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Clerical financial misconduct

Why priests steal — researchers look to ‘fraud triangle’ in parish life

Priests who steal are often motivated by resentment, envy, and a desire to cover up for other moral lapses, new analysis has found.

The Pillar
Mar 16, 2023
∙ Paid
Why priests steal — researchers look to ‘fraud triangle’ in parish life
Collection boxes, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Simon Stock Catholic Church, Kensington, London. Credit: Edwardx/wikimedia. CC BY SA 4.0

Priests who steal are often motivated by resentment, envy, and a desire to cover up for other moral lapses, new analysis has found, adding that isolation and weak oversight can contribute to the rationalization of the…

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