N.L. church wants police probe of missing $500K

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's says it will ask the police to investigate the disappearance of more than $500,000.

The archdiocese alleges its own investigation found a former business manager paid the money to himself and his pension account.

"This review uncovered significant discrepancies in the operating account of the archdiocese," the archdiocese said in a news release Monday morning. 

"We determined that our former comptroller and business manager made unauthorized payments to himself, and to his pension account, throughout this period."

Archbishop Mark Currie told CBC News the archdiocese will ask the police to investigate.

"It's a shock for everybody, because he's been with the archdiocese for roughly 38 years, and everybody had given him their complete trust. He was trusted fully you know, and he's broken that trust. That's what's saddest more than anything," Currie told CBC News.

"We have reason to believe that it may have started in 1997, because of payments having been made into other accounts."

The archdiocese said it hired an auditing company last year to review its books going back to 2003.

Bill Power, the archdiocese business manager, resigned from the church last fall.

Power, of Outer Cove, near St. John's, would give "no comment" when called.

Tougher financial guidelines in place

The church says it has brought in tougher financial guidelines since last fall.

The archdiocese covers most of the Avalon Peninsula and also the Burin Peninsula.

Donated money is used to fund chaplaincy services in hospitals such as the Janeway, St. Clare's, the Health Sciences Centre, the Burin Peninsula Health Care Centre and the Miller Centre, and in seniors homes and long-term care facilities.

"We will pursue every appropriate means to recoup as much of the loss as possible, and thus to ensure that the pastoral services of this archdiocese may continue and, through them, that the most vulnerable of our church and society are served and assisted," the release said.

Last October, priests read a letter to parishioners at churches in eastern Newfoundland saying a business manager with the organization had resigned recently and an independent auditor had been hired to investigate the churches' finances.

SIC: CBC/CAN