Archdiocese pays off gambling debts of a clergyman

The archdiocese of Cologne is being criticised because it paid the gambling debts of a clergy from the special assets of the church. To be more precise, the archdiocese of Cologne seems to have paid gambling debts amounting to half a million for one of its clergies. Besides this, there is an even higher amount which was paid to the Tax Authority. But is the church actually allowed to carry out such transactions?

Just a few weeks ago we had reported about an eighty-year-old nun from California , who had gambled away around 800,000 US-Dollar from the school funds. Today’s case is about the archdiocese of Cologne. The fact that the archdiocese has paid a high six-figure amount to pay off the gambling debts of a clergy is beyond understanding for the public. The “Kölner Stadtanzeiger“ (KStA) was the first to report about this incident.

Funds seem to have come from the special assets fund of the church

The archdiocese of Cologne has allegedly spent high amounts of money to pay off the gambling debts of a clergyman. The talk is here of a sum amounting to nearly half a million Euro. Besides this, the archdiocese of Cologne seems to have paid another 650,000 Euro for this case to the Tax Authorities. The Ecclesiastical Administrative District seems to have transferred a total of around 1.5 million Euro.

What is shocking in this case is that the million amount was paid from a special assets fund of the church. Originally the aim of this fund was to offer compensation payment for victims of abuse by the clergy. This is the special assets fund which is called “Fonds für Bedürfnisse des Bistums (BB-Fonds)“. It is therefore no wonder that the public is complaining that the assets are being used for completely different purposes.

Over 490,000 Euro paid to cover gambling debts of a clergyman

During the period between July 2015 and June 2016 the exact sum of 493.697,82 Euro was paid out from the BB-Fonds to cover the gambling debts of a clergyman. These debts had been previously accumulated through gambling. The problem however is not only in the payment itself.

In the following years, those responsible, became aware that the payment they had made to the clergymen in the form of debt repayment was taxable. For this reason, the archdiocese of Cologne denounced itself and paid another 650,000 euro for income tax, including interest to the Tax Authority in 2020.

It is however questionable, whether the archdiocese of Cologne acted legally. At the end of the day the funds of the special assets of the BB-Funds were intended for other purposes and the fact that they were accessed to cover the gambling debts is illegal. The archdiocese of Cologne does not seem to have consulted any committees or supervisory bodies about this decision.

The Archdiocese of Cologne talked about this case to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and stated as follows:

“When priests are in need, the Archdiocese tries to support them within the framework of its obligations (…)”

Conclusion

The actual case of the archdiocese of Cologne has further contributed to the lack of trust towards the church. It is not clear why those responsible have acted ignorantly without consulting any committees and have forked out the necessary money from the special assets, which were actually intended for other purposes. But now it is too late: The Archdiocese of Cologne has lost a total of 1.15 million Euro to cover the gambling debts of a clergyman and even had to pay out the horrendous income tax bill including interest.

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