Wall Street banker turned priest evicts community groups, including food pantry

• Father Frank Tumino told volunteers at the Helping Hands Food Pantry in Saint Augustine’s Church that their last day would be this Saturday 
• Parishioners described the closure as just the latest incident since Tumino took over the parish in late 2021 
• Other incidents include him hiking the rent on an Alcoholic’s Anonymous group and canceling an annual Christmas party for local children 

A New York City priest has ousted community groups, closed down a food pantry and hiked up rent for AA meetings at his Brooklyn church. 

In a note sent to volunteers at the food pantry inside Saint Augustine’s Church in Park Slope, Brooklyn, Father Frank Tumino said their last day would be March 16. 

Father Tumino told the Helping Hands Food Pantry that the decision came with a ‘heavy heart’ and ‘after considerable prayer reflection’ according to The City. 

The outlet reported that Tumino said volunteers had not complied with training around the protection of children, and that the church had a lack of resources. 

Despite this, volunteers told The City that they had complied with the training and that the cost to run the pantry are minimal due to grants and donations. 

Tom Wargo, a volunteer at Helping Hands, said: ‘The church pays for nothing, except for the electricity that we use. 

‘We open up ourselves. We close ourselves. We clean everything ourselves. It’s all volunteer run. He just wants us out.’

Parishioners described the closure as just the latest incident since Tumino took over the parish in late 2021. 

According to them, he canceled an annual Christmas party for the children of incarcerated parents that the church had hosted for ten years. 

Tumino is also said to have raised the rent on a biweekly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, hiking it from $80 to $800 a month. 

On top of this, Tumino canceled a monthly dinner for people living with AIDS and their families, according to parishioners. 

Ellen Edelman told the outlet: ‘Every single program has been pushed out’, she recalled being told ‘we just don’t want you, period, we’re not a parish program’.

Mychal McNicholas had been behind the AA meetings taking place inside the church and decided to leave after the sudden price rise. 

He said: ‘We just left. The pastor wears a white collar that says feed the hungry, take care of the sick and the lame, and he’s throwing us in the street.’ 

Father Tumino had previously worked at the Bank of Japan before moving to work with Chase Bank as a collateral analyst, according to an interview with The Tablet.

After working with the company at their Penn Station branch, he left and was assigned to private banking. 

He enrolled in the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington in 1992 and was ordained in 1998 

In 2022, Tumino spoke candidly about the church’s financial woes after their $2 million gold tabernacle was stolen in 2022. 

The New York Times reported that Tumino said: ‘Understand, these parishes have been decimated. 

‘These parishes need between $10 million and $15 million worth of work. I’ve been entrusted with doing that, and there is not that money available, so you have to choose what you can pick and do now.’ 

John Quaglione, deputy press secretary for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn told CBS: ‘Father Tamino, the pastor, he did not want this to shut down. It’s an important ministry.

‘We can’t take the risk as a church, as a parish, to allow people in need to come and be serviced by people we don’t know their full story, background checks, proper training.” 

In statement, the church said: ‘Unfortunately, there have been some programs which have failed to comply with parish, legal and diocesan requirements. 

‘As such, the safety of all parishioners and the financial integrity of the parish cannot be compromised.’