The following was provided to us in relation to a rather serious allegation made of fraud - comitted intenionally or otherwise - against a bishop of an Independent Catholic Church but which remains unresolved.We would hope that by posting this correspondence hereupon that the matter may now be finally resolved and the money returned whence it came.
Dear Bishops,
It is with great sadness and with a heavy heart that I must write to you to lodge a formal complaint against what I regard as the misconduct of Bishop Linda Round Nichols, the Dean of the Sophia Divinity School of the Church of Antioch.
Do rest assured that before taking this course of action, I have tried to put matters right with the Bishop, appealing to the honesty and the dignity that should be concomitant with the high office that she holds. Sadly my efforts have been to no avail, and not only has she refused to discuss this matter further, but has accused me of harassment and on several occasions misrepresented the truth to myself and to other parties concerned.
Please bear with me as I state the facts for your consideration.
This is a matter with regards to a donation of $400 that Bishop Nichols received via Paypal from my dear friend and soulmate Ms Duval from xxxxx, USA to coincide with my ordination as sub-deacon last Sunday. Out of the kindness of her heart – and being totally unfamiliar with either the ISM movement, let alone the Church of Antioch – Ms Duval made a donation of $400 believing that I was still a student at the Sophia Divinity School, so that I could benefit from free tuition in the future. As common sense dictates and my friend has stated, this donation was made purely for my tuition as a seminarian and was never meant to be a gift to Bishop Nichols for her to keep or a donation to the Church of Antioch.
I should point out that Ms Duval is by no way rich and that this figure of $400 represents a significant effort (and indeed a most beautiful gesture) on her part. You can read her communication in this regard later.
Unbeknown to her - and to Bishop Linda Nichols, who had not picked up the email that I had sent to her to that effect as of yet - I had quit Sophia just about the same day when the donation (which was meant to be anonymous, though of course I instantly knew who the donor was) took place. I made clear in that and subsequent occasions that I was not going to return to Sophia in the future for reasons that have nothing to do with that institution or the personality of Bishop Nichols – with whom I believed I had a good relationship up to that point.
Logically the moment I knew about these moneys – and having previously established that I was not going to continue with Sophia - I asked Bishop Linda Nichols to return them to their originator, the kind-hearted and greater loser in this story Ms Aleta Duval. Bishop Linda has refused to do that. Ms Duval contacted Bishop Linda to ask for a refund and she was informed that these moneys were not refundable and that she intended to keep them. In doing so she misrepresented the truth at least twice, both to Ms Duval and to me. You have proof of that in the email communications you can read below and all others that I’ll be happy to submit to you if you wish to investigate this matter further.
Needless to say Ms Duval is as much saddened and confounded as I am, though out of deference and being totally unfamiliar with Sophia or the Church of Antioch she has chosen not to speak up and to suffer this matter and grieve in silence and agreed with Bishop Nichols having previously been misinformed by her regarding this matter.
I am requesting that Ms Duval be refunded her $400 immediately. Bishop Nichols has no right to keep moneys that do not rightfully belong to her and that were sent to her by mistake. That is what any serious institution would do. To complicate matters further, the fact that Bishop Nichols has not been forthcoming with the truth to both Ms Duval and myself worries me and gives me serious cause for concern.
I appreciate your listening to me in this matter and I urge you to act according to your conscience. I would just like to add to the above that I have in fact thanked Ms Duval but refused to receive those moneys and that I have no ulterior plans to have them forwarded to me at all.
May God be with you all,
Oscar Del Santo
SIC: PVT/USA