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RI bishop accused of embezzlement
Hubertus Leteng (Courtesy Konferensi Waligereja Indonesia)Pope Francis on Wednesday accepted the resignation of an Indonesian bishop from Flores Island who had been accused by his own priests of having a mistress and embezzling more than US$100,000 of Church funds for personal use
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Hubertus Leteng (Courtesy Konferensi Waligereja Indonesia)
Pope Francis on Wednesday accepted the resignation of an Indonesian bishop from Flores Island who had been accused by his own priests of having a mistress and embezzling more than US$100,000 of Church funds for personal use.
Ruteng bishop Hubertus Leteng will be replaced temporarily by Silvester San, the Bali-based Bishop of Denpasar, pending a new appointment, the Ruteng Diocese said in a press release to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The announcement was made on Wednesday evening at the Ruteng Diocese quarters in Flores at around the same time the Vatican provided a similar appointment update, which did not enter into the details
of the case.
It was not immediately apparent whether the case would be further scrutinized by the Holy See.
The update came from Fabio Salerno of the Apostolic Nunciature in Jakarta — a diplomatic mission of the Holy See equivalent to an embassy — who had asked all parties present to pray for the bishop at the end of his seven-year service at the diocese.
According to the Agence France-Presse, a total of 69 priests were reported to have resigned in June in protest of Hubertus’ conduct, prompting a Vatican probe into allegations he took US$94,000 from the Indonesian bishops’ conference and $30,000 from his own diocese in unregistered transactions.
Hubertus had denied the allegations, but he offered no explanation for his sudden departure on Wednesday, at the age of 58, 17 years before the usual retirement age for a bishop.
The probe into Hubertus’ alleged misconduct had been based on the testimony of Siprianus Palus, a former priest at the Ruteng Diocese, who claims to have witnessed firsthand the relationship between Hubertus and his “adopted daughter,” Sayang Decinta Devada Panjaitan.
“The bishop’s adopted daughter would often ask for money and he would provide it. In some cases, [Sayang] would demand money and even chide or threaten him if there wasn’t enough of it,” Siprianus said, claiming in addition that she would deliberately ask Hubertus to skim any incoming funds and put them into her account.
Some of the funds, he said, were actually meant for orphanages, or were stipends and deposits from other people. Siprianus claimed that at one point Hubertus wired Rp 20 million to the woman’s account after she had complained about a stomach ache caused by the onset of a pregnancy.
Another damaging account from Siprianus detailed the bishop sending money on Sayang’s family in Kefa-Atambua, as well as a failed application for an Rp 250 million loan to finance a house.
The former priest showed the Post a bank account slip detailing five transactions totaling Rp 25 million funneled through his account and into another owned by the women’s family.
The latter transaction proved to have stoked tensions between Hubert and his brother Titus, who refused to vouch for the application, Siprianus said.
Both the bishop and the woman then allegedly proceeded to forge documents required in another loan application at a different state bank, which Siprianus said was granted.
“It was as if the adopted daughter had a license to practice medicine in Karang Anyar Bali with [all the accompanying documents] — all of it was forged,” he said.
The case had not been reported to the local police.
