At 74 years old I'm guessing he's probably done as a full-time active priest at the least, if he's not given a worse punishment. Even if he is sincerely repentant it's hard to believe he would be assigned anywhere in a position of responsibility over parish finances ever again. Maybe keep him in reserve to say mass somewhere in an emergency, otherwise keep him far away from parish administration.
He paid a guy $100,000 a year on average for 7 years and says he thought he would be repaid? I don't know whether to think there is something else going on or whether he is that naive.
(Looking at the link where they dropped a charge after he repaid) "Asked how Gutgsell was able to repay the church, Polikov says he does not know."
I am surprised that the brother was sent to another parish. Our newly formed parish in The Woodlands had the pastor stole money from the parish for himself. Come to find out that he had done it in another parish in the diocese. I don’t think that he ever served in the diocese again.
Absolutely no surprise. It was just a variation of the long established practice of moving a molesting priest from Parish A to B to C. No wonder that this brother committed theft when the consequences for his sibling had been so trivial. The controls on Catholic parish finances were so ludicrously lax that a thief could get away with it for decades. Father Walter Benz in Pennsylvania stole $1.3 million over 26 years and wisely fessed up on his death bed. He avoided all earthly punishment. Maybe many crooks were never detected, or, like the paedos, it was covered up. The whole system was an incentive to fraud.
The question is if you question anything on a financial audit; the diocese does not want to give you a truthful answer how they actually spent and where the money actually went to...
That is certainly a major problem. The only way I know the embarrassing stuff going on in my diocese (Portsmouth, in southern England) is by reading unofficial blogs. Our bishop was on BBC radio not long ago moaning about how little money each parishioner gives (about £2.40/ $3.20 per parishioner per week). This has the advantage that there is far less to steal in a British parish account than in many US parish accounts. Yet my diocese can still employ a COO on a six figure salary, not to mention other wastes of money.
Another point that Michael Ryan makes in his enthralling article is that audits are often useless at detecting fraud. Especially if the priest or trusted layperson has access to the collection before it is properly counted and formally entered in the paperwork/finance software. All the recorded money is perfectly in order. No one knows that a crook skimmed 10 or 20% of the cash before it was counted.
No surprise. Years ago Michael Ryan wrote about the numerous thefts from Church collections by priests and laity. In most cases there were few controls on the parish finances and the crooks could get away with it for years.
It just goes on and on. There was the priest in Lansing, Michigan who stole millions and built a splendid mansion for himself. But in many cases it was the old homo or hetero urges which created the need for an illegal income.
I was going to ask how $700k qualifies as “misdemeanor” but it looks like a plea deal perhaps. I was also musing about where the studies such as “Exploring [pick the crime] by [pick your flavor of Protestant or Protestant-adjacent] in the United States: A Content Analysis of Cases Since 1963” are, but alas.
"the overall point is to highlight what we’ve talked about a lot in the past few years: that financial misconduct is the next big scandal coming down the pike for the Church"
Please, please stay on this.
You should also look into the case of Msgr. Kevin McAuliffe, Chancellor of the Eparchy of Phoenix.
Especially if he has a boyfriend to maintain. Like Fat Eddie Arsenault in Manchester, New England. Fat Eddie did his prison time, changed his surname (apparently to that of his husband) and moved on to a six figure salary as head of a charity helping ex-prisoners. The charity certainly helped Fat Eddie.
This is an ancient problem. The very young Chancellor of Boston Archdiocese back in the 1920s probably owed his exalted position to his knowledge of his uncle's (the Cardinal) pelvic urges. But it is great having some extra cash when you are about to marry a divorcee. Eventually the Cardinal was summoned to Rome where Pope Benedict produced a copy of his nephew's marriage certificate. After a further delay, the nephew was finally defrocked and excommunicated.
What's "bizarre" is how no one seems to have considered the possibility that Gutsgell's alleged personal poverty and close association with a man "of no known address" who apparently makes a living at casinos indicates a gambling problem -- which might also explain why the money can't be found. His blaming everything on a "homeless" guy he would regularly rendez-vous with in a parking lot (yeah...what's with THAT?) is awfully convenient for a recidivist thief who preys on the vulnerable. If this priest is ever returned to parish ministry (like his thieving priest brother and the embezzling Diocese Madison priest -- another elder-abuser -- inexplicably were), the Diocese itself should be subjected to criminal investigation. These men -- and the clergy enablers who routinely put the scoundrels' interests above their parishioners' -- are a scandal.
Bizarre - hoping he gets a serious psych eval before returning to ministry
At 74 years old I'm guessing he's probably done as a full-time active priest at the least, if he's not given a worse punishment. Even if he is sincerely repentant it's hard to believe he would be assigned anywhere in a position of responsibility over parish finances ever again. Maybe keep him in reserve to say mass somewhere in an emergency, otherwise keep him far away from parish administration.
He paid a guy $100,000 a year on average for 7 years and says he thought he would be repaid? I don't know whether to think there is something else going on or whether he is that naive.
(Looking at the link where they dropped a charge after he repaid) "Asked how Gutgsell was able to repay the church, Polikov says he does not know."
