?

Up till now, I thought that perhaps you were just misinformed, but you have now made your true motives known.

I'm impressed! God gave you the charism to determine other people's motives! Why don't you simply ask Ancilla why St. Anthonys was their parish of choice, perhaps Ancilla chose to go to St. Anthony's to get away from liturgical abuse.

And if you saw St. Anthony's before Father fixed it up, the only way to describe it was a dump. Let's face it, Jesus was living in a dump. Father thought that our Lord deserved something better than that, don't you?

As far as losing the respect of the congregation, St. Anthony's was one of the fastest growing parishes in the diocese in 2004, and will be in 2005, if Father decides to continue to put up with this bull. And also, It was the fourth ranking parish in the diocese in responding to the Bishop's "Feed My Sheep" campaign, which is directly attributed to the congregation responding to Father's appeal.

You are absolutely on target here South O. I followed Father Peter's bright and shining light of gospel truth and liturgical integrity right in to St Anthony's parish. His beacon of faithfullness to the magisterium, his love of our blessed mother and his total unwavering dedication to Christ has completely won me over.

I even had the nerve to drag my family along. They are also following his star.

A portion of the original congragation never HAD any respect for Father. The lynch mob tried to block his arrival when they found out he was coming. You know that. It's funny that I have to keep reminding you of the truth here.

And keep in mind that not ALL the Lithuanians hate Father. Just you and your mob.

One more reminder. It was a dump. It was a dump encircled with a fence and closed off to the poor and immigrant Catholics that surrounded it. You were keeping Jesus from his people. And now you are trying to crucify Jesus again by scandalizing one of his faithful priests.

Why don't you post to my blog site so I can see who you are?
Still hiding in the shadows aren't you. Maybe you're afraid someone will break out your car window?

First off the people of St. Anthony's were very very excited when they heard he was coming!# 2. I think you were the one who asked about the parish spending the money before this guy came to town guess what I know about 8 people who have copies of the bank statements right before and right after he showed his face. (And all that was spent on the parish with the Archdiocese permission.)And # 3. I would gladly give you my name or meet you At St. Anthony's but you are to spineless or when I offered before you would have taken me up on it.And # 4 I would like to see someone try to break out my windows.( You see most of my neighbors would be on top of it asap lol) I live very close to St. Anthony's and us (What did someone call us thugs or was it drug dealers stick together.

Welcome to FreeRepublic, but please...

Grow up. If you offer to buy someone a meal, then be woman or man enough to back up what you are offering.

Priests don't take vows of poverty unless they are members of religious communities or take a vow under some other condition. As far as what self-denial a priest engages in, it is none of our business. That is matter between the Lord, the priest, and his confessor.

Re-read the original post. I said a PORTION of the parishoners tried to block Father's arrival, not all.

Second of all, why do 8 lay people have copies of bank statements and why are there no copies of those statements in the rectory?

If you have those statements, please make copies and give them to me. I would also like copies of all the trust and mutual fund documents and the records of all bank deposits and withdrawls for the last 7 years before Father arrived, as well as a record of all of the activity that has taken place with the trust and mutual fund.

I would also like to know if the parish filed the appropriate IRS paperwork for the parishoners who were drawing regular salaries from the parish. And where are the copies of the documents that show how much they earned and what they were paid for.

Also copies of the trustee papers and any related legal documents. If you are interested in the truth, I'm sure you will have no problem turning them over.

And as I said BEFORE, several times, you know who I am. Come talk to me after mass. In public. Show your face. Spineless? Please. Everyone in the parish knows who I am. I'm not hiding out casting aspersions.

To SouthO, Concerned Catholic, the lynch mob or any interested parties:

http://cuibono.typepad.com/cui_bono/

If you want to post anymore to me go to my weblog.

I will not post anonymous senders, nor will I post anyone who uses multiple ids from the same IP address. I've already banned someone for that, as you well know.

The caveat is that you will have your identity known there at least by your email address.

I will not respond to you any more if you refuse to come out of hiding.

Who's spineless?

"But all together they shouted out, 'Away with this man!'.......but they continued their shouting, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!'..'What evil has this man done? I found him guilty of no capital crime. Therefore I shall have him flogged and then release him.' With loud shouts, however, they persisted in calling for his crucifixion, and their voices prevailed.....and he handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they wanted." Luke 23:18-25

Does this sound familiar? Concerned about these allegations, some parishioners made an appointment to speak with the Archbishop. The Archbishop showed them the most recent audit that had been done and shared the results of it. His comment was, "Father Peter has done nothing criminal here. The worst case is that he is a poor accountant. There will be a private meeting held tomorrow for the accountant to discuss this with a few parishioners. This should put this issue to rest."

So, can you see the parallel here? The Archbishop has facts that support that Father Peter has not committed any criminal act. Yet what does the chancery do? They hand him over to the crowds screaming, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

Another interesting fact, the other day someone on your side called saying that no matter how this plays out, they will not drop the accusations until Father Peter is gone!

Once the police have cleared him, are you going to apologize? Will you let it drop then, or has your hatred taken control of you?

Your web-log is a joke. You claim Stravinskas has nothing to do with it yet he has the longest and longest post of them all!
You think you scare people by your threats of breaking out their windows?
You are not an accountant or on the parish Finance Council so you do not have any right to seeing the bank statements since the other parish council members didn't get to see them since Stravinskas arrived!

Good point. The lynch mob wants Father S out no matter what. We know that they have been working with their chancery cronies for the past two years to get Father out. This was before the whole "scandal" ever made the news.

We know that the Archbishop told several parishoners and the lynch mob that there was no criminal activity.

And yet they cry for blood. Crucify Him!

We know that 2 independent accountants have again reviewed the financials.

And yet, they still cry for blood. Crucify Him!

We know that the Archbishop just told a gathering of priests that there is no criminal activity.

It is blatantly obvious that this has nothing to do with any purported "theft". It is at essence a personal vendetta and a hateful one at that.

Thanks for your insight.

Oh, what tangled webs we weave when at first we set to deceive! I AM NOT "Midwest mom".

First: He does not "call himself a priest", he was, however, ordained by our one, holy, Catholic and apostolic church as a priest.

Secondly: "An arrogant liar who calls himself a priest." that certainly doesn't sound like a person filled with love!

Finally: What was the substance of the complaint filed with the police against Father Peter? I have a copy of that police report and I don't see anywhere accusations of Arrogance and lying. After all, if that were a criminal offense a) you would have found a way to charge him with that b) if he were an arrogant liar, it seems to me that he would have fit right in with your 'crowd'!

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