Spending at parish soars with new priest

A noted Catholic thinker who was brought in to run St. Anthony Catholic Church in south Omaha allegedly spent more than $400,000 in 1 and 1/2 years - at a small parish that normally spent about $50,000 a year.

Police are investigating the Rev. Peter Stravinskas' handling of St. Anthony's parish funds after parishioners filed a report of a possible embezzlement. Detectives have told a judge it appears parish money was spent on Stravinskas' personal expenses, including travel, mortgage payments and credit cards.

In a court filing last month, Omaha police said two parish funds - one worth $82,000 and the other worth $71,000 - were nearly wiped out. Only $4,200 remained from the $153,000 total, detectives told a judge.

But The World-Herald learned this week that those funds represented only part of St. Anthony's savings.

And people knowledgeable about the situation said the money taken from those accounts was only part of a larger amount spent from August 2002, when Stravinskas arrived, until March 2004, when the Archdiocese of Omaha froze parish funds.

Stravinskas has not been charged with a crime and remains St. Anthony's temporary administrator. He has declined to comment. He was scheduled to return Friday night from a trip to Rome, said the Rev. Nicholas Gregoris, who answered the door at the rectory Friday.

The Rev. Gregory Baxter, chancellor of the archdiocese, declined to comment, citing the police investigation.

Police have declined to comment on the extent of Stravinskas' alleged misspending.

Church financial records published in parish documents indicate, however, that St. Anthony had $313,000 in savings in January 2002. It is unclear what that total was when Stravinskas arrived that summer, but parishioners said St. Anthony had no extraordinary expenses before Stravinskas came.

The parish typically brought in about $50,000 a year and spent that much, said Albinas Reskevicius, a parish trustee for nearly 40 years until early 2003. He said he had no knowledge of parish spending since that time.

Omaha Archbishop Elden Curtiss brought Stravinskas, 54, to Omaha from Mount Pocono, Pa. A clerical group Stravinskas had founded there, the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, had been disbanded.

Stravinskas has written numerous books and founded magazines, the Catholic Answer and the Catholic Response, defending traditional Roman Catholic teachings.

Stravinskas, a native of New Jersey, is a priest of the Diocese of Boise, Idaho, but hasn't worked there in 25 years.

Stravinskas shares Lithuanian ancestry with many of the St. Anthony parishioners, but there has been no more explanation of why such a noted priest landed in a shrinking neighborhood parish.

Curtiss declined to be interviewed Friday about the parish's finances or about how he knows Stravinskas or why he brought him to Omaha.

In a May 2002 sermon, the archbishop praised Stravinskas as "a first-rate scholar with a rich academic background," and "a herald of truth in the church."

Curtiss delivered the sermon in New York City to mark the 25th anniversary of Stravinskas' ordination.

"Now that I am 70, I will be fortunate to be associated with you and your ministry for another decade," Curtiss said. "You are a special priest and a special friend to me and many people who really know you. I consider you a gift in my ministry and in my life."

In Omaha, Stravinskas registered the Priestly Society of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman as a Nebraska nonprofit, based at the St. Anthony rectory.

Stravinskas also hired a contractor to renovate parish buildings. Contractor Mark Warsocki said the priest paid him and others to do $126,000 in work.

In the church, Warsocki said, he installed a marble floor in the sanctuary, painted the ceiling and repaired the tabernacle area.

Stravinskas wanted to convert the rectory, a former convent, into a more comfortable residence for himself, Gregoris and a seminarian, Warsocki said. They felt cramped in 9-by-13-foot rooms where nuns once lived, the contractor said.

He built a three-room suite for Stravinskas, plus a library, in the rectory's unfinished basement.

Warsocki installed new flooring, a patio door, windows, a wine rack and a deck on the rectory's main floor, he said, and converted four second-floor sleeping rooms into two living suites with individual bathrooms.

Warsocki said Stravinskas also had hired him to create two more living suites. But Warsocki said Stravinskas stopped the work on Good Friday 2004, after the archdiocese audit. The contractor said he had $16,000 worth of labor left to do.

