He may call himself "Father Joe" or "Father John", but he's no Roman Catholic priest.
"It's
awful. On Easter Sunday when people are so full of hope and gratitude
and donating to the community," said Kara Tertzaglividini.
He was
polite when he suddenly appeared at Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in
Wyandotte at the conclusion of the Polish spoken mass for the
resurrection on Easter Sunday morning.
He looked like a priest wearing a
white collar, but he's a con man.
"He tends to know things about
the parish's schedule, the layout of the church, where the collections
might be kept. He just asks if he can visit father, and he seems to know
how to get where he needs to go," said Joe Kohn with the Archdiocese of
Detroit.
The archdiocese is investigating with police and
warning that Catholic churches in Detroit, Dearborn and now Wyandotte
have been ripped off in these most unholy acts.
"I think it's
just terrible. This is a nice church. It's a nice community. It's a
shame to see
people do that," said Dawn Chmiel.
The archdiocese
says that legitimate priests have had their wallets, a watch and church
collection cash ripped off by the guy, but his largest take may have
been after Easter Sunday mass in Wyandotte.
"They have more people come to the church on Easter and Christmas than probably any
other day of the year," Chmiel said.
"Christmas
and on Easter, that's when you're going to have a lot more people in
the pews than you usually do have, so that's going to make a big
opportunity in terms of how much they can make off with. So, that
certainly seemed to be a factor here," Kohn said.
The parishes
all describe a Hispanic male in his thirties, 5'0" to 5'3" tall,
weighing 130 to 150 pounds with a receding hairline. He was wearing or
carrying a white collar.
He's also been seen with a larger, white
man in his late fifties or sixties. His height is 6'0" or taller and he
weighs between 225 to 235 pounds.
The parishes need to pay bills out of the Sunday collection, but the money is also used for needy families in the community.
"Mount
Carmel has done so much to help this community, which really needs help
right now. To hear that somebody would prey upon a church is so
disheartening," Tertzaglividini said.