In a Jan 29 statement given to The Church of England Newspaper Bishop Dawani alleged that shortly before Bishop Riah’s retirement in 2007, Bishop Riah transferred the assets of the diocesan school to a charitable trust.“Members of the charity include Bishop Riah's wife and nephew. Through this charity, Bishop Riah, is collecting the tuition from the students and is not depositing the monies in the school's official bank account, whilst, all the employees at the school are official Diocesan institution employees and receive their salaries from the Diocese,” he said.
The issue was brought to a head, Bishop Suheil said, when Bishop Riah refused to vacate the diocese’s Nazareth offices, claiming they were his own property.
Bishop Suheil brought suit and on Jan 22 a Nazareth court issued an injunction against Bishop Riah and his family, ordering them to give an accounting and banning them from the property.
Bishop Riah has denied the charges and told CEN there never was a diocesan office in Nazareth. He further stated the school’s finances were separate from the diocese.
“Supported by the parents of the students and the many friends through out the world, by the grace of God, I managed to raise the necessary funds to build the Campus. I -- personally, and not as a Bishop or a priest, often guaranteed the school account when it went in the red by hundreds of thousands of shekels,” he said.
The decision to form the charity was taken at the request of the Israeli Ministry of Education, he said, noting that all funds collected by the charity were under the “direct supervision” of the registrar “as well as the State Comptroller. Not a single penny was used to benefit any except the school children and their teachers.
“To build takes years. To destroy takes minutes. That is how Bishop Suheil starts his ministry” Bishop Riah charged. “The Court case is still in the beginning. This negative energy will serve neither the Diocese nor our Palestinian people and certainly not the family of the Campus,” he said.
Bishop Suheil was not being entirely straightforward in his account, Bishop Riah said. In Feb 2007 the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams “having become aware of difficulties in relationships, named Bishop Michael Langrish of Exeter as an Honest Broker to bridge the gap” between the two factions.
“I thankfully accepted and made the necessary booking to fly to England while bishop Suheil bluntly declined,” he said. Bishop Suheil’s office declined comment on the latest round of charges.
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