Here’s what I don’t know: how the h*ck do you pronounce Gutgsell? The ‘tgs’ is not something I can wrap my mental tongue around.
It's pronounced "Gullible"
Whoa you dropped that tidbit at the end that the thieving priest has a brother that is also a thieving priest. Yikes! Runs in the family!
I am surprised that the brother was sent to another parish. Our newly formed parish in The Woodlands had the pastor stole money from the parish for himself. Come to find out that he had done it in another parish in the diocese. I don’t think that he ever served in the diocese again.
Absolutely no surprise. It was just a variation of the long established practice of moving a molesting priest from Parish A to B to C. No wonder that this brother committed theft when the consequences for his sibling had been so trivial. The controls on Catholic parish finances were so ludicrously lax that a thief could get away with it for decades. Father Walter Benz in Pennsylvania stole $1.3 million over 26 years and wisely fessed up on his death bed. He avoided all earthly punishment. Maybe many crooks were never detected, or, like the paedos, it was covered up. The whole system was an incentive to fraud.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2005_01_06/2005_06_17_Ryan_TheSecond.htm
The question is if you question anything on a financial audit; the diocese does not want to give you a truthful answer how they actually spent and where the money actually went to...
That is certainly a major problem. The only way I know the embarrassing stuff going on in my diocese (Portsmouth, in southern England) is by reading unofficial blogs. Our bishop was on BBC radio not long ago moaning about how little money each parishioner gives (about £2.40/ $3.20 per parishioner per week). This has the advantage that there is far less to steal in a British parish account than in many US parish accounts. Yet my diocese can still employ a COO on a six figure salary, not to mention other wastes of money.
Another point that Michael Ryan makes in his enthralling article is that audits are often useless at detecting fraud. Especially if the priest or trusted layperson has access to the collection before it is properly counted and formally entered in the paperwork/finance software. All the recorded money is perfectly in order. No one knows that a crook skimmed 10 or 20% of the cash before it was counted.
No surprise. Years ago Michael Ryan wrote about the numerous thefts from Church collections by priests and laity. In most cases there were few controls on the parish finances and the crooks could get away with it for years.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2005_01_06/2005_06_17_Ryan_TheSecond.htm
It just goes on and on. There was the priest in Lansing, Michigan who stole millions and built a splendid mansion for himself. But in many cases it was the old homo or hetero urges which created the need for an illegal income.
Our parish tightened up controls a few years ago. And we have annual audits.
I was going to ask how $700k qualifies as “misdemeanor” but it looks like a plea deal perhaps. I was also musing about where the studies such as “Exploring [pick the crime] by [pick your flavor of Protestant or Protestant-adjacent] in the United States: A Content Analysis of Cases Since 1963” are, but alas.
How can a homeless person who received $700,000 still be homeless? Where did the money go?
It sounds like he gambled it away.
"the overall point is to highlight what we’ve talked about a lot in the past few years: that financial misconduct is the next big scandal coming down the pike for the Church"
Please, please stay on this.
You should also look into the case of Msgr. Kevin McAuliffe, Chancellor of the Eparchy of Phoenix.
Yes, the Chancellor is always a hot suspect - he is in charge of the money!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2048009/Las-Vegas-monsignor-Kevin-McAuliffe-stole-650k-parishioners-gambling.html
Especially if he has a boyfriend to maintain. Like Fat Eddie Arsenault in Manchester, New England. Fat Eddie did his prison time, changed his surname (apparently to that of his husband) and moved on to a six figure salary as head of a charity helping ex-prisoners. The charity certainly helped Fat Eddie.
https://nypost.com/2023/03/11/defrocked-ex-con-priest-who-stole-300k-heads-nyc-nonprofits-with-city-contracts/
This is an ancient problem. The very young Chancellor of Boston Archdiocese back in the 1920s probably owed his exalted position to his knowledge of his uncle's (the Cardinal) pelvic urges. But it is great having some extra cash when you are about to marry a divorcee. Eventually the Cardinal was summoned to Rome where Pope Benedict produced a copy of his nephew's marriage certificate. After a further delay, the nephew was finally defrocked and excommunicated.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2003_01_06/2003_01_12_OToole_ACardinals.htm
What's "bizarre" is how no one seems to have considered the possibility that Gutsgell's alleged personal poverty and close association with a man "of no known address" who apparently makes a living at casinos indicates a gambling problem -- which might also explain why the money can't be found. His blaming everything on a "homeless" guy he would regularly rendez-vous with in a parking lot (yeah...what's with THAT?) is awfully convenient for a recidivist thief who preys on the vulnerable. If this priest is ever returned to parish ministry (like his thieving priest brother and the embezzling Diocese Madison priest -- another elder-abuser -- inexplicably were), the Diocese itself should be subjected to criminal investigation. These men -- and the clergy enablers who routinely put the scoundrels' interests above their parishioners' -- are a scandal.
And we have a pastor removed for a complaint! Wow!
Yeah, where is Bishop Olson when you need him to keep these priests in line?