A former Roman Catholic pastor can’t get out of a grand theft conviction for scooping cash out of weekly collections by claiming his prosecution constituted “excessive entanglement with religion,” the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday.
The Rev. Francis Benedict Guinan was convicted after two bookkeepers reported his cash thefts and a $675-a-week phantom employee. Witnesses testified the Delray Beach pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church took frequent out-of-state trips to destinations such as Las Vegas, Ireland and the Bahamas. A forensic examiner found a cash shortfall of $372,343.
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