12:16 PM |
Unholy scandal as churchgoers fleeced
By NEIL REID - Sunday NewsA high-profile lawyer investigating claims some Pacific Islands clergy are ripping off followers will discuss her findings at an international church conference in Hong Kong on Friday.
Samoan-born Auckland lawyer Olinda Woodroffe is probing allegations of impropriety including that:
Impoverished congregation members felt they were being "emotionally blackmailed" to hand over cash-filled envelopes to clergy at funerals.
A minister gained loans on behalf of a church for his own use.
Clergy bought property using church money, then transferred the purchases into family trusts.
A pastor allegedly "double-dipped" by being paid to do routine bookwork.
Woodroffe said she would brief delegates at the World Mission of Churches Commission after being invited to the global meeting.
Woodroffe vowed to crack down on any ministers "corruptly" giving their congregation an impression there was a dollar-price on going to heaven.
"I care about those who are poorer by their commitment to 'God's Work'," she told Sunday News.
"I see poverty, the struggle and people's spirits being reduced because they feel betrayed.
"The time has come when we have to do something about it."
Woodroffe said her investigation had uncovered instances of ministers being paid $500 to $2000 a time by grieving families for turning up at a funeral and reading a prayer.
Vulnerable families, many with little to spare, felt under pressure to hand over the money in "big envelopes".
It added to the heartbreak of vulnerable families, many of whom Woodroffe said were poverty stricken.
"I have seen ... the arguments, the tears, the worry and the concern of how are they going to keep their public face [if they don't pay]," Woodroffe said.
"In God's name, this is a disgrace. But it is almost like an embarrassment if you don't toe the line."
Aside from the practice being "ethically corrupt", it was also illegal, Woodroffe said.
"It is unlawful to give a large sum of money in an envelope because there are tax issues," she said.
"If they take this money, they are obliged under the laws of this country to disclose it and pay tax on it."
The ministers had claimed the practice was part of Polynesian "culture", she said. But Woodroffe, whose ancestors included missionaries in the Pacific Islands, said that was rubbish.
"It is a make-up culture to suit a church minister's pockets. At the moment there are some who want to shut me up. But I will not be shut up on this issue.
"I care very deeply about the people that are being abused."
She contrasted such cash requests with the behaviour of the ministers who officiated at her mother's funeral in Samoa in 1990.
"All they did was help. They came and sat with us, brought little things for our children and there was never a hand-out for them," Woodroffe said. "It was the other way around. We were just amazed at the love they gave us."
Church officials approached by Sunday News this week said their clergy would never demand cash payments from grieving family members. Officiating at events such as funerals was covered by their payments – or stipends.
Reverend Martin Baker, assembly executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, said anyone who felt aggrieved should complain to church bosses.
"We have very robust complaints procedures," Baker said. "We would take it very seriously ... we have no complaints [of that sort]."
Lyndsay Freer, spokeswoman for Catholic Church of Auckland, said the practices investigated by Woodroffe were "reprehensible".
"It would very much be against all the principles and practices of the Catholic church. It goes against their vocation as ministers of the church," she said.
Anglican Diocese of Auckland secretary Geoff Clark said: "It is very clearly documented that priests of the Anglican church who earn stipends are not allowed to have any other income.
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pacific islands media association
pima.nius@gmail.com
aotearoa, new zealand
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