Warsocki described the work as needed and not lavish. He said Stravinskas had him buy materials from home improvement stores with the priest's personal credit card.

Warsocki said he undercharged because of inexperience and a desire to improve a parish where his grandfather and father had belonged.

This is very interesting to me. Father Stravinskis was involved here in my Diocese of Scranton with an order and an oratory that was connected with sexual abuse of teenage boys. Christopher Clay was kicked out of the diocese, and Stravinskis stood by him.

Here's an old article I found of how they set up this idyllic oratory, until the Bishop kicked them out.

Brothers serving their Father

Mount Pocono priests teach, learn and live under one banner and under one roof

By CAROL YOKA
Pocono Record Writer
cyoka@poconorecord.com

A man who died more than 400 years ago in Rome is influencing lives here in the Poconos today.

St. Philip Neri walked the streets of 16th-century Rome, a humble, joyful figure, caring for the poor and the sick. Full of compassion and concern for young men of his day, St. Philip began to invite men to pray, study, sing and discuss scripture. His popular meetings eventually attracted as many as 4,000 people. The religious community he founded became known as the Oratory of St. Philip Neri.

That community has been copied in many places over the centuries. Now it's being modeled in the Poconos.

"The Oratory of St. Philip Neri is a fraternity of secular priests that come together for support to do the work of the church," explained the Rev. Peter Stravinskas, provost of Newman House. Since October 1996, a community of secular priests has been living at 21 Fairview Ave in Mount Pocono.

Stravinskas, 47, the Rev. Nicholas L. Gregoris and Brother Christopher Clay founded the oratory together.

Ordained to the priesthood a year ago, Gregoris, 25, teaches religion at Notre Dame High School and works weekends at Our Lady of Victory Church in Tannersville. In 1987, while a sophomore at a New York City high school, Gregoris happened to attend a Latin Mass. Stravinskas was the celebrant and Gregoris asked if he could serve the Mass. As they talked, they discovered a common love for the Latin language and the Gregorian chant, a liturgical chant of the Roman Catholic Church.

"I had read some of his books," Gregoris remembered. But it wasn't until Gregoris went home and looked at the books again that he realized: "That's the guy."

Gregoris had thought about becoming a priest since he was 5 years old. Stravinskas became his mentor. But where did the interest in forming an oratory come from?

"I have always had a great love and devotion to St. Philip, who had founded the first oratory," Gregoris said. In his travels, Gregoris visited several oratories in existence today. These combined with his desire to become a priest and his interest in teaching young people. In an oratory setting, Gregoris believed he would be able to develop and serve God more fully.

"The provost of the oratory talks with you about your gifts or talents. Each person's talents are utilized for the good of the church," Gregoris explained.

Clay, 34, will be ordained on Saturday at St. Peter's Cathedral in Scranton. He met Stravinskas and Gregoris in 1990 through mutual friends. He explained his interest in forming an oratory.

"One of the biggest problems that face clergy is the feeling of isolation. There's a need for a fraternal support system, much the same as a married couple. Priests supply support for priests that no one else can provide," Clay said.

Living in an oratory also appealed to Clay as a means of offering stability.

"It allows you to sink roots in the community. With the oratory I know I'll be here. It gives you a better possibility of getting to know the problems and to work toward solutions in a given area," he continued.

Why the Poconos?

Stravinskas had become acquainted with the Poconos as a place to ski. When the for-sale sign went up in front of the spacious house next to St. Mary of the Mount Church on Fairview Avenue, Stravinskas bought the former bed and breakfast five years ago as a place to get away and to write.

Stravinskas is the founding editor of The Catholic Answer, a bimonthly publication of Our Sunday Visitor Inc. He answers questions pertaining to the Catholic Church and its teaching in the publication's feature, "The Catholic Answer."

In addition, Stravinskas has written 21 books and more than 500 articles having to do with theology and Catholic education. As an adjunct professor of education, he teaches at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., and at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.

"I got a call one day that Bishop Timlin was interested in opening the oratory," Clay reported. "We had been talking for several years. It was a matter of finding a place."

