HARTFORD – In unrelated incidents, Archbishop Henry J. Mansell has revoked one priest’s faculties to perform public ministry in the Archdiocese and has placed another priest on administrative leave pending an investigation.
Father Kevin J. Gray, a priest of the Archdiocese, is charged with stealing $1.3 million from Sacred Heart/Sagrado Corazon Parish in Waterbury over seven years. He was the pastor there from 2003 until April 15.
Hartford archdiocesan officials said they were "deeply saddened" by the "profound effect" Father Gray’s arrest on July 6 had on the parish.
Police said Father Gray, 64, used the stolen funds to buy designer clothing, stay in fancy hotels and dine in expensive restaurants during trips to New York City and Boston.
Father Gray pleaded not guilty on July 21 when he was arraigned in Waterbury Superior Court. According to court documents, he was being held on a $750,000 bond.
Archbishop Mansell had placed Father Gray on medical leave on April 15 because Father Gray said that he had been suffering from cancer for some time. Father Gray has since admitted he does not have cancer.
Archdiocesan officials asked the police to launch an investigation following a review of the parish finances indicating that the priest may have depleted parish funds for his own use.
The money came from a parish savings account as well as a fund earmarked for paying the parish’s bills, including insurance premiums.
The Archdiocese said in a statement that on a financial level, it "continues to work with the parish to improve its financial controls and to address issues arising from the situation such as insurance coverage and outstanding indebtedness."
"At the spiritual level, we continue to pray for healing and consolation for the parish family as it moves forward, and for guidance and reconciliation for Father Gray as he encounters the legal proceedings that await him," it said.
The arrest warrant says that Father Gray was the only person at the church with access to its financial records and there was no committee or council with financial oversight. That is a violation of archdiocesan policy and procedures, according to a statement from the Archdiocese.
In the other incident, Father Stephen Bzdyra, Pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Seymour, was placed on administrative leave July 8 after it was alleged that he sexually abused a boy in the 1980s.
An investigation is ongoing.
William Dotson, 34, of New Haven, filed a civil lawsuit on July 7 against the priest, claiming that Father Bzdyra abused him first at St. Francis Parish in New Haven, and later as Pastor of St. Hedwig Parish in Naugatuck.
