Cardinal Blase J. Cupich announced the resignation of Rev. Kenneth Anderson, pastor of Evanston’s St. John Henry Newman Parish, after church officials found Anderson used parish funds for personal expenses.In a letter Friday to the parish community — which includes St. Athanasius Church and St. Joan of Arc Church — Cupich said an archdiocese review determined Anderson had “violated a number of core Archdiocesan policies” regarding his stewardship of the parish’s finances.The cardinal said Anderson had diverted “substantial” parish funds into a separate bank account that was used to pay personal expenses.Anderson agreed to pay back any funds used for his personal expenses “when the full accounting is complete,” Cupich said in the letter.“We take seriously our duty to steward the resources you provide and uphold best practices in their management,” Cupich wrote. “Your trust means a great deal to me and I appreciate the patience you have shown as we conducted the review. We will take steps with the parish leadership to remedy any deficiencies or lack of controls.”The archdiocese, the arm of the Catholic Church for Cook and Lake counties led by Cupich, declined to comment further or answer specific details about the finances of the parish and how much Anderson was accused of misspending, citing the ongoing investigation.Neither the parish nor Anderson immediately responded to requests for comment.The church’s placement board is expected to nominate a permanent successor by July 1, Cupich said in his letter.Anderson was appointed to lead the parish in July 2022, when the church merged St. Athanasius and St. Joan of Arc as part of the Renew My Church program.He had initially been allowed to stay on as pastor when the investigation was first announced in another letter to the community from Cupich last month. Parish bulletins show it took in more than $54,000 in donations in February, about $4,400 more than needed to cover its budget; nearly $20,000 was donated on one Sunday alone.Last July, Anderson wrote in the church’s bulletin that it was $41,000 short on offertory giving in the first half of the year. As part of an effort to make up the deficit, he and others at the church started a “Balance Our Budget” campaign, which had raised nearly $77,000 by the end of last July.“As can be seen, the Church is still substantially behind in overall income vs expenses,” Anderson wrote in the July 20, 2025, bulletin. “The staff has been very dedicated to maintaining any unnecessary expenditures and keeping a very tight income vs. expense. Simply, our overall income from all sources is not enough to cover expenses. This has been the case for the past 3 years. Please consider a contribution to B.O.B. if you can.”The Rev. Gerald Gunderson will come out of retirement to serve as an interim administrator, and officials asked Bishop Timothy O’Malley to meet with church officials to best determine a way to “rebuild the trust of parishioners,” Cupich said in the letter.The archdiocese announced the investigation March 30, and the Rev. Wayne Watts, pastor of Saints Joseph and Francis Xavier Parish in nearby Wilmette, had been managing the parish’s finances in the interim, according to prior letters from Cupich. Related Archdiocese has ‘no plan’ to reopen 6 Catholic schools despite families’ push ...read more read less