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	Word of God Parish Rocked by Theft Accusation against Priest By Jodi Weigand Pittsburgh Tribune-Review November 15, 2010 http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_709384.html Members of a Catholic parish serving Swissvale and Rankin said they were shocked and saddened to learn their longtime pastor had resigned after admitting taking church money. "I'm totally devastated by it," Charles DeStefano, 87, said before Sunday Mass in St. Anselm Church in Swissvale. The Rev. Francis J. Drabiska, who had been pastor of the Word of God Parish in Swissvale and Rankin for 16 years, resigned after diocesan auditors discovered that an unspecified amount of money had been "misappropriated," Bishop David A. Zubik of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh wrote in a letter read to parishioners this weekend. Drabiska admitted taking the funds, the letter said. Diocesan officials wouldn't say how much money was taken. Drabiska could not be reached for comment yesterday. Word of God parish encompasses St. Anselm and St. Barnabas churches in Swissvale and Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rankin. Members of St. Anselm and Blessed Virgin Mary said they never thought their priest would do something like this. "I'm just totally shocked," said Roy Kiser, a parishioner at St. Anselm. "He's very religious, and his sermons were always moving." Drabiska had always been "a very nice guy" Kiser's wife, Pat, said. At least three church pastors have been caught stealing money from Pittsburgh area churches in the past decade: Shortly before his death in 1999, the Rev. Walter Benz admitted stealing $1.3 million over 26 years from weekly collections at two parishes. In 2000, the Rev. William Altman was charged with taking more than $1 million from bank accounts and parishioners at a West Mifflin church and he was sentenced to prison. In 2005, the Rev. Leroy DiPietro was charged with stealing more than $81,000 when he was caught on a security camera taking money from a church storage cabinet and safe. He was given probation. The diocese contacted the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office about Drabiska, said Mike Manko, a spokesman for the office. Diocesan officials will meet with prosecutors this week, he said. Drabiska has been placed on administrative leave and cannot administer the sacraments nor present himself as a priest in good standing, said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, a spokesman for the diocese. "It's a sad thing," said Bernie Queen, 76, of Swissvale, a longtime parishioner at Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in Rankin. "He did a lot to keep the churches open." Drabiska, an Ellwood City native, was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1976. He has been pastor at Word of God since 1994. Before that, he served as pastor and parochial vicar of St. Anselm; and as parochial vicar at St. Agatha Parish in Bridgeville and St. Joseph Parish in O'Hara. Allegheny County court records show he was arrested in July 1988 and November 1993 on charges of driving under the influence. He was admitted to a rehabilitative disposition program for the first case and pleaded guilty in the second, records show.
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