The verdict is out. Catholic priest Joachim Kang has been sentenced to 7.5 years imprisonment for embezzling $5 million dollars from the Church of St Teresa.

At the end of a whirlwind 4-week trial that dominated the press, Father Kang pleaded guilty to 6 charges, each having a maximum punishment of 3 years in jail. He was also facing 13 other charges, which were taken in consideration during the sentencing.

How does this affect the Catholic Church in Singapore? In many ways, I guess. A local scandal, hitting home just as the scars from the U.S. are slowly healing, is a hard pill to swallow. A scandal involving money, in the vein of the controversies of the 16th century which led to the Reformation, could very well be the first step down a long hard road of self-searching and questioning.

But, the fact remains that this is most likely an isolated case, one that serves to expose the failures of the financial accounting system within the Church. The fact remains that there are over a hundred other priests on the island who remain true to their vows of chastity, obedience and (for some) poverty.

And that gives us hope to carry on.