Bishop James C. Timlin heads the Diocese of Scranton.

"In order to open a community like this, you have to be welcomed by the local bishop. He has to give approval to protect the faithful from wacky religious ideas," Clay said.

Hidden behind a low stone wall and towering pines, the secluded house has seven bedrooms, a living room, dining room and small, neat kitchen. Since its conversion to the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, Newman House offers a Latin Mass in its chapel at 7:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

Once a sun room and a waiting room for patients when a doctor owned the house, the tiny but ornate chapel provides a place for people to hear the prayers of the Mass and the Gregorian chant in Latin — the universal, sacred language of the church.

"One of the main thrusts of our house is Catholic education, in the community and in the school," Clay said. "We're interested in anyone coming into a greater knowledge of the faith." He is looking forward to teaching religion at Notre Dame High School in East Stroudsburg this fall.

Gregoris will be leaving his teaching position at Notre Dame to pursue his doctoral studies in Rome.

"I love being at Notre Dame," Gregoris said. "But talking with my superior, I realized that I can better use my talents at the college level and I need to put some closure to my academic degree."

Four others now live in the community at Newman House. Brother Gregory Villaescusa is completing a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and theology at the University of Scranton and gives religious instruction at St. Mary of the Mount parish. The 28-year-old has five more years of study before he becomes a priest.

Brother Michael M. Redmann, 26, has two more years of preparation before he is ordained a priest. He is studying philosophy at the University of Scranton to prepare for further theological studies.

Brother Hector Moreno has two more years of seminary. A new arrival at the oratory, he will study at either Seton Hall or at St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia.

The youngest member, Brother Michael Barone, 18, has seven years of study ahead of him. He will be transferring to the University of Scranton as a sophomore in the fall.

"The whole spirit of the house has inspired me," Gregoris said. "It's a very pleasant place to be."

Since I am an avid historian, I felt you may like some information on Lithuanian Saints:

St. Casimir (Kazimieras, 1458-1484) is the only one canonized Lithuanian saint. He is the patron of Lithuania and Lithuanian youth. Archbishop Jurgis Matulaitis (1871–1927) was beatified in 1987. Lithuanian Catholics pray waiting for his canonisation.

The history of Christianity in Lithuania is marked by a coexistence of different confessions. Three Lithuanians are being venerated as saints of the Orthodox Church. Saints John (Ioann), Anthony and Eustathius were courtiers of the grand duke Algirdas. They died as martyrs for Christ in 1347. The relics of Lithuanian Orthodox saints are venerated in the Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius.

The close political and cultural relationship between Lithuania and Poland throughout the centuries traced through the lives of many saints who lived in both countries. Mykolas Giedraitis (Michaù Giedroyã) born in Lithuanian noble family lived in the 15th century. He entered the order of Canons Regular de Poenitentia (White Augustinians) in Bistrica (Bystrzyca) northeast of Vilnius. In 1460 he gained a doctorate of philosophy in the University of Krakow. He served as sacristan in the church of St. Mark in Krakow. Mykolas Giedraitis was known for his humility and devotion. He died on May 5, 1485. Both in Lithuania and Poland Mykolas Giedraitis was venerated as blessed, however he was not officially beatified by the Church. Pope John Paul II, who used to pray at the tomb of Blessed Michaù in Krakow, has declared him as patron of sacristans in 1985, commemorating the 500 anniversary of his death. Lithuanian bishops have consigned the documents supporting the process of official canonization of blessed Mykolas Giedraitis, led by the Archdiocese of Krakow.

Barbora Umiastauskaitë, who lived in the 17th century in Þagarë (town in the Northwest of Lithuania) was venerated by people, but never officially canonized. From ancient times people came to pray for her intercession to the church in Þagarë. Her body did not burned during the fire in the church. In 1755 Samogitian Bishop Antanas Tiðkevièius in his report about the diocese of Samogitia sent to Rome, mentioned seven miracles attributed to the girl Barbora. During the first Soviet occupation in 1940 the coffin with her body was destroyed.

