American Notes

Did Monsignor John F. Morales forsake the Almighty for the almighty dollar? That's what federal authorities claimed last week, as they put Morales on trial in Hammond, Ind., along with assorted officials of Steelworkers Local 1014, for skimming profits from a multimillion-dollar bingo operation.

Morales is charged with allowing the game's operators to use first St. Mark's parish in Gary, then Nativity of Our Savior in Portage, as a front to avoid the scrutiny of local authorities. Flyers went out to four states advertising the high-pot Nativity bingo.

On good nights, the games, held at the United Steelworkers' Hall, could allegedly bring in $100,000 -- none of which ever made it into church coffers. In addition, the 56-year-old clergyman is accused of falsifying records on the bingo games, conducting an illegal gambling game and conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.