LANSING (MI)
Michigan Radio
July 10, 2018
By Maya Goldman
Catholic non-profit Opus Bono Sacerdotii has begun fundraising for Lansing-area priest Father Jonathan Wehrle’s legal and living expenses following last year’s allegations that Wehrle embezzled over $5,000,000 from his church.
According to the accusations, Wehrle—who founded St. Martha Parish in Okemos in 1988—used church money for personal expenses from 1991 to 2017. He now faces federal embezzlement charges, as well as a separate civil suit raised by an insurer for the Catholic Diocese of Lansing.
Wehrle’s legal fees are estimated to amount to $300,000. His assets have been frozen while he awaits trial.
Opus Bono president Joe Maher knows fundraising is not the response most organizations would have to a situation like this. But since 2002, when Maher’s own priest was accused (and later acquitted) of sexual abuse, he has supported thousands of priests all around the world through their legal and personal troubles.
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