Fr Lawrence Kozak was arrested in April 2024 for theft of funds from his parish, St Thomas More. The priest had an online gaming habit for Candy Crush and Mario Kart Tour racking up high debts. With what seems like a lot of extra time on his hands for his gaming and the temptation of a parish credit card, he dealt his own fate. He was charged with multiple felony theft charges.
Kozak pleaded guilty to theft by receiving stolen property in a Chester County courtroom last Friday. He was sentenced to two years probation. He has repaid the parish.
Since his arrest he has been residing at Sacred Heart parish in Clifton Heights. Steal from one parish, given lodging at another. The parish shuffle continues in Philly. Priests under arrest also still receive salaries and benefits. With his lodging, salary and benefits, Kozak was in good shape to pay the full restitution. His salary from the Archdiocese comes from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Clergy Office since he was removed from the parish,. The Archdiocese is funded by the 12% the diocese takes from all of the parish collections. If you are a parishioner in the Philly Archdiocese who drops an envelope in the basket, you helped pay the restitution. Your money.
Kozak’s apology in court was hopefully serenaded by violins . It was his father’s death, Covid isolation, pain from from a previous injury that caused his gaming obsession to worsen. He apologizes for not being more attentive. While the apology rings hollow, the real apology should be coming from Archbishop Nelson Perez who promoted and installed Kozak to pastor of St Thomas More in July 2020.
With the current priest shortage and the “have a pulse, get a parish” way that priests are promoted to pastors, Kozak’s 2020 promotion to pastor at St Thomas More is surprising even in an Archdiocese that always manages to scrape the bottom of the barrel and have unsuspecting parishioners pay the consequences. Kozak should have never been the pastor in the first place. Perez knows that But the parish will never get the chance to speak with him.
Multiple attempts to contact Fr Kozak have gone unanswered. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia currently has shut out Catholics4Change completely, not that their previous communications provided any transparency. Fr John Donia who is now parish administrator of St Thomas More parish also has not replied to our emails. That’s especially disappointing as he was my daughter’s high school chaplain at Bishop Shanahan. Nor has Fr Stephen Leva of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Review Board. Archbishop Perez is busy posting photos while dining al fresco in Rome.
Now with the guilty plea will Bishop McIntyre make a repeat performance and visit St Thomas More as he did when the thefts first came to light? I would say get your popcorn ready and watch the livestream masses for the show that will take place at St Thomas More, but none of this is funny. Not only have the parishioners suffered, but the tragedy extends beyond Kozak’s gaming habit that has become a bit of a joke in the Archdiocese. This is not simply a case of a sad sack priest allowing a gaming habit to get out of control and Archbishop Perez knows that, and he knew it in July 2020.
Ask Fr John Donia. Ask Fr Stephen Leva. If Bishop McIntyre shows up, speak up from the pew and ask him.
Who will take to the pulpit and what version of the truth will the parishioners at St Thomas More be told? Stay tuned.
Read here for the local news coverage of the guilty plea :https://share.inquirer.com/EC5gHt
Catholics4Change 
Kathy,Keep up your good work!
Kathy,
At St. Thomas of Villanova we can put “for parish use only” on our check. Supposedly this keeps the money from the archdiocese! It is an Augustinian parish, and maybe this helps.Brian
So glad I have stopped “funding” these people since I left the church. What a
disgrace over and over again.
Seems like being a priest is a pretty cushy job.
Time to play online games.
Time to download porn.
Time to travel to Rome on the Archdiocese’s dime – aka the faithful’s contributions
Time to take a second job as a travel agent. Google Zachary Navit and Cloverdale Travel. 12 days in Italy – 12 days in the Holy Land – 10 on the Danube River
But they will close your parish for lack of priest.
Deplorable “candy crush”-saga gate. We’ll see no accountability partners at St Thomas More though ideally as his candy crush c-19 cleric-defense team.
Grateful Priests Dad as dead, as Id not be proud of my son here. Shipped-off to yet another parish paid, fed on the parishioners coin is inexcusable.
Day we feel Teens won’t queue-in to social media drama not possible. Any teen who is failing their studies could use “Kovak Candy Crush PTSD” as a validation & receive a diploma, sad.