Cardinal, 3 bishops ban Catholic mission

The Love Holy Trinity movement is under fire in 3 states, especially since teenager Ashley Fahey left home to become a group 'sister'

Chicago Tribune/September 24, 2005
By Margaret Ramirez and Manya A. Brachear

Amid allegations that a Chicago-based religious group uses coercive tactics and misrepresents Roman Catholic teachings, Cardinal Francis George on Friday banned the mission from meeting in archdiocese facilities.

"While they have been functioning here for a number of years, the `Love Holy Trinity Blessed Mission' has no official approval as a lay movement or as a religious order in the Catholic Church," the cardinal said in a statement.

George also said Rev. Len Kruzel, who had been working with the group full time, would be recalled to a pastoral position.

Three other head bishops from Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa already have warned their dioceses that the group, which bills itself as a Roman Catholic mission, is not approved by the church. The strongest statement, from the Dubuque archbishop, raises concerns ranging from manipulation of Scripture and secretiveness to authoritarian leadership and forced separation from family.

George's statement came after a six-month review of the ministry by pastors, canonists and theologians whose inquiries into the group's theology went largely unanswered, archdiocese officials said.

The Love Holy Trinity group, founded 12 years ago, has said that it holds weekly prayer meetings in nearly 100 Catholic churches in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin. It hopes to be recognized as a religious order.

Members are led by Agnes Kyo McDonald and Kruzel.

Multiple telephone calls seeking comment from Love Holy Trinity were not returned.

The mission, headquartered at 7011 W. Diversey Ave., operates a communication center, a school and a home for religious brothers and sisters. The group publishes a quarterly newspaper and broadcasts a Sunday radio program on WNWI-AM 1080, both in English and Polish.

Concerns about the group have been simmering for at least two years, but last month the controversy became a crisis in the small town of McGregor, Iowa, when 19-year-old Ashley Fahey abandoned her plans to attend a local Catholic college and left for Chicago to become a "sister" in the group.

The decision came after Fahey attended a weeklong retreat held by Love Holy Trinity in Dubuque. Her father, Ron Fahey, is a Love Holy Trinity member.

Panicked and distraught, her mother and stepfather, Lora and Roger Knott, traveled to Chicago Thursday to try to find her.

"She said this was her calling," her mother said Friday, wiping at tears. "She said had to do it or she would be corrupted by Satan."

"She looked emotionless," her stepfather added. "It was like someone had stolen her soul."

Last year, the Rockford diocese advised Catholics to avoid the group because it did not have church approval. In August the diocese of Madison, Wis., issued a similar warning. The harshest words came last week from Dubuque Archbishop Jerome Hanus, who said the mission was violