Prosecutor: Priest Took Thousands from Charity Meant to Help Poor in Inner City

By Patricia Montemurri and Elisha Anderson
Detroit Free Press
February 12, 2014

http://www.freep.com/article/20140211/NEWS02/302110134/catholic-priest-embezzlement-Detroit-archdioecese

Since 2005, an anonymous benefactor has given $17 million to the little-known Angel Fund to help Catholic priests in Detroit, Highland Park and Hamtramck help people in need in their communities.

The secret angel — a man acting with the support of his family — wanted to eliminate bureaucracy and help inner-city priests deal quickly with the pressing needs of impoverished people. He’ll continue to do so, said Archdiocese of Detroit officials, despite today’s revelation that a parish priest, the Rev. Timothy Kane, is facing charges of defrauding the fund of thousands of dollars.

Kane, 57, who most recently ministered at Madonna and St. Gregory in Detroit and St. Benedict of Highland Park, was charged with six felony counts of defrauding the Angel Fund. Also charged was Dorreca Marvie Brewer, 34, of Jackson.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy alleged that Kane conspired with Brewer from about July 2008 to June 2011 to fill out false applications for grants from the Angel Fund, and that the pair received thousands of dollars in return.

“All we know is that he took money that was intended for people who needed it financially ... and diverted it to himself,” Worthy said. “It’s essentially stealing from the church and stealing from God.”

A financially strapped person — someone perhaps seeking assistance to pay for a $50 prescription or $500 mortgage payment — has only to fill out a form and be vouched for by the parish priest to get a grant from the Angel Fund.

The benefactor and his family do not want a lot of bureaucracy to impede people in need from getting financial help.

“It was an honor system,” said Msgr. Michael Bugarin, the archdiocesan official who oversees cases involving clergy misconduct.

A recipient doesn’t have to be Catholic or a parishioner to receive a grant from the Angel Fund, Bugarin said, and approving grants has been “up to the integrity of the priest.”

Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hanchon said the Angel Fund is a resource available to urban pastors and wasn’t widely known to priests serving outside the city. Requests have varied over the years, and as much as $5,000 has gone to pay for medical needs in individual cases.

Archdiocese spokesman Ned McGrath said the Angel Fund does not use any money from parish collections or archdiocesan appeals and stressed it reflects the generosity of the anonymous donor.

Both Kane and Brewer have been charged with six counts relating to embezzlement of between $1,000 and $20,000. An exact amount was not disclosed, nor was the relationship between Kane and Brewer.

Archdiocese officials said Kane was removed last week from his post as associate pastor of St. Moses the Black Parish in Detroit, located at the site of the church previously known as Madonna, because of the investigation. Before a consolidation last year, Kane was associate pastor of Madonna and two other Catholic parishes no longer open for services, St. Gregory and St. Benedict. The Detroit archdiocese became aware of the improprieties in 2012.

Kane was in the spotlight when he celebrated the August 2011 funeral mass for Eleanor Josaitis, the co-founder of the social services organization Focus: HOPE. Kane is to turn himself into for arraignment at Detroit’s 36th District Court on Wednesday.

Another Catholic priest, the Rev. Edward Belczak, was removed a year ago as pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic parish in Troy under suspicion of mishandling $429,000 in parish funds. The FBI and Troy police have been investigating that case.