By Kim Janssen and Carly A. Mullady
Southtown Star
March 28, 2008
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/865712,032808Churchfolo.article
The Rev. William Killeen showed himself unfit to manage a parish before he was transferred by Cardinal Francis George to Flossmoor's scandal-hit Infant Jesus of Prague Church, according to the man who sacrificed $200,000 of his own cash to help rectify one of Killeen's earlier mistakes.
Former Crestwood Mayor Chester Stranczek - a former parishioner of Killeen's at St. Christopher Church in Midlothian - was speaking Thursday after the SouthtownStar learned he was the anonymous donor who stepped in to save the day in 2006 after revelations that St. Christopher's business manager Jim Nelson stole thousands in church funds under Killeen's watch.
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| Three parish business managers have been accused of wrongdoing at churches run by the Rev. William Killeen (left). Beverly Houston (right) is charged with felony theft and forgery for allegedly stealing more than $259,000 from Infant Jesus of Prague. |
Stranczek said Killeen, who was moved to Infant Jesus of Prague while the Nelson scandal continued, "proved at St. Christopher that he could not manage money."
"It's fair to say I'm not a fan of his," said Stranczek, who has retired to Florida and said he had hoped to keep details of his donation secret.
Further details of thefts on Killeen's watch also emerged Thursday, as the third business manager accused of wrongdoing on Killeen's watch in a four-year period, Beverly Houston, remained in Cook County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Houston, of the 9300 block of South Paxton Avenue in Chicago, is charged with felony theft and forgery for allegedly stealing more than $259,000 from IJP between April 2006 to October 2007. She lost the cash at riverboat casinos, police say.
Paul Gazze, the first business manager Killeen hired when he took over at IJP in 2004, paid $10,000 in restitution to the church after pleading guilty in 2006 to misdemeanor deceptive practice charges for faking a car loan application. Parishioners say Gazze's "honest-to-a-fault" predecessor, Doug Peterson, was fired by Killeen.
This was after Killeen was pastor at Midlothian's St. Christopher's Parish, where business manager Jim Nelson stole up to $800,000, according to Denise Blackstone, the business manager who replaced Nelson.
And Killeen also drew negative attention by spending $25,000 to remodel the IJP rectory, install a wet bar and extensively renovate the church despite a $1 million anonymous donation falling through.
Archdiocese spokeswoman Susan Burritt declined comment on Gazze Thursday and also refused to disclose the membership of the church board that advised Cardinal Francis George to appoint Killeen at IJP, long after Nelson had begun stealing from St. Christopher's and spending church cash in downtown department stores and on personal vacations abroad.
The membership of the board is a "personnel matter," Burritt said, adding, "This is a story about Beverly Houston, not Rev. Killeen or the archdiocese."
Bishop Joseph Perry, who would have overseen the early stages of Killeen's appointment at IJP, according to an account of the selection process provided by Burritt, did not return calls seeking comment Thursday afternoon.
An 'enormous cloud'
Killeen has not commented since the latest scandal, a theft of $264,000, was revealed Wednesday, and phone calls to all his listed numbers have not been returned.
But writing in the St. Christopher's Parish newsletter about the Nelson scandal in 2006, he said "I am heartsick that all the hard work and sacrifice that was done for so many years by so many is now shadowed by this enormous cloud."
Flossmoor Deputy Police Chief Mike Pulec said the department along with church staff, the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department Financial Crime Unit investigated concerns from IJP officials that money was disappearing in the latest case.
"During the investigation, there was no indication that anyone else was involved," Pulec said. "(Houston) acted alone."
Burritt said the parish has been reimbursed by the archdiocese for the money Houston allegedly stole.
The Rev. Frank Cimarrusti will continue serving as IJP's pastor in Killeen's place through at least June, but Killeen remains the official pastor of IJP, she said.
Cimarrusti was appointed to the church in December, when Killeen voluntarily and temporarily stepped down.
Homewood resident Jim Gannon, who regularly attends IJP, was shocked no system was in place to review a business manager's work before such a large sum was discovered missing.
Assistant Cook County state's attorney Michael O'Brien said during Houston's hearing Wednesday that she stole blank checks from the parish and used an accounting program to print 144 fraudulent checks with the parish priest's name on them made payable to herself.
"I certainly am upset that my offerings were used to provide gaming entertainment to a trusted employee," Gannon said.
Phill Martin, deputy chief executive officer of the National Association of Church Business Administration, said building back trust is a big part of recovering from large thefts.
"Much like in the business world, people in churches embezzle money and do things they're not supposed to do," Martin said. "You'd like to think that people in churches wouldn't do things like this, but unfortunately this is a story that happens more frequently than we'd like."
With embezzlement not all that uncommon, Martin said parishioners can have faith this church will bounce back.
He said IJP did the right thing by turning to the police rather than sweeping concerns under the rug.
"I think one thing all churches have to do is to be honest with their congregation. Sometimes they struggle to keep it secret," Martin said. "The leadership has to step forward and help everyone see that something was not done as well as it should have been, but this is how they're going to handle things and protect money. This could become a rallying point."
Kim Janssen can be reached at kjanssen@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5998. Carly A. Mullady can be reached at cmullady@southtownstar.com or (708) 802-8812.
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