A Catholic priest in Italy has been arrested and accused of stealing over $100,000 from his parish which he then used to fund drug-fueled gay sex parties with his roommate.
Father Francesco Spagnesi, 40, was put on house arrest after authorities received a tip that his roommate was buying and importing the date-rape drug GHB, which they then sold to guests at his sex parties. According to Corriere, Spagnesi allegedly confessed to his lawyers and has promised to make full restitution to the parishioners he victimized.
“So much pain,” Bishop Giovanni Nerbini said in a videotaped message to parishioners at the Annunciation at Castellina after news of Spagnesi’s arrest broke earlier this month.
Nerbini said church leaders became suspicious last spring about financial transfers from the parish coffers to Spagnesi. When he confronted the popular priest, Nerbini explained, “I was told that it was aid for needy people in the parish.”
As the internal investigation unfolded, however, he was forced to relieve Spagnesi of both his ministerial and fiduciary responsibilities at the parish. He then gave the priest a year-long sabbatical.
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