And please, folks, never put cash in the collection basket! It's easy to lift bills and there's no paper trail. Writing a check makes it a lot harder to steal. None of this comes as a surprise to me. A priest friend from California told me several years ago that a friend of his who is a financial adviser and investigator to the Vatican told him the next big scandal would be over embezzlement. It was second hand hearsay for me, but every time I read about an immoral priest supporting a lavish lifestyle with money stolen from parishioners, I remember my conversation with my friend.
Like I said -- write a check. Don't give cash. And don't give at all if you are in a parish where the priest is a dissenter and playing fast and loose with the liturgy. I hope my friends from the Sheep of Kephas in Little Washington, VA are reading this. Don't give a nickel to Fr. Grinnell and his socialist agenda! Put your donation in an account to restore to the parish when you get a faithful priest or divert your donation to pro-life work, the Missionaries of Charity, the Poor Clares, a faithful seminary, etc. There are more ways to support the Church than helping advance heresy and dissent!
Pray for Fr. Grinnell, but don't enable him with your money! He resembles Saul Alinsky more than St. Jean Vianney. Alinsky had a reputation for being charming and funny. That describes Fr. Grinnell well, but he's also a parish-wrecker. Charm and humor can't make up for devastated faith!
Cardinal Borgoglio was elected for this very reason. To keep he Vatican City State from going bankrupt. The financial problems in the American Diocese' pale by comparison to the problems within the various Curial run Dicasteries. The scandals and thefts are widely known in Italy.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VGHvYv-eL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.amazon.com/Merchants-Temple-Franciss-Against-Corruption-ebook/dp/B015CLB8Z2&h=499&w=329&tbnid=c7yT27cWXOIKkM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=105&docid=GSX9GjEetARgJM&itg=1&usg=__J-JizwHMPmsxeiHnlpva5synBlU=
From California,
ReplyDeleteI always write out a check to the Catholic church I attend regularly, but I hate to write out a check when I am at another Catholic church as one gets on their list and receives mail soliciting donations from too many places. After hearing about this fraud, though, I will only give by check to the church and charities that I give to on a regular basis -- no more cash.