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	Fall River Diocese Sues Priest for $1.2 Million Associated Press, carried in Telegram & Gazette [Barnstable MA] March 3, 2005 BARNSTABLE, Mass.— The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River is seeking $1.2 million in a lawsuit filed against a former priest accused of embezzling funds from two Cape Cod churches. The Rev. Bernard Kelly is being sued by the diocese and Bishop George Coleman for allegedly misusing parish money from Our Lady of Lourdes in Wellfleet and St. Joseph's in Falmouth while he was pastor. Meanwhile, the criminal investigation into Kelly is almost complete and is likely to be sent a grand jury soon, said Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe. Kelly, first investigated by police in 2003 for his relationship with convicted murderer Paul Nolin, has spent much of his career at Cape and island churches. He worked in Hyannis and Martha's Vineyard before becoming pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes from 1988 to 1997, when he moved to St. Joseph's. The alleged embezzlement first came to light in 2003 when authorities were investigating the murder of Jonathan Wessner of Falmouth. Kelly had a relationship with Paul Nolin, who was eventually convicted of killing Wessner. Kelly hired Nolin to work at the Falmouth church. Investigators alleged that Nolin and Kelly had a sexual relationship, which Kelly has denied. While law enforcement investigated the murder, Kelly resigned and admitted to Coleman that he misspent about $50,000 from St. Joseph's. The diocese sued Kelly in Barnstable Superior Court after auditors found that Kelly had written hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of checks to himself or to cash. Court papers filed on Wednesday said Kelly spent $860,000 for his personal use and took a "sum total exceeding $1.2 million, including interest" from the two churches. He used some of the funds for improvements to his personal properties, according to the documents. Kelly denies that he took the amounts alleged by the diocese. Kelly's lawyer, Francis O'Boy, told the Cape Cod Times that he hoped for an out of court settlement before August's scheduled trial date and that Kelly would make good on any money he took. Diocese spokesman John Kearns and diocese attorney William Daily Jr. did not return calls from the Times. Kelly owns a home and horse barn worth $1.34 million in the Cummaquid section of Barnstable and also owns lakefront property in Otis in western Massachusetts. In the 1960s and '70s, he spent close to $400,000 buying 21 homes and parcels of land around the Cape, which he sold for profit, according to registry of deeds records. The diocese holds an $800,000 lien on Kelly's Cummaquid estate, but court papers say the diocese may ask the court to raise that amount.
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