Parish Is Burning

Riccitelli responded with a letter declaring his innocence; he followed it up with a letter to his staff--which had obviously helped in the investigation--threatening to cut their hours in half.

Only after parishioners organized a boycott of the 1994 Christmas donation that cost the church $25,000 did Bishop O'Brien take action. O'Brien ordered an audit of St. Jerome's books and proclaimed them clean. But he didn't allow parishioners to get a look at the books themselves. Citing complaints about Riccitelli's "style of pastoral ministry," O'Brien accepted Riccitelli's resignation. Riccitelli did receive counseling, but then the bishop assigned him to Holy Cross.

At Holy Cross Catholic Church, there are no parishioner oversight committees; parishioners say they have no idea how their donations are being spent.

Adeline Fladmo says her suspicions about how Holy Cross money is spent were aroused when she learned that Riccitelli claimed that the church had spent money on a complete repainting of its interior. She wonders why people who attended Mass daily didn't notice any scaffolding or any new paint.

Fladmo says she and others made their suspicions known to the church staff; the next issue of the church bulletin featured a photograph of the custodian holding a paint brush with news that the job had been done.

The parishioners in Gene Esch's living room also complain that Riccitelli lives in a lavish rectory, and they believe he has taken home church property for his personal use. But without financial oversight by parishioners, they don't know how donations have been spent.

They've turned to O'Brien for help, but have heard nothing.
"Why does he completely ignore us?" Theis asks.
Then another parishioner, who asked that her name not be used, speaks up: "One thing you have to remember about the Catholic Church is that it is an autocracy, not a democracy. When parishioners push, the higher echelons push back."