In my opinion, I think it would be wrong for the priest to lie. At any rate, I am not sure if he would have the motivation to do so, considering the robbers could search the church and ascertain if he was lying or not (if they had the time).

Of course, I do find it relatively amusing that the robbers made the priest swear on the Bible, owing to their seemingly low estimation of it...

Yes. It would have been wrong to lie in spite of the circumstances.

Love for the truth, and reputation in representing the gospel is more important.

I don’t think it would have been wrong for the Priest to lie. For the greater good, to deceive those that would do harm or damage it should be permissible.

If one took the position that a priest could never lie than I ask, what should a Priest do if faced with a situation where telling the truth would result in the death of others? Morality is not a straight up or down question most time. But then I’m not catholic so…

Only lie if it appears the lie will be undetected (protection against retaliation).

I do not see a moral delima here: The truth is only owed to honorable people and the robbers have demonstrated they do not meet the criteria.

Bob

"The truth is only owed to honorable people"

Purists might agrue that with you, but I like it!
The truth is somewhat (if not vastly) over-rated.
Considering the sad state of the priesthood these
days, it's a moot point any way. Priests lie.

My question is, if the robbers found money after
the priest lied, would it vindicate them? Or
would they feel obligated to do the right thing
and kill him?

Hey, this is almost fun! Oops, I hear the nurses
coming down the hall...

Would it be ethically wrong? No!

Would it be a sin? Yes.

Would forgiveness be forthcoming? Absolutely!