Priest Accused of Stealing over $1 Million from Churches to Finance S&m Relationship
By Ben Yakas
A Bronx priest has been accused of stealing over $1 million from two churches he worked at in order to pay for his S&M lifestyle with his boyfriend. "This lawsuit seeks to finally put an end to this truly sinful conduct so that St. Frances de Chantal parish can regain the strength, spirituality and faith it once had before Father Miqueli arrived," the suit states. Rev. Peter Miqueli has been accused by a group of angry parishioners of siphoning off over $1?million since 2003 while leading St. Frances Xavier Cabrini on Roosevelt Island and St. Frances de Chantal in The Bronx, where he is currently working. The lawsuit claims that Miqueli skimmed from collection plates, took money that had been donated to fix a church pipe organ, misappropriated funds from a church thrift shop, and more. As for what the money was being used for: the lawsuit alleges that Miqueli paid $1,000 per rough sex session with his boyfriend Keith Crist, who was named as a co-defendant in the suit. The Post has more of the details: Their suit alleges he used the money to act out unholy fantasies as a sexual “slave,” blowing $1,000 at a time on bondage-and-discipline sessions where a “homosexual sex ‘master’?” — identified in court papers as Keith Crist — “would force Father Miqueli to drink Keith Crist’s urine.” Miqueli also spent $60,000 in 2012 alone for “illicit and prescription drugs” he used with Crist, bought a $264,000 home in Brick, NJ, and paid $1,075.50 a month for his master’s East Harlem apartment, court papers say. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Michael G. Dowd also said that Miqueli at one point had Crist living in the rectory at St. Frances de Chantal but that Crist had since been kicked out. The suit also states that Miqueli used the money toward vacations in Italy and Florida. All these personal details about the men's relationship were exposed after Crist's ex-girlfriend, Tatyana Gudin, sent copies of tons of text and email messages between the lovers to church officials. The lawsuit states that Gudin sent Cardinal Timothy Dolan and other archdiocesan officials numerous emails about their behavior and Miqueli’s "illegal scheme," and did nothing to keep it from growing into “the monster it is today." Even besides the alleged theft, based on a Change.org petition to remove Miqueli, it sounds like this particular group of parishioners really hated him: In October, 2012, Fr. Peter A. Miqueli became the new pastor at St. Frances de Chantal in Throggs Neck in the Bronx, NY. Since day one of his arrival, everything has gone downhill. From his bad attitude to his constant arrogance, this man is solely ruining one of the great Catholic parishes in the Bronx. Coming from a parish on Roosevelt Island, he has no skills (both intellectual and sociable) to be able to run this parish in Throggs Neck. Not only does he do nothing himself, but he forces his work upon all of the employees. He does this without any gratitude and even has the audacity to call himself the "king of St. Frances." He needs to go and we need your help! "We’ve done a lot of homework. This is a bad guy," the plaintiff's lawyer, Michael G. Dowd, told the Post. "The thing that’s really amazing to me is: How could this guy be acting this way for nine years or so and the archdiocese does nothing?"
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