Diocese ousts St. Teresa’s priest and finance chief

[samanthajane13]

Both had aired concerns about irregularities
By Jay Tokasz
NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Officials for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo have removed a priest and business manager from a South Buffalo parish, after the two men expressed concerns about missing financial records and other financial irregularities.

The sudden—and highly irregular— removals Friday of Monsignor Fred R. Voorhes and Marc J. Pasquale followed a recent telephone call Pasquale made to the Erie County district attorney’s office regarding possible financial improprieties at St. Teresa Parish and South Buffalo Catholic Schools.

Voorhes was summoned to the chancery Friday and removed as parish administrator. Monsignor W. Jerome Sullivan, the new temporary administrator, and Larry Vilardo, a lawyer for the diocese, went to the church at the same time to fire Pasquale, the business manager.

“Why there is such a huge coverup going on, I don’t know,” Pasquale said in an interview with The Buffalo News.

Pasquale, who also was parish director of religious education, said he had been trying for months to point out “questionable financial practices” at St. Teresa that occurred prior to his hiring as business manager in September 2008.

The questionable practices, he said, included missing invoices, shredded documents and unexplained charges on a parish credit card during the pastorate of the Rev. Robert M. Mock, who now teaches at Trocaire College. Mock could not be reached to comment, but a diocesan spokesman said that the diocese has no reason to believe there were any financial irregularities at that time.

Diocesan officials did not provide a reason for the dismissals of Pasquale and Voorhes, citing personnel issues.

The decision to fire Pasquale had been made long before Friday and was unrelated to his expressing concern about possible financial improprieties in the parish, they said.

“There were good reasons to terminate his employment, and those reasons had nothing at all to do with any complaints made by Marc to anybody,” Vilardo said.

Nonetheless, the diocese has been reeling from a series of financial scandals in recent years.

In July, for example, the Rev. F. Norman Sullivan, former pastor of Most Holy Redeemer Church in Cheektowaga, which closed in 2007, admitted stealing $213,000 from the parish over the course of several years.

And since 2004, the Erie County district attorney’s office has prosecuted at least five other embezzlements from Catholic parishes and schools, ranging from $230,000 to $488,000.

Voorhes was replaced during Masses on Saturday and Sunday by Monsignor W. Jerome Sullivan, the diocese’s coordinator of priest personnel.

Voorhes’ departure “is not, and I want to emphasize is not, a reflection on his service here at St. Teresa’s and St. John the Evangelist. He has been a dedicated servant and did everything that was asked of him,” Sullivan said in a statement from the pulpit.

Sullivan also said Voorhes will soon get another assignment in the diocese.

Some parishioners walked out of Masses last weekend when Sullivan read his statement.

“We’re all devastated. The best thing that ever happened to St. Teresa’s was when Monsignor Voorhes came in,” said Janet Strachan, a parishioner for 52 years. “I’m shocked.”

Strachan, who sits on the parish’s finance council, said that Pasquale and Voorhees discovered information that was potentially embarrassing to the diocese.

“I think the diocese is afraid of them. I think they want to squash this, and it shouldn’t be squashed at all,” she said. “Monsignor Voorhes was a wonderful man to work with. He came in here and worked his butt off for the church, and so did Marc.”

Voorhes could not be reached to comment, but sources said he had anticipated becoming pastor of St. Teresa’s and was stung by the move.

Diocesan officials wanted Voorhes to fire Pasquale, but the priest told them he couldn’t run the parish without a business manager, sources said.

Voorhes and the previous pastor, the Rev. James T. Bartnik, had tried to communicate concerns to the diocese about financial irregularities, as well, according to Pasquale. Bartnik suffered a stroke last fall during a meeting with Bishop Edward U. Kmiec over the matter.

Voorhes was brought in as temporary administrator of St. Teresa’s following Bartnik’s stroke. He was asked to smooth out what had been a rocky merger process with St. John the Evangelist.

The merged parish had been operating smoothly in recent months, Pasquale maintained. “The parish has never done so well,” he said.

The diocese changed the locks at the parish, but a greeting from Voorhes remained on the church’s voice mail late Tuesday afternoon.


http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/776150.html


HOLY CHIT!!!

This is the church and school I went to as a child!!!

Now I hear they've gone "Water Gate" with their records...never would have happened back in the 60's under Monsignor Toomey.

He would have kicked some azz!!

This is just so damned sad!!

[samanthajane13]

Removal of local priest
stuns parish
Priest and business manager removed

Updated: Thursday, 27 Aug 2009, 8:18 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 27 Aug 2009, 8:15 PM EDT

* Luke Moretti
* Posted by: Internet Producer

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB_ - Why did the Buffalo Catholic Diocese remove a priest and a business manager from a local parish? News 4 Investigative Reporter Luke Moretti discovers the moves comes after the two men expressed concerns about the parish's finances.

"They said that I was being terminated as of that point, as was Msgr. Vorhees," said Marc Pasquale who was removed as Business Manager from St. Teresa.

Donna Benzin attends St. Teresa and is stunned. "Stunned out of my mind. Just literally stunned. Because, I mean, Father Fred, I thought was great," said Benzin.

Mary Stachowski, an active member of the church, says she was shocked that Msgr. Vorhees was moved out of the church. "He was happy here. We were all happy. Everything was going beautifully. Smoothly," she said.

Pasquale says he wasn't given a reason for his removal. But he says it happened shortly after he contacted the Erie County District Attorney's Office regarding questionable financial practices. Questions, he says, that involve missing invoices, unexplained credit card charges and shredded documents.

