Disgraced parish priest caught stealing £200 during Sunday collection escapes jail – but still faces expulsion from church

A disgraced parish priest who stole £200 from his church’s Sunday collection was given a suspended prison sentence on Tuesday.

Father Fortunato Pantisano, 44, has contested the charge and still maintains his innocence, but he now faces possible expulsion from the Roman Catholic Church.

The Italian-born priest, ordained at Westminster Cathedral in 2013, was based at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Tynemouth Street, in Fulham, west London.

District Judge Daniel Sternberg told him: “You were identified on video surveillance as entering a locked office at the church where you worked and taking two plates containing the money that had been collected.”

He added: “No credit can be given to you for any type of confession and you continue to deny these offences today.

“You told your pre-sentence report writer that you were entitled to this money and, obviously, the trial court decided that you were not entitled to this money.”

Father Pantisano was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £200 compensation to the church, £654 costs and a £154 victim surcharge.

He was forced to move into accommodation at St. Edward’s Convent, Harewood Avenue, Marylebone while on bail and was convicted of stealing money from Our Lady of Perpetual Help on January 7.

Judge Sternberg told the priest: “This is an offence of great culpability because you were a person of high trust, of high position as a minister of religion and you abused that trust.”

He continued: “This offence is very serious but you have a strong chance of rehabilitation and there is some personal mitigation.

“You have no previous convictions and you were of good character and positive character through your role in the church and you will no longer be able to continue in your vocation as a minister of religion.

“This offence is so serious that the threshold for detention has been crossed.”

Father Pantisano’s attorney, Tony Meisels, said: “Clearly, Father Pantisano has lost his good reputation. This is his first criminal conviction and he has lost a lot because of this situation.

“He was on sabbatical and got paid last month, but he doesn’t know if he’ll get paid this month while they decide what to do within the Roman Catholic Church.

“He has a meeting tomorrow with the Vicar General, where the Church is, and I think it is fair to say that he will no longer be able to practise in the Roman Catholic Church and could face canonical proceedings.

“He has been working for the Church for twenty-four years. This is his life.”

Prosecutor Connie Wong told Westminster Magistrates’ Court today that it was after the second Mass on Sunday January 7 that Fr Pantisano was caught on internal CCTV entering the office adjoining his church accommodation.

She said: “He was a priest in the church but he was suspended from service at the time and walked over to two plates and left the room.

“The total amount of money stolen was estimated at £200.”

The trial heard that the priest had been reported to police by parish volunteer John McGranaghan, who had placed the two wicker baskets in a locked office, which could also be accessed from the priest’s home.

He told the trial: “It was the collection from the parishioners for the two masses that morning.

“We went back to count the offering and there were two empty baskets and the collection was gone.”

He suggested that the collection money had disappeared from the church recently.

Mr McGranaghan said: “Because of what had happened over the previous weeks I decided to come back and count the money that day.”

Fortunately, CCTV cameras installed in the office showed Father Pantisano entering through an adjacent door, removing the two baskets containing money from the room, and then returning them empty.

Westminster diocese director of resources Robert Walker told the court there are strict rules around fundraising and individual priests cannot simply take the money for themselves.

Regarding CCTV, he said: “I basically see money being passed from one hand to another and it being taken without permission.

“He takes individual tickets from the baskets and leaves with the money.

“There was no reason for him to be there at that time, especially since he was suspended.”

Father Pantisano was arrested on April 30 and gave a “no comment” interview at Hammersmith police station.

He testified at trial that he had not been suspended and had a right to be in the office, but that he could not remember whether he had taken any of the money collected.

He said: “I don’t remember taking any money. If I did, it wasn’t my intention to be dishonest, it might have been to buy food, I don’t remember.”

“Sometimes there are emergencies, like homeless people who need money or charitable help, or priests who need to buy food.”

Prosecutor Nathan Paine-Davey asked the priest: “It’s not credible to say you don’t remember taking the money, is it? That’s what brought you here today.”

“You entered this office by unlocking the door on your side and you took this money. That’s the truth, isn’t it?”

Father Pantisano replied: “I am a priest and I have the right to be there. The money is given so that the priests can decide what they want to do.”

“I deny stealing and have no further comment.”

Mr Paine-Davey told magistrates: “The defendant cannot tell you why he had his hands in the baskets and removed them from view. It is not credible.”

“The purpose of removing the baskets was to steal money out of sight of surveillance cameras and it is only now that we are hearing this vague and disjointed account of what happened.

“You can’t just get your hands dirty. That’s dishonesty.”

Trial judges told Father Pantisano that he had no credibility on the witness stand and that his testimony helped the prosecution against him.

In his impact statement, Mr Walker said: “This has caused incredible mistrust between the Church and parishioners. It only takes one person doing something wrong to ruin the reputation of others.”

The court heard that Father Pantisano’s parents, aged 75 and 73, still live in his native Calabria and that he has a brother in Milan and another in France.

Mr Meisels explained: “He suffers from medical problems, anxiety and depression.

“He was living in a convent, but because of the publicity surrounding the case, he was told he could not live there.”

The priest’s mental health has been adversely affected since an undisclosed allegation was made against him in 2018 while he was a parish priest in north London, the court heard.

Mr Meisels added: “He hasn’t really accepted the offence and there is a degree of denial in the report and he is keen to put that behind him and move on with his life.

The lawyer argued that the offence did not rise to the highest level of breach of trust.

He said: “I understand he was a priest in a church, but the greater guilt lies with those who occupy a much higher position, with a higher degree of trust than a priest in a small church with a small amount of money…

“He has really lost a lot. His position, his income, his career. He has already lost a lot and whatever punishment he receives today will be even worse.”

Community service was not a sentencing option as Father Pantisano had no intention of remaining in the UK.