Fr. Jurgis Ambraziejus Pabrëþa (1771–1849), Franciscan priest, botanist and folk doctor was also considered a holy man by the people. The tomb of Fr. Jurgis Pabrëþa in the cemetery of Kretinga has been visited by great many of faithful seeking his intercession.

Following the initiative of the Holy Father Lithuanian Catholic Church has made the list of the witnesses of faith of the 20th century. The list includes 115 persons. The solemn commemoration of the witnesses of faith from the whole world was held in Coliseum of Rome on May 7, 2000. Commemoration of the witnesses of faith does not coincide with the process of canonization. However there are five persons in the mentioned list of Lithuanian witnesses of faith, for whom the canonization process is already opened. Three of them are hierarchs of the Church, Servants of God: Archbishop Teofilius Matulionis (1873–1962), Archbishop Meèislovas Reinys (1884–1953) and Bishop Vincentas Borisevièius (1887–1946). The canonization process is started also for two lay women, Servants of God. Elena Spirgevièiûtë (1924–1943) was murdered defending her human dignity. Adelë Dirsytë (1909–1955) was the author of the famous Siberian prayer book, translated into many languages. She was a teacher, involved in social activities and died in exile in Siberia.

Such a holy man should be shared, and we need to include the Germans...

Life and activities

CASIMIR, Saint (Lith. Kazimieras; 1458-1484), patron saint of Lithuania, born at the royal palace of Cracow on Oct. 3, 1458. His father was Casimir IV, King of Poland and Grand Prince of Lithuania; his mother, Eliza-beth of Austria, was daughter of Emperor Albrecht II Habsburg. They had six sons and five daughters. Casimir was their third child and their second son. His grandfather was Jogaila, one of the most influential of the Lithuanian grand dukes, who, together with his cousin Vytautas, Christianized Lithuania. Although of both Lithuanian and German descent, St. Casimir was raised and educated in the Polish cultural atmosphere of the times. The most influential teacher of the royal children was Canon John Dlugosz, an outstanding Polish scholar, chronicler, and later bishop, well versed in matters of government and international politics. He described his student Casimir as "an excellent youth of rare talents and remarkable knowledge". His other teacher, a humanist from Italy, Callimachus Buonacorsi, remembered him as "a holy youth". One contemporary Prussian chronicler referred to him as "very wise and virtuous, and all the people could only speak much good about him". In general, he im-pressed people as a gifted, well-educated and virtuous youth.

In 1471, when he was 13 years old, for reasons of dynastic pol-icy, his parents sent him with an army and advisers to occupy the throne of Hungary, to which his mother Elizabeth claimed the right of succession. In 1472, after his unsuccessful military campaign, Casimir returned to Cracow and for some time continued his education. At the same time his older brother had obtained the throne of Bohemia. Prince Casimir as second-born became the successor to his father's throne. When Casimir was approximately 16 or 17 years old, he began traveling with his father through their realm, attending diets, meetings of the State Council, and receptions of representatives of foreign countries, in order to gain experience in affairs of state. When he reached the age of 22, his father assigned him an active part in the government, including administrative duties, responsibilities in the judicial system and in military and financial matters. In 1481-83 he represented his father in Poland when he remained in Lithuania. During that time the young Casimir strengthened the financial condition of the state; repaid debts on mortgaged estates; curbed banditry in the provinces; improved the tone of the royal palace by removing unsuitable courtiers; and strength-ened relations with the Holy See. While performing his difficult duties and leading a strict ascetical life, he impaired his health and contracted tuberculosis.

Casimir was recalled from these duties by his father, who bade him come to Vilnius in 1483. He lived in Vilnius and Trakai and was in charge of the Chancellery of the Grand Princi-pality of Lithuania. Some of the surviving documents contain inscriptions in Latin made in his own hand. When his father returned to Poland, Casimir and his mother remained in Gardinas in the winter of 1483-84, where his health was rapidly deteriorating and where he died on March 4. Prince Casimir had lived only twenty-five years and five months. His body was brought for burial to the Cathedral of Vilnius.

