Fundraising priest disappears after floating away on 1000 helium balloons

A Brazilian priest named Rev. Adelir Antonio di Carli took off Sunday from the coastal city of Paranagua in southern Brazil, buoyed by 1,000 helium-filled balloons. Unfortunately, less than eight hours after taking flight, Fr De Carli lost contact with authorities and was reported missing.

He was seeking to break a 19-hour record for the longest time in-flight with balloons and to raise money for a 'spiritual rest stop' for truckers in Paranagua.

The cluster of yellow, orange, pink and white balloons was seen last night, floating intact in the sea off Santa Catarina state near Fr di Carli's last contact point.

The priest embarked on a similar adventure in January this year when he used only 600 balloons to carry him on a four-hour, 5,300m-high voyage from the town of Ampere to neighbouring Argentina.



According to the CBC in Canada, some people are criticizing the fundraising stunt:

Meanwhile, a flight instructor who expelled di Carli from flight school three years ago has publicly criticized the priest for his stunt, Gancia said.

"He called him undisciplined and an exhibitionist, and he was always bragging about his faith and how his faith was going to carry him and take him safely through his journey. And that's not what happened."

He was reported to have been strapped into an inflatable chair, wearing a thermal outfit and helmet. He also had a parachute, however rescuers admit that hope is fading.

Vatican bans donation from condom makers

The Vatican has advised a Filipino bishop to reject any kind of donation from any company or institution that promotes a culture of abortion and contraception as it is “morally evil.”

Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, said that such donation compromises the gospel and the family and life.

The Vatican official issued the exhortation in a letter to Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes who sought the Vatican stand on donations coming from companies and institutions promoting the use of contraceptives.

“Accepting such funding creates confusion among the faithful, as they give the impression that abortion, and the production, distribution, and use of contraceptives and abortifacients are acceptable practices,” the cardinal said.

This really sounds like a slippery slope to me. Especially after what happened with the misinformed monsignor in Arkansas who told his churchgoers to stop giving to the Susan G. Komen Foundation because he thought they were supporting Planned Parenthood's abortion work.

If the Vatican is really interested in avoiding "confusion among the faithful" then maybe they should... ah nevermind.

Misinformed Monsignor makes apology to Komen

Last week, I was outraged to hear that a Catholic priest in Arkansas was telling his congregation not to donate to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure because he was worried the group supported Planned Parenthood. Well, the misinformed Monsignor apologized today:

The leader of Little Rock's Roman Catholic diocese apologized to a national breast cancer organization, saying he made a mistake when he said donations to the group could help fund abortions.

Monsignor J. Gaston Hebert issued the statement Thursday after a meeting with staffers from Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a Dallas-based organization known for its Race for the Cure events. In a letter last month, Hebert had asked parishioners to withhold their donations as Komen gives money to Planned Parenthood to provide breast exams and offer education to women in its clinics.

Hebert said his earlier contention _ that those donations could free up funding for abortions and contraceptive services _ "turned out not to be true. ... To let that statement stand would be an act of injustice."

The Komen foundation thanked the diocese for reaching out... but I run an anonymous blog... I don't need to be so diplomatic. So, let's call a spade a spade. The real injustice is that this guy Monsignor Hebrt has a job after making ignorant remarks like he did. That's the real injustice. I wonder if Little Rock's Roman Catholic diocese has any skeletons in their financial books...

Greenwich church can't find $400,000

The New Haven Register is reporting that church officials have concluded their investigation into a Greenwich priest who failed to account for more than $400,000 in church funds he kept in secret accounts.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport said it has provided its findings to federal authorities after investigating the Rev. Michael Moynihan. He resigned last year as pastor of St. Michael Church in wealthy Greenwich and was stripped of his priestly authority last month after he was found living with another man.

The newspaper says that the report offers few details on how Moynihan might have spent church money, but it does cite $58,000 used to buy a boat as well as restaurant, travel expenses and a livery service. The article goes on to say:

Moynihan was stripped of his priestly authority after the Bridgeport Diocese learned last month that he shared a Manhattan apartment with another man. Moynihan failed to end that association despite promises to do so, and engaged in “obfuscation” when questioned about church money, Bishop William E. Lori wrote in a letter Thursday to parishioners.

