Troy — Fr. Edward Belczak has been required to temporarily step aside
as pastor of St. Thomas More Parish, Troy, as the Archdiocese of Detroit and
police investigate “questionable financial transactions” at the parish
involving more than $400,000 over six years.

Fr. Belczak, 67, has been “excluded from the office of pastor” at the
parish, said an Archdiocese of Detroit news release, meaning he is prohibited
from acting as its pastor until an archdiocesan investigation is complete. Fr.
Belczak’s standing as a priest has not been affected, but he will not remain in
residence at St. Thomas More during the course of the investigation.

Msgr. John Zenz, pastor of Holy Name Parish, Birmingham, and episcopal
vicar for the archdiocese’s Northwest Region, has been named temporary
administrator of St. Thomas More.

Fr. Belczak is under investigation for allegedly misappropriating and
mismanaging $429,000 over the past six years that included:

• Compensating himself in excess of what is allowed by archdiocesan
  policies, resulting in an estimated loss to the parish of $92,000.


• Paying a “ghost employee,” including benefits, at an estimated loss to
  the parish of $240,000.


• Accepting and directing funds to himself that should have been posted
  to parish accounts, at an estimated loss to the parish of $16,000.


• Providing improper medical and dental benefits for an individual at an
  estimated $26,000 loss to the parish.


• Authorizing a long-term disability policy for one employee, while not
  providing a similar benefit to other parish staff members, at an estimated
  $20,000 loss to the parish.


• Allowing for the operation of the St. Thomas More Travel Group as a
  parish-related activity, while failing to disclose its financial transactions,
  records or bank accounts for reporting or official purposes.


• Accepting, but not depositing or recording in parish accounts,
  residual commission checks to the St. Thomas More Travel Group, at an estimated
  $25,000 loss to the parish.


• Failing to record or deposit funds received through special Mother’s
  Day and Father’s Day collections according to archdiocesan policies.


• Failing to monitor more than $10,000 found in an employee’s office
  desk.

The Troy Police Department is also conducting an investigation, and the
Archdiocese of Detroit is fully cooperating with civil authorities.

Parish staff and council members were informed of Fr. Belczak’s removal
the afternoon of Jan. 22 after the archdiocese said an audit found evidence of
the questionable financial dealings.

Fr. Belczak has been pastor of St. Thomas More Parish, which has nearly
2,500 families, for 29 years. Before then he was associate pastor of Our Lady
of Sorrows Parish, Farmington, from 1980-84, and associate pastor and then
co-pastor of National Shrine of the Little Flower Parish, Royal Oak, from
1972-80. Fr. Belczak was ordained in 1972 after being educated at Sacred Heart
Seminary in Detroit and St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth Township.