Personality

The very fact that he was buried not in the cathedral's cellars but in the sanctuary itself indicates that his contemporaries considered him worthy of such an honor. Soon after his death it was said of him that "everyone marveled at his virtuousness, his intelligence and extraordinary erudition; these qualities caused men of various nationalities to love him sincerely" (Jan Targowiski, the secretary of the royal chancellary). Callimachus wrote: "He should either never have been born or should have abided with us forever."

The saintly life of Prince Casimir drew attention while he was still living. After his death people began to pray at his tomb and steps were taken for his canonization. Barely seventeen years had passed since his death when Pope Alexander VI, while granting an indulgence to the chapel in the Vilnius cathedral in which Casimir had been buried, noted that "as has been reported, his coffin is becoming renowned for the numerous miracles that have been occurring”. In 1517 Pope Leo X ap-pointed a commission for the process of canonization. After making interviews with living witnesses and scrutiny of miracles, the papal nuncio Zacharias Ferrerri, a Benedictine monk and bishop, set out the results he had collected in the first biography of St. Casimir, Vita Beati Casimiri, 1521. It related that Casimir matured into a person of strong character, successfully able to resist the lure of a life of luxury and earthly pleasures, he used to wear a hairshirt under his royal robes, the book described his acts of mortification, his sleeping on the bare ground, his prayers at the door of a closed church, his alms to the poor, widows and orphans and his meditations on the Passion of Christ. Among his numerous virtues his justice and self-discipline are also attested by other sources. It is known that he was particularly determined to preserve perfect chastity by refusing to marry and adhering to the principle Malo mori quam foedari (I prefer to die than to be defiled).

Canonization

Traditionally it is accepted that St. Casimir was canonized by Pope Leo X, who died in 1521. This is based on the Bull by the later Pope Clement VIII (Nov. 7, 1602), proclaiming that Leo X had canonized St. Casimir and that permission had been granted to celebrate his feast with a solemn liturgy in Lithuania and in Poland. This document was brought to Vilnius and a colorful manifestation, lasting three days (May 10-12, 1604) took place with divine services and processions in the city and the opening of the tomb of the Saint. His body was found miraculously preserved through the period of 120 years. Near his head was found the text of his favorite hymn Omni die dic Mariae (Daily. daily sing to Mary). His son's strong and tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was known also to King Casimir IV, who had begun the construction of the first chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Cathedral of Vilnius where precious relics were to be placed. A new and beau-tiful chapel of St. Casimir was built in 1636. It was at-tached and incorporated into the Cathedral of Vilnius. The remains of the Saint were placed in a silver coffin and elevated above the altar. In connection with the transfer of the remains. Pope Urban VIII declared St. Casimir the Patron Saint of Lithuania. Much later Pope Pius XII, in 1948, pronounced St. Casimir special patron of Lithuanian youth.

Cult of St. Casimir

Lithuanian Jesuit missions and colleges contributed considerably to the development of the cult of St. Casimir. He was chosen as an example of chastity and piety. Through Jesuit colleges and through dynastic ties of Lithuanian-Polish kings the cult of St. Casimir spread to Austria, Bavaria, Belgium, Italy, and other countries. Pope Paul V in 1621 proclaimed the cult of St. Casimir as part of the universal worship of the Catholic Church, by including it in the missal and the breviary for priests. In the liturgical calendar his feast falls on March 4. Many churches of St. Casimir were built in Lithuania and in the United States, many religious and cultural institutions were named after him (schools, societies, convents); numerous works of art were painted and poetry composed in his honor.

To Lithuanians St. Casimir is, in the words of the German writer and thinker Hermann Hesse, "the kind of man I am seeking and one that I would wish to meet up with: one who is equally likeable in company, as well as in solitude; one who is equally effective in action as in contemplation".

When the soviets closed the Cathedral of Vilnius in 1948 the coffin with the body of St. Casimir was moved to the church of St apostles Peter and Paul. After the political change, the coffin was brought back to the Cathedral in a big and solemn procession and celebration on March 4, 1989.

In 2004 the Church in Lithuania celebrated the Jubilee Year of St. Casimir.

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