WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- A long-serving pastor of a Catholic parish is under investigation for using church money to feed a gambling habit and has been permanently removed, the chancellor of the Archdiocese of New York said Sunday.
The Rev. Patrick Dunne of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in White Plains took a "very significant amount of church money" because of a "very powerful" gambling addiction, Monsignor William Belford told parishioners.
Belford told the congregation that he met with Dunne last year after the archdiocese's finance office told him that undocumented checks were cashed at Our Lady of Sorrow just before Thanksgiving.
Dunne, who had been pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows since 1991, left the church right after Christmas. He is undergoing counseling at a rehabilitation center, where he offers Mass daily, Belford said. His home telephone mailbox was full and was not accepting messages on Sunday.
Church officials conducted their own investigation before alerting the office of Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, which Belford said launched an investigation.
A spokesman for the office would not confirm or deny an investigation of Dunne on Sunday.
"We do not know the extent of what took place and how much money was misused," said Belford, who described the scandal as an "enormous shock for the parish" and a "personal tragedy" for Dunne.
"So please understand that I cannot offer you any numbers or answer any questions" although Belford said that a large amount of church funds was involved.
Belford assured members that the misuse of church funds was no longer occurring and said new regulations were being followed to safeguard future donations.
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Homily for Our Lady of Sorrows Church. White Plains Sunday, March 30, 2008 + Msgr. William Belford
One day a priest went to visit a classroom with many boisterous fifth graders. Making it worse, they had just come in from recess and some were bouncing up and down with unused energy. So when he tried to get their attention, he asked them: What part of the Bible would you like to hear from? One voice rose above all the rest: Tell us a resurrection story. The room changed. Everybody became silent. "Yes" others echoed; tell us a resurrection story.
That is why we are all here, every Sunday - to hear a resurrection story. To receive blessed assurance, to think about and praise God for the truth that his Son suffered and died for us sinners, and that he will bring us sinners through our fears and failures into life and hope on earth, into families of faith and holy communion, and one day past the doors of death into the glory of heaven. This is God's mercy for all his children; blessed are we who hear it, and blessed are we who live the story.
My name is Msgr. William Belford. I work for His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan, at the Catholic Center in Manhattan, serving as the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of New York. This is a very significant post. My job is partly financial, partly legal, and always I hope, very pastoral. In a sentence, my job is to help pastors and parishes with their plans and problems. Sometimes my job is easy, and sometimes, like today, it is very difficult.
It is particularly difficult when someone who works for the church, especially if that someone is a brother priest, has gotten into trouble. In our minds, we know that all people are all sinners and many people suffer from addictions. But when the person who has the addiction is our family member, or is our priest, we don't always know what to feel or what to say.
But the right things do have to be said at the appropriate time. That is why I am here today, to speak at all the Masses this weekend, to you, the parish family of Our Lady of Sorrows. I have been sent by Cardinal Egan to share with you what we think we know about a gambling addiction that became very powerful in the life of Father Patrick Dunne. Some of you know from first-hand experience how the attraction of drugs, or alcohol, or sex, or gambling, or internet pornography can make otherwise wonderful people act in immoral and self-destructive ways.
Last November, when the annual financial reports from all the parishes were due, the Archdiocesan Finance Office told me that there were undocumented checks being cashed at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish. Our diocesan policy is that every check is written for a documented purpose, not for cash. This worried me, and so in the next few days I called and came up to visit Fr. Dunne. This confirmed my fears, and so we immediately changed some practices here and started a fuller investigation of our own. The audit continued for several weeks and unfortunately it became clear that parish funds may have been misused, and the activity might even rise to the level of criminal behavior.
In order to safeguard the funds of the parish and to get to the bottom of the matter, two months ago we turned all our information over to the office of the Westchester District Attorney. Since that time, we have cooperated with their active investigation, and will continue to do so.
One thing I want to emphasize is that at this time we do not know the extent of what took place and how much money was misused, and we will not know until the District Attorney completes her investigation. So please understand that I cannot offer you any numbers or answer any questions, in fairness to both Father Dunne and the on-going work of the DA's office.
Two other things I want to be sure to tell you. First, that Father AJ Micciulla had no knowledge of and no participation in any of this gambling. He is a fine young priest, and was deeply shocked when the Vicar General, Bishop Dennis Sullivan and I had to tell him about this. Like you, we admire Fr. AJ and appreciate his faithful service.
And secondly, we want you to know that our concern - the Cardinal's, the Vicar General's, and my own - was and still is both for the parish and for the pastor. Fr. Dunne continues to have our love and support, even if he has done something wrong. He is our brother in Christ, he is a priest forever, and he is offering Mass today and every day at the rehabilitation center where he is responding very well to his counseling sessions.
You may know that he has been away from Our Lady of Sorrows since right after Christmas. He misses you and appreciates your messages, which you can continue to send to him via the parish here. But realize that he is not coming back to serve at Our Lady of Sorrows. We told him that in December. Actions have consequences. I am sure that it hurts him greatly to realize how much he hurt you, and how badly you may think of him.
Let no one think he is getting off lightly. Before he recovers his peace of mind and self-esteem, he has to go through the hell of discovery and admission of what he has done. People with addictions lie like experts and live in denial of their guilt. It takes a long time for people to change, which is why rehab programs take months to succeed. As everyone in 12 step programs knows, an addict has to confront his addiction, admit his guilt, and begin to make up for his mistakes.
Fr. Dunne's fall from grace gives all of us a warning that we have to beware of temptations and fight our demons, lest they dominate us. Yet there is great reason for hope. Many fine people that we know are recovering alcoholics, recovering gamblers, etc. Peace and new life are possible for those who seek it.
Realize: there is grace from God, there is hope for people with problems. Some say now that being caught, being honest about the problem and being truly sorrowful for the hurt that has been caused - this is a form of resurrection for people who are suffering from their demons and have led secret, shameful lives. Everyone with an addiction, and their families, know what I am talking about.
So let me sum up. I thank you for listening as Catholic people, with both your minds and hearts. I have had to give you the bad news that Fr. Patrick Dunne acted on his addiction to gambling, and he used his position as pastor to misappropriate and misuse a very significant amount of church money. That is being investigated now by the District Attorney, and we will all know a figure when investigation is finished. You all have a right to your feelings. Some people will forgive easily, and some will be angry for a long time. And obviously there may be more than we know about at this time.
All of us responsible for diocesan administration very much regret the fact that Father hurt the parish by feeding his addiction. But I assure you that the misappropriation is over, and regulations are being followed to safeguard your donations, for which we are very thankful. His Eminence is also very grateful to Father Philip Quealy for leaving Stepinac HS and accepting the role of administrator of Our Lady of Sorrows. He has clearly has become a well liked leader for the parish.
So let us, on this Divine Mercy Sunday, and every other day, pray that this enormous shock for the parish, and this personal tragedy for Father Dunne, will be united with the sufferings of Christ. May your prayers help his rehabilitation, and become in its own way a resurrection story about how God takes sinners and rescues us from ourselves.
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