"Some people may not like the fact that I ask questions that might not be too pleasant, but I'm sorry, I will noo back down on any of those issues," said Pasquale.

Pasquale says the diocese ignored his and Msrg. Vorhees concerns and took no action when he contacted official about the parish's finances.

Pasquale said, "This is not money that belongs to the diocese. This money belongs to the people of St. Teresa, and this is their money. I'm a parishioner of St. Teresa, and it's my money, and I want to know where this money is being spent."

The parish's new temporary administrator, Msgr. Jerry Sullivan, told church members that Msrg. Vorhees' departure is not a reflection on his service at the parish and that he's been a dedicated servant and did everything that was asked of him.

Mark Pasquale says he will likely challenge his removal through legal means.


http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/local/Removal_of_local_priest_stuns_parish_20090827

[samanthajane13]

Another St. Teresa whistle-blower loses job
Pastoral assistant was critical of finances
By Jay Tokasz
News Staff Reporter
Updated: November 09, 2009, 7:58 AM

Another whistle-blowing employee who complained to the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo about financial irregularities at St. Teresa of Avila Church in South Buffalo is being removed from her post.

Karen M. Krajewski, pastoral assistant at St. Teresa, confirmed that she was asked to leave by the current pastor, the Rev. James B. Cunningham.

Her dismissal follows the removals in August of the temporary administrator, Monsignor Fred R. Voorhes, and the business manager, Marc J. Pasquale.

Voorhes and Pasquale had urged the diocese to examine financial irregularities and questionable bookkeeping practices at the parish, and after Pasquale took his concerns to the Erie County District Attorney's Office in August, both men were removed.

District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III has since launched an investigation into parish finances but has declined to comment on the probe.

Krajewski, who concurred with Voorhes and Pasquale, initially was retained on staff as the parish operated under a temporary priest administrator, Monsignor W. Jerome Sullivan. In September, though, she sent a letter critical of the diocese's actions to Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the pope's representative in the United States, and to Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York.

"I knew it was coming. It's a new pastor, and he has a new way of doing things and it doesn't include me," Krajewski said.

Cunningham, appointed by Bishop Edward U. Kmiec last weekend, told Krajewski he planned to hire a deacon instead. Krajewski was not critical of the new pastor.

"You've got to give Father Cunningham some time and some space to figure out what he's doing," she said. "He's an extremely fine man. He's going to be easy to work with. Many of the people at St. Teresa's know him. I think he's going to be good for the parish."

But when asked if the diocese had a role in her dismissal, Krajewski responded that she didn't know if the move was Cunningham's "choice and only his choice."

Cunningham did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

A diocesan spokesman said he didn't think there was any connection between Krajewski's dismissal and the earlier moves by the diocese.

Officials from the chancery weren't involved in the most recent personnel change, said the spokesman, Kevin A. Keenan.

"We weren't aware of the decision by the pastor," Keenan said. "Pastors come in and they oftentimes evaluate their personnel needs and they act accordingly."

Krajewski, a retired school teacher, is scheduled to work at St. Teresa parish through Wednesday.

In her letter dated Sept. 21, she criticized Kmiec's decision to dismiss Voorhes and Pasquale, saying the pair had worked tirelessly to turn a difficult merger between St. Teresa and St. John the Evangelist into a success.

"Parishioners ask daily for Msgr. Voorhes (sic) return — they are hurt, stunned and disgusted with this situation," Krajewski wrote.

Diocesan officials have maintained that the removals of Voorhes and Pasquale had nothing to do with the complaint to the diocese or the district attorney, although they've declined to elaborate, citing personnel issues.

Voorhes also has declined to comment, while Pasquale contends that he was fired for sticking up for parishioners and their pocketbooks.

Voorhes was appointed temporary administrator in the fall of 2008, after the previous pastor, the Rev. James T. Bartnik, suffered a stroke during a meeting in Kmiec's office.

Bartnik also had asked diocesan officials to examine whether there had been financial irregularities at the Seneca Street parish when it was overseen by a different priest and bookkeeper, the Rev. Robert M. Mock and Dawn M. Lustan.

The questionable practices included missing invoices, shredded documents, missing computer records and unexplained charges on a parish credit card, according to Pasquale and other sources. Mock, who now is an associate dean at Trocaire College, and Lustan, who works for the diocese, referred questions to Keenan.

"Something is amiss," said Krajewski, who was hired by Voorhes. "I said that when I came in last October. Within a week, I said something's wrong."

Krajewski said she notified the diocese's director of internal audit, Bruce Evert.

"Records just don't go missing," she said.

Cunningham informed Krajewski of her dismissal on the same day she completed a two-hour interview with forensic accountant Timothy McPoland, who was hired by the DA's office to determine if any embezzlement occurred at St. Teresa.

McPoland also interviewed Evert at the parish, Krajewski said.

The appointment of Cunningham has eased tensions at St. Teresa, said Kathy Frawley, a member of the parish council.

On Nov. 1, Cunningham and Voorhes concelebrated at a Mass, which was followed by a reception for Voorhes.

Nonetheless, some parishioners remain concerned about the issues raised by Voorhes, Pasquale and others — and the diocese's reaction.

"Really nothing has been resolved. It's all being investigated and people still have questions," Frawley said. "(For) a lot of people there's still that cloud. They feel bad about what happened to Father Voorhes and Marc."


http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/854921.html