It seems crazy to me the diocese was more concerned with the priest's co-habitation with another man that they were with their terrible internal controls. Then again, it appears that the church never would have found out about the secret accounts unless the F.B.I. tipped them off to the banking deceptions.

Bridgeport diocese officials say they have made “great strides” in implementing a new system of financial procedures and controls in all 87 parishes in Fairfield County. Those steps have become a model for other dioceses, Lori said in a telephone interview Friday.

“I think people can have a great deal of confidence that the donations to the parishes are used well and wisely for the mission of the parish,” Lori said.

Hat tip to Mike Burns (again) at Nonprofit Board Crisis for blogging this story.

Catholics Asked to Stop Komen Donations

According to the Associated Press:

The Diocese of Little Rock is urging its members not to donate to a breast cancer foundation known for its fundraising races across the globe because the group supports Planned Parenthood.

The diocese says the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, which has invested about $1 billion in cancer outreach and research, gives money to Planned Parenthood to hold breast exams and offer education to women in its clinics.

"Donors cannot control how an organization designates its funds," a diocese statement reads. "Therefore, money donated for a specific service ... directly frees up funds to support other areas of an organization's agenda."

Hmmm... I read recently that for every new convert joining the Catholic church, there are four walking away. Even the Catholic World News service commented this week that there is a "vast exodus of Catholics leaving the faith."

No word yet on whether Komen has asked it's donors to stop supporting the Vatican out of concern we don't really know where that money is going.

"Restitution is what we're after"

Rodney Rodis, a retired Roman Catholic priest, who plead guilty to mail fraud and money laundering in the theft of more than $600,000 in donations from St. Jude Church and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Louisa County, Virgina between 2002 and 2006 was sentenced to 63 months in prison.

According to Zinie Chen Sampson's article for the Associated Press:

Authorities said Rodis set up bank accounts and a post office box where he directed parishioners to send contributions. Rodis then transferred the money to his personal account, using it to support his family — a wife and three children, whom he concealed from parishioners. He also wired money overseas to relatives who used it to buy real estate.

Lawyers for the 51 thief argued for leniacy because of health issues. Meanwhile, the parishes feel betrayed. The man who succeeded Rodis said after the hearing he wasn't convinced of the sincerity of his predecessor's apologies.

"He did this for five years, systematically, and in a very organized way," the Rev. Michael Duffy said. "Restitution is what we're after."

A judge gave Rodis credit for time served, but ordered him to repay the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond more than $591,000 and required the Filipino native to meet with federal immigration officials for possible deportation after his prison term ends.

Televangelists ignore Senate investigation

Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, sent lengthy questionnaires a month ago to six ministries so he could review whether pastors were complying with IRS rules that bar excessive personal gain through tax-exempt work.

However, two of those televangelists ignored Thursday's deadline to turn over information.

Benny Hinn of World Healing Center Church Inc. and Benny Hinn Ministries of Grapevine, Texas, said in a statement to the AP on Thursday that he will not respond to the inquiry until next year.

A lawyer for preacher Creflo Dollar of World Changers Church International in suburban Atlanta had said Wednesday that the investigation should be referred to the IRS or the Senate panel should get a subpoena for the documents.

All the ministries preach a form of "Word of Faith" theology, known as prosperity gospel, which teaches that God wants believers to reap material rewards for their faith.

Because they have tax status as churches, the ministries do not have to file IRS 990 forms like other non-profit organizations - leaving much financial information largely behind closed doors.

The letters sent Monday were the culmination of a long investigation fueled in part by complaints from Ole Anthony, a crusader against religious fraud who operates the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, which describes itself as a watchdog monitoring religious media, fraud and abuse. "We've been working with them for two years," Anthony told CBS News. "We have furnished them with enough information to fill a small Volkswagen."

The other ministries targeted in the inquiry are Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and Bishop Eddie Long Ministries of Lithonia, Ga.; Randy and Paula White of Without Walls International Church and Paula White Ministries of Tampa, Fla.; and Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Texas.

God can be a very vengeful donor

Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home."

Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal.
According to Justin Juozapavicius at the Associated Press:

Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay.

She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males."

I'll tell you what, if you think God told you to become a fundraiser, I say go ahead and raise the money, but be careful how you spend it... because God subscribes to some charity watchdog blogs and he's gonna come get you if you don't spend it responsibly.