Pa. priest faces felony charges after being accused of stealing thousands from parish: reports

Pennlive ^ | 1 December A.D. 2023 | EmilyAnn Jackman

[lightman]

A Washington County priest is facing hundreds of felony charges after being accused of stealing more than $117,000 from his parish.

Father George Athanasiou, 37, is an assistant priest at All Saints Greek Orthodox Church in North Strabane Township. Through an investigation, authorities said they discovered that between April 2022 and mid-November 2023, Athanasiou made 219 unauthorized ATM withdrawals from the church account.

Last month, church members notified police about missing donation checks to the church. The investigation led authorities to a PNC Bank on Washington Road where church donation checks were deposited into a personal account.

Additionally, Athanasiou was captured on surveillance video making deposits. More evidence was found at his apartment, which led Athanasiou to confess, WTAE reported.

Athanasiou admitted to authorities he stole the money due to “personal hardships.” When asked how much he stole, he claimed he could’ve taken $117,000 in checks and $5,000 in cash.

Afterward, the metropolitan of Pittsburgh sent a letter to the church community announcing Athanasiou’s arrest and his suspension from priestly ministry without pay until the conclusion of legal proceedings, WPXI said.

While the district attorney continues their investigation, he faces such charges as theft and forgery.

[lightman]

Kyrie eleison.

[lightman]

Pennsylvania Ping!

Please ping me with articles of interest.

FReepmail me to be added to the list.

[lightman]

Orthodox Ping!

Save Thy people, O Lord,
and bless Thine inheritance.
Grant victory to Thy Church over her enemies,
and protect Thy people by Thy Holy Cross!

[frank ballenger]

The priest may have had needs.
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” (popularised by Karl Marx in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Programme. The principle refers to free access to and distribution of goods, capital and services.)

---

I asked a Catholic woman I used to work with “aren’t priests sworn to total poverty?” “No, that’s the nuns. You see priests being driven in luxury cars all the time.”

---

Jesuit site: We hold no property or monetary accounts in our personal name: in this way we avoid accumulating unnecessary wealth that could distract us from our mission.

---

Diocesan priests don’t take a vow of poverty, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, but they are expected to “lead a life of simplicity consonant with the people they serve.”
Diocesan priests do make vows, and must remain celibate and adhere to Canon law, but they do not promise poverty, so they may own their own property, such as cars, and handle their own financial affairs.

---

For services in the exercise of the ministry, members of the clergy receive a Form W-2 but do not have social security or Medicare taxes withheld. They must pay social security and Medicare by filing Schedule SE (Form 1040), Self-Employment Tax.

---

In the Augustinian vow of poverty they embrace communal poverty, where all share all things in common. As described in Acts 4:32-37, they share everything in common and no individual calls anything their own.

---

Each Jesuit is called to live the vows of obedience, for the greater good of others; chastity, as unselfish relationships; and poverty, by aiming for the essential.

---

Pope orders salary cuts for cardinals and clerics to save jobs of employees. MSNBC March 21, 2021.
Quote from the article “St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums, the latter a cash cow that received about 6 million paying visitors in 2019, were closed or only partially open for much of 2020 because of the pandemic.”
During Covid lockdowns the Vatican lost money from the “cash cows” of the museum visits

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

What’s your point? Do you offer up anything for Christ? Diocesan priests get and give away much of what they have, paying for a widow’s hot wster heater replacement, paying for lots of stuff that would never occur to a cold heart.

[NorthMountain]

That’s all very nice ...
But this was not a Catholic priest.
If you had read the article, you would not need to be told.

[frank ballenger]

Sorry.

However I will not break the honored tradition of not reading the articles and providing sensible and appropriate posts afterwar

Again, sorry.

[NorthMountain]

< shrug >

You do you ...

[BipolarBob]

I forgive you Frank. Go and sin no more I'm glad you and I are honoring the tradition. Keep up the Good Works.

[frank ballenger]

I humbly thank you.

I will watch The View as penance. More painful than whipping my own back.

[Honorary Serb]

This is a real shame. The Holy Orthodox Church in the USA is not very rich, and can’t afford theft.

Lord have Mercy!