The first theft.
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Two million dollars stolen from a Spanish Cistercian Monastery. The nuns kept the cash in a cupboard in plastic bags. One source says it was their 'life' savings, as it were, while another suggests it is the proceeds from the sale of paintings by their artist in residence, Sr. Isabel Guerra. Her paintings are highly prized and well done - she is a master painter. What is most sad about this story - outside the fact that the nuns stupidly stashed all of that cash in a monastery cupboard - is that this will most likely give thieves new ideas about raiding monasteries and rural parsonages - for cash and treasure.
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The second theft.
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A friend of Sr. Patricia, Sister Marie Thornton, former Vice President of Finance for Iona College in New Rochelle, pleaded guilty to embezzlement in Manhattan federal court Wednesday. Sr. Marie T submitted false invoices and had the college pay her credit card balances to the tune of $850,000.00. So much for that vow of poverty, huh?
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Top Photo: Isabel Guerra. I'm told she does not use a brush to paint, rather a palette knife. More paintings here.
Middle Photo: Sr. T.
Lower Photo: Sr. Patricia (Sr. Oprah) - living high off the hog someplace in Michigan - currently scheduled to star in a Catholic television talk show.
