In Brief
Germany: The lovers quarrel according to cardinal Lehmann
During a manifestation which formed part of the festivities for the 475th anniversary of the Spire Protest, on April 22 Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Bishops Conference, called for an in-depth ecumenical dialogue. According to him, the Evangelical and Catholic Churches must achieve an ever growing ecclesial unity. Dialogue between the two Churches must end in a lovers quarrel, as there is a strong potential for consensus on many questions which for a long time have seemed insurmountable. Ecumenism, more ecumenism, and still more ecumenism!
Singapore: Seven and a half years in prison for three million embezzled euros
On April 22, Fr. Joachim Kang Hock Chai, former priest of the parish of St.Teresa in Singapore, was condemned to seven and a half years imprisonment for misappropriation of funds and breach of trust. The sum embezzled is close to three million euros (see DICI n° 95). The judge, Mrs. Jasvender Kaur, explained the severity of the imposed sentence: The bigger the trust placed in a person, the more severe the penalty when that trust is breached.
The archbishop of Singapore, Mgr. Nicholas Chia, said he was mortified by this affair. From now on, the accounts of each parish will be managed by a qualified accountant. An accounting computer system has already been installed everywhere. As regards the management of all parish funds, the banks and financial institutions will accept only instructions which are countersigned by the archbishop. All checks of a value of more than 5000 Singapore dollars will be required to carry two signatures.- An archbishop forewarned is an archbishop forearmed.
