Fil-Am priest in fraud case deserves punishment – CBCP

The Filipino-American priest who faces embezzlement charges in Virginia deserves punishment under state and Church laws, according to a prominent Filipino prelate.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, head of the National Appellate and Matrimonial Tribunal of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said Rev. Rodney Rodis should face the consequences of his actions and “must be punished not only by the State but also by Church laws as demanded by justice.”

Cruz was commenting on newspaper reports of the indictment of the 51-year-old Rodis last Tuesday on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

But even without touching on the criminal case against Rodis, the CBCP official stressed that he already violated Church laws by marrying and having three children when he was still a priest.

“I wonder how come he was allowed to function as a priest when he is keeping a woman and has children. He is a good candidate for the penalty of dismissal from the clerical state,” Cruz said in an interview.

It was reported that Rodis embezzled money from the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Bumpass and St. Jude Catholic Church in Mineral from 2002 until last year.

The former priest, who was born in the Philippines, reportedly wired at least $515,231 of misappropriated parishioner contributions to the Philippines. He is being held at central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange County on 13 state felony embezzlement charges.

The retired priest reportedly used the money intended for church use for his spouse and three biological children, whom he kept from public knowledge.

Cruz, whose office is in charge of dispensation of priests, believes Rodis does not deserve to be presumed innocent.

“His is a case where to presume his innocence is offensive to reason,” Cruz said. – Edu Punay