Pinoy priest accused of stealing over $.6 M from Virginia churches

WASHINGTON — A Filipino priest has been accused of stealing more than $600,000 or roughly P30 million over the past five years from two small Roman Catholic churches in Virginia.

Steven Neill, spokesman of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond which serves most of the state of Virginia, identified the priest as Fr. Rodney Rodis, 50, of the order of St. Camillus.

Rodis was indicted last Monday on one felony count of embezzlement. He faces trial next week and if found guilty could be jailed for up to 20 years.

Neill said Rodis came from the Philippines in 1991 to work for the diocese and was assigned as pastor of St. Jude church and Immaculate Conception church in central Virginia.

He said the disappearance of the church funds came to light when a St. Jude parishioner made a $1,000 donation and later asked for a receipt for tax purposes. When the money could not be found in the financial record books, officials became suspicious.

Bail for Rodis was originally set at $100,000 but this was later reduced to $10,000 after his passport was confiscated to prevent him from leaving the country, Neill told The STAR.

Rodis retired as pastor of St. Jude and Immaculate Conception for medical reasons in May and said he planned to return to the Philippines, Neill recounted.

Church members described Rodis as a dedicated leader and said they were stunned to learn he had been accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars by funneling church donations into a secret bank account he set up in the church’s name.

"We’ve had people take a few hundred bucks out of the plate, but nothing of this magnitude,’’ said William Etherington, a lawyer for the Richmond diocese. Rodis could not be reached for comment.