Former St. Helena's Pastor Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Stealing from Church and Elderly Parishioner

By Rachel Dissell
The Plain Dealer
October 30, 2013

http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2013/10/former_st_helenas_pastor_sente.html

Andre Matthews, a former pastor at St. Helena Byzantine Romanian Catholic Church, received a two year prison sentence for stealing from the church and an elderly parishioner, Wednesday, October 30, 2013. He also was ordered to pay restitution to the victims.

Andre Matthews, left, a former pastor at St. Helena Byzantine Romanian Catholic Church, speaks before his sentencing in Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court. Matthews received a two year prison sentence for stealing from the church and an elderly parishioner. His attorney Gerald Gold is seated center.

Members from the St. Helena Byzantine Romanian Catholic Church, watch the sentencing of Andre Matthews, their former pastor in Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court. Matthews received a two year prison sentence for stealing from the church and an elderly parishioner.

Fabian Barbolovici, center, gives a victim impact statement with interpreter Svetlana Schriber, left, during the sentencing of Andre Matthews, a former pastor at St. Helena Byzantine Romanian Catholic Church. Barbolovici, president of the parish council, represented the church congregation.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A judge sentenced the former pastor of St. Helena Romanian Byzantine Catholic Church to two years in prison for siphoning money from parish coffers and stealing from an elderly churchgoer.

Andre Matthews, 54, had already pleaded guilty to charges that he stole $176,000 from the church and more than $100,000 from an 89-year-old woman.

Matthews, a longtime pastor at St. Helena on Cleveland's West Side, was suspended from his duties as a priest on July 18, which bars him from celebrating sacraments or representing himself as a priest.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Richard McMonagle, after hearing from the elderly victim, Aurelia Papp, and a man representing parishioners, who packed the courtroom, said, "I know people want a little more blood out of this, but I can't do it."

McMonagle also ordered Matthews to pay restitution to the victims in the case.

Fabian Barbolovici, president of the parish council, represented Matthews' former parishioners, telling McMonagle how humiliated and betrayed they felt not only by the years of theft but by learning that their priest was also secretly married and had two children -- a family he supported with their generous donations meant for the betterment of the church.

Barbolovici said Matthews had introduced his wife as his cousin -- a poor single mother of two children -- and she eventually became a treasurer for the church.

"Our faithful in our very old church are going through a very deep suffering," Barbolovici said through a translator. "They followed him blindly. They had a greater faith in them (priests) than politicians or teachers or policemen."

He said volunteers worked weekly bingo for years and none of it went to the church, only to "line the pockets of the Matthews family."

"Hopefully this cannot be normal in the United States that a man can do this without proper punishment."

Parishioners said that Matthews has never shown remorse to them or asked for forgiveness after being forced out of the parish in 2011.

Matthews' attorney, Gerald Gold, brought in a doctor to testify that his client's complex kidney disease, heart problems and near blindness would not be adequately treated in a prison and the former priest would likely die more quickly.

"Father Matthews is about as frail a human being as one could imagine," Dr. John Conomy said. "Penal institutions are not designed to keep Father Matthews alive."

Assistant County Prosecutor James Gutierrez said Matthews was simply a greedy con man who deserved a prison sentence of seven years.

"He literally just took the money out for his own benefit ... He basically lived a very good lifestyle from the money he took from St. Helena's church. Gutierrez said Matthews paid his mortgage, his credit cards and the college tuition of his children.

He said when Matthews was kicked out of the church, he immediately started stealing money from Papp, who had entrusted him with helping to manage her affairs.

"I have been deceived," said the 89-year-old, who was pushed to the bench in a wheelchair. "I trusted him as a friend."

Gold said prosecutors sounded very "Old Testament" with the talk of vengeance – instead of forgiveness.

"God has punished him by taking away his pulpit and his health," Gold said.

Matthews told the judge he didn't realize at the time how awful his crimes were. He apologized and said he was ready to repent, but asked for a way to repair what had happened.

McMonagle only asked Matthews one question: "When did you lose your conscience?"

It was one the priest had a hard time answering but tried to do so with a story about how he was deeply depressed and only found the hope to live when he met his wife.

Now that court proceedings have concluded, Matthews will go through a separate church-based justice process.

Cleveland Heights police investigated the case involving the elderly woman whose bank accounts Matthews had access to through a power of attorney agreement.

Matthews had been the pastor of St. Helena's from 1990 until his resignation in 2011. The West 65th Street church is one of several Romanian Catholic churches in Northeast Ohio and has 80 to100 families as members.

The Romanian Catholic Church recognizes the pope as its leader, but follows different traditions than the Roman Catholic Church.