Monk-To-Be Shared Credit Card

Although monastic candidates at Holy Cross Academy train for lives of poverty and spirituality, at least one – the adopted son of the school’s spiritual leader – carried a school-provided American Express card and rang up thousands in expenses, records show.

Petro Terenta, 20, one of five Ukrainian monks-in-training at Holy Cross, used the platinum credit-card account, with school approval, for the mundane: groceries at Publix, toiletries at Walgreens and books for college.

He also charged $40-to-$50 meals at Longhorn Steakhouse, TGI Friday’s, Siam Palace, South Garden and Pizza Hut, according to school records provided to prosecutors.

Terenta’s monthly expenses often totaled more than $1,000, records show.

”When we interviewed Terenta, he said he led a completely monastic life that included celibacy, poverty and prayer,” said Assistant State Attorney Gail Levine, who is scrutinizing life at the monastery as part of the investigation of the murder Sister Michelle Lewis at the school. ”The school has led us to believe that the Ukrainian students led monastic lives, and we are not sure what a monastic life would be in light of what we have found out.”

James McGuirk, an attorney for the monastery, said Terenta was given the card to pay for expenses of all the monks-in-training.

Holy Cross, a private school in West Kendall, came under scrutiny from police and prosecutors after Lewis, the school’s bookkeeper who was studying to be a nun, was murdered on campus March 25. One of the monastic candidates, Mykhaylo Kofel, 18, has admitted to killing Lewis.

He also triggered a broader investigation by telling police he had been sexually molested by the headmaster, Father Abbot Gregory Wendt, and his assistant, Father Damian Gibault. He also accused his father in the Ukraine of sexual abuse. All three have denied the accusations, and no charges have been filed against them.

Terenta, who was adopted by Wendt, was Kofel’s weekday roommate while the two attended Barry University. As monastic candidates, they were not allowed to socialize with women or only had limited amounts of cash, according to the school.

McGuirk defended the credit card charges as appropriate.

‘A Normal Diet’

”The restaurant charges listed are charges for takeout food for the monastic candidates,” he said in a prepared statement. ”These candidates do receive a normal American diet at Holy Cross, and it includes food prepared at restaurants such as Italian, Chinese and others. They are not expected to live on bread and water.”

He said Terenta, as the most senior member of the group, also used the credit card ”for shopping errands on behalf of the monastery.”

Terenta’s attorney, Clark Mervis, said the credit card was nothing out of the ordinary.

”Mr. Terenta was issued a credit card by the school for authorized expenses, and that’s what it was used for,” he said.

Three parties shared the American Express account, according to court records. Wendt was the main cardholder, with additional cards authorized for Gibault and Terenta. Records also indicate that Terenta had a friendship with a female student at Barry, a woman who gave him a Valentine’s Day card this year addressed to ”Blue Eyes.”

Hearts And Arrows

In the card, Claudia Guido, 21, of Miami, thanked the monk-in-training for ”all the joy you bring to my life” and for ”making me smile.” After signing her name, she drew hearts with arrows through them, records from a search warrant show.

The Barry student told prosecutors she often ate out with Terenta, went to the movies with him and chatted with him on his cellular telephone, also provided by the school.

She told prosecutors that she did not seek Terenta out for religious counseling: ”We’re friends,” she said.

McGuirk said the two were classmates and lab partners. Guido did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Her card was found in Terenta’s room in the Miami Shores duplex he shared with Kofel.

During a search of the house, where Wendt also occasionally stayed, detectives also found Valium and an anti-inflammatory drug. Both prescriptions were in Wendt’s name.