The Portland Archdiocese has passed on the word that Star of The Sea parish priest Ted Prentice has decided to resign his post at the Astoria church. The Archdiocese says Fr. Ted made the decision to leave as of April 20th "..in the best interests of the parish" after it was found that he had misappropriated some $83,000 in parish funds. That's about double the amount reported when this first came to light and very close to estimates my sources told me had simply disappeared. The Archdiocese now says it will cooperate with any local investigation law enforcement decides to conduct.
It would be interesting to find out exactly where that money went.
As a parishioner, I find it abhorrent that the diocese has chosen to move him to another parish in the Portland area. Reminds me of a time not that long ago when troublesome priests were just "moved along" to the next unsuspecting victims.
ReplyDeleteAh, another attempt from the unbiased local media to address the many problems with the Catholic Church. Or, maybe this is just an effort by a local media person in power to address a problem in his local club? This is number four, and suggests that, perhaps, KAST should become a religious station!
ReplyDeleteWhere did the money go? Gee, let's guess, into the pockets of someone related to the Catholic
Church. And the Church will help law enforcement investigate the problem? Likely, just like it helps investigate the many child abuse cases. Why is KAST involved in this situation?
I do hope that this money did go to do good in impoverished areas, which is what the true message of Jesus was all about. Although Father Ted had no right to use the money in this way without permission, I feel that he at least was trying to do some good. He can't be compared to a child molester who should be stripped of being a priest. Moving him to bigger parish and making sure he has no more financial control does seem the best way of dealing with the issue.
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