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Spending at parish soars with new priest
WORLD-HERALD ^ | April 16, 2005 | CHRISTOPHER BURBACH

Posted on 04/16/2005 11:24:59 PM PDT by CatherineSiena

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.


TOPICS: Catholic
KEYWORDS: omaha
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To: maske13

True colors always shine through, no matter how much Lithuanian whitewash gets thrown on them. It's all about money.

Not one of the MOB of accusers that are trying to crucify THEIR Pastor, here or in Omaha, has ever said anything about truth, or love or even God.

Oh excuse me, "God's" "truth" is, they "love" their money.


201 posted on 06/02/2005 6:16:54 PM PDT by Chicago Faithful
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To: Petskelis

You said: "All we got out of it so far is a thief who calls himself a priest" After appealing to let the authorities do their job.

You yourself call him a thief.

The diocese has not.

The police have not.

Why don't you just be honest, and say what you really think: "Crucify Him."

You hypocriit, you offspring of vipers, you have no sense of justice, no shame, and will sell your soul to the devil to crucify a man who has been convicted of no crime.


202 posted on 06/02/2005 6:20:45 PM PDT by Chicago Faithful
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To: Chicago Faithful
I've got to admit I got a kick out of your comments about the lack of Lithuanian saints. Just one - and he's born in Poland!

Of course, Father Stravinskas, when all of this persecution is over, could be the second. I don't know how your priest is holding up under all of his woes, but Father Stravinskas is not "mudwrestling" with the mob.
203 posted on 06/02/2005 6:34:44 PM PDT by omahacatholic (Oremus pro invicem!)
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To: ancilla

Do they have a parish counsel?


204 posted on 06/02/2005 6:40:59 PM PDT by mware ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche........ "Nope, you are"-- GOD)
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To: Chicago Faithful

offspring of vipers ---- that would make me a snake (cool),
no sense of justice ---- you're right justice will be served
no shame ---- ashamed of who I am ? nope
will sell my soul to the devil ---- sorry I don't like him


205 posted on 06/02/2005 7:39:04 PM PDT by Petskelis
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To: church militant

I don't know what kind of car he owns. It really doesn't matter because he's not in town long enough to drive anywhere.


206 posted on 06/02/2005 7:49:34 PM PDT by Petskelis
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To: Petskelis

Once again, I think you are lying through your teeth. For someone who is so damn sure that Father is guilty - even though the investigation is ongoing - how is it that you don't know what kind of car he drives? He has no garage. It's sitting right there in the parking lot all the time, isn't it?

Everybody can see through you.

Which is it....do you want him to leave Omaha or do you want him to be in town more often?


207 posted on 06/02/2005 8:09:48 PM PDT by church militant
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To: church militant

Bottom line is how a "temporary" administrator can come in with the power to use and almost deplete all parish funds and the power to fire (old parish council) and hire(his own parish council). Also firing the old parish council because they didn't want him to be the sole decision-maker. Charging parishioners 3 times the rent for use of parish facilities. We're supposed to make the rectory comfortable for him, but what about the elderly parishioners who make up a large percentage of the parish, who now after his "necessary renovations", have to kneel on a marble floor when receiving the Holy Eucharist !!!!!


208 posted on 06/02/2005 8:12:20 PM PDT by Petskelis
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To: Petskelis
You may not like the devil but your hypocrisy sure makes you a lot like him. You must have Father even more than you dislike the devil.

And will you repost that "justice will be served" when Father is exonerated?
209 posted on 06/02/2005 8:14:26 PM PDT by omahacatholic (Oremus pro invicem!)
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To: Petskelis
Here is where your hypocrisy exposes itself once again. The former "parish counsel" the MOB charged everyone for the use of the hall but themselves. Father just appropriately administered their own policy - and didn't let them make themselves the exception.

And you knew this -
210 posted on 06/02/2005 8:17:19 PM PDT by omahacatholic (Oremus pro invicem!)
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To: omahacatholic

You sure think you know alot about me, for someone who has no idea who I am . You're getting a little too personal don't you think ? This isn't about you and I, but about the parish.


211 posted on 06/02/2005 8:25:51 PM PDT by Petskelis
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To: Petskelis

They didn't want him to be the sole decision-maker? It's really not up to them! Parish councils are consultative in nature but the priest has the ultimate authority. That is canon law, my friend.

I have knelt for Communion at St. Anthony's and don't recall it being at all painful. I'm sure Father would still give Communion to someone who only stood and bowed their head in reverence. In fact, he'd have to. That, too, is canon law. And Father would be the first one to tell you that!


212 posted on 06/02/2005 8:26:30 PM PDT by church militant
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To: church militant
HI CM:

Keep up the good work!

Actually there is a garage, if you could call it that, at Newman House. And Father does keep his car in it. And as for the model, well let's just say that it is more of an economy car.

Of course, I'm sure he got a great deal on it from a Lithuanian used car dealer back east.

Of course, CM, the ones that complain about the wine racks and marble floors in the sanctuary - they show up in their luxury cars and fur coats.

Maybe they could kneel on their coats??
213 posted on 06/02/2005 8:28:53 PM PDT by omahacatholic (Oremus pro invicem!)
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To: Petskelis
I'm only exposing your blatant hypocrisy. Nothing personal. We will all be judged as we judge others. You called Father a thief, after appealing to us all to let the authorities decide. Which is it?
214 posted on 06/02/2005 8:30:50 PM PDT by omahacatholic (Oremus pro invicem!)
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To: Petskelis

"This isn't about you and I, but about the parish."

It's ALL about you. That's the problem.


215 posted on 06/02/2005 8:31:24 PM PDT by church militant
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To: church militant

So now the people have to change their traditions for the past 50+ years, which is kneeling for communion for the convenience of a temporary administrator ???? Canon law not withstanding.


216 posted on 06/02/2005 8:34:25 PM PDT by Petskelis
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To: church militant

No, IT'S NOT ABOUT ME, it's about THE LITHUANIAN NATIONAL PARISH OF ST. ANTHONY !!!!!!!


217 posted on 06/02/2005 8:38:45 PM PDT by Petskelis
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To: Angelas

VEL PASTO TURI !!!


218 posted on 06/02/2005 8:40:15 PM PDT by Petskelis
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To: omahacatholic

You are being too humble with your description of Father's car. Isn't it a Ford Escort or something? And a 4-door.

Do the other members of the House have cars or do they all share the one vehicle?

I remember thinking to myself when I first saw it that it wasn't much of a car for grown men to be crawling in and out of. Spanky wagon. Tomato can.


219 posted on 06/02/2005 8:40:39 PM PDT by church militant
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To: church militant
Can you tell me what kind of car Fr. S. drives?

I'll bet it's a Prius...the Gay Car.

220 posted on 06/02/2005 8:42:48 PM PDT by Palladin (No Korans were abused in the making of this post.)
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