GARDEN GROVE

GARDEN GROVE A long-time member of the Crystal Cathedral, whose wife is buried at the church’s cemetery, has filed a claim seeking $50,000 for two cemetery sites, $5.6 million from founding pastor Robert H. Schuller and $30 billion from the Catholic Church.

David E. Phillippe, of Victorville, argued that Schuller and the Cathedral’s board of directors, “that acted at Schuller’s bidding,” mismanaged the ministry’s money and caused the bankruptcy.

The sale of the bankrupt church’s building to the Catholic Diocese of Orange has “permanently desecrated” the campus, Phillippe wrote in his claim, filed April 2 in federal bankruptcy court.

The transfer in February to the Catholic Church also “defamed, polluted, cursed with moral, ethical cultural, criminal, spiritual and religious indignity” the glass-towered church, its buildings and “the consecrated grounds” of the cemetery, which hold the ashes of his wife, DoraDene Phillippe, he wrote in the claim.

Phillippe is seeking to reopen the bankruptcy plan to allow an amended claim as a creditor.

The plan was confirmed last December and is “now a final, non-appealable order,” Nanette Sanders, an attorney for dozens of creditors, wrote in a response filed this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

“If you had an objection to the sale to the Catholic Church, you needed to raise your objection at the November confirmation hearings,” Sanders wrote in an email to Phillippe on May 25. “Your alleged claims against the Pope, the Vatican and the Schullers are not claims in which the bankruptcy estate should be involved.”

Phillippe argued in his claim that the Catholic Church is “a known and admitted perpetrator of criminal acts in Orange County and globally.” He attached news accounts of sex abuse cases and documents ordering secrecy in molestation cases.

The Catholic Diocese of Orange had no comment on Phillippe’s accusations against the church, Bishop Tod D. Brown, the pope and the Vatican.

The Catholic Church is not closing the cemetery and plans to respect the wishes of the families who have relatives buried at the Memorial Gardens or who have bought sites there for future use, Stephen Bohannon, a church spokesman, said Friday. The church has not heard from any family member wishing to disinter the remains of a loved one, Bohannon said.

Phillippe said he and his wife were “induced with a total campus benefit presentation” to buy two niches. He included a print-out of the Cathedral’s website describing the Memorial Gardens as “the finest in cemetery property” and “the Westminster Abbey of America.”

“Located at the base of the shimmering, stunning, 236-foot Crystal Cathedral spire, is the grand entrance to our beautiful gardens, open to all those who wish to be buried in this special place, surrounded by the joyful sounds of ringing bells, singing fountains, and the inspiring music of the carillon,” read the Crystal Cathedral description of its Memorial Gardens.

Phillippe’s claim also focuses on the Schullers, saying they enriched themselves, failed to pay bills and “badly mismanaged” funds, including $21.5 million from the sale of the Crean Ranch property in San Juan Capistrano, which was donated to the ministry.

“No audited accounting of funds has ever been made to the congregation or TV contributing members,” Phillippe said. “What happened to the $21.5 million?”

During a May 16 meeting with hundreds of congregants, the president of the troubled ministry, John Charles, said that the money from the sale of the ranch property was spent. He said the church has enough money to cover expenses through the end of June. While painting a bleak financial picture, Charles also spoke optimistically about the future, noting the church recently has experienced an increase in donations and attendance at services.

Register staff writer Ronald Campbell contributed to this report.