Cochran’s Documentary Exposes Thievery in US Catholic Churches

THIEVERY shares actual news stories illustrating financial mismanagement perpetrated by unethical priests and staff members. Failure to hold bishops and priests accountable clearly conveys an urgency to change financial management procedures.

Weaverville, United States – October 31, 2019 /PressCable/ —

THIEVERY: Catholic Church Exposed! is the first comprehensive documentary to expose the depth of scams, theft, and embezzlement in the Catholic Church. Departing from the sex-abuse scandal, author Les Cochran draws upon 97 financial-mismanagement news stories of $100,000 or more, to illustrate how Catholic officials used parishioner donations for their own personal pleasures.

The documentary presents mind-boggling examples of how Church officials have knowingly engaged in criminal action and then covered-up and buried their misdeeds. This is not the rumors of the past, involving an usher taking $20 from the collection plate or a secretary cheating on a deposit slip — it’s planned, systematic thievery by priests and members of the laity.

The research illustrates how the level of theft has steadily grown starting in 2002 when the sex abuse scandal was revealed to the public. And, even though other authors have pointed out the issue and suggested changes be made in how church money is managed, the number of dollars embezzled has skyrocketed. Worse yet, Church officials have known about this egregious action for years and have responded with lip-service. Research on the 17,600 parishes in the country indicates:

· 97 percent of the dioceses failed to conduct the required internal audits of parishes, potentially leaving 17,000 at risk.

· 29 percent of the dioceses, nationwide, report thefts of less than $50,000; a possibility of more than 5300 such parish thefts.

· 11 percent of the dioceses reported embezzlement of more than $500,000; indicates perhaps 2000 or more parishes with embezzlement.

For centuries, parishioners have been led to believe priests are Godly—never to question their actions. The sex abuse scandal proved that wrong, with projections now exceeding over 100,000 victimized casualties. Cochran details more criminal activity is on the way, as illustrated by a bishop misappropriating over $11 million to cover-up thefts by priests in the diocese.

With the closing of parishes, staggering maintenance costs, a growing number of lapsed Catholics, and dwindling donations, the Church faces a worst-case scenario. And now catastrophic financial mismanagement is added to the list, with no end in sight. Experts agree “over 80 percent of the thievery in the Church goes unreported,” and that’s not chicken feed — data from national insurance companies and the National Board of Fraud Examiners agree, over $1.26 billion was stolen last year from the U.S. Catholic Church.

This shocking, sometimes appalling, research documents case after case where church officials lied, falsified records, misrepresented facts, distorted information, and covered up illegal activity

THIEVERY is NOT “Catholic bashing;” rather, it shares real events to suggest strategies for reform.

Contact Info:
Name: Les Cochran
Email: Send Email
Organization: Les Cochran, Author
Address: 26 Endless View Drive, Weaverville, North Carolina 28787, United States
Phone: +1-828-676-1000
Website: http://www.LesCochran.com

Source: PressCable

Release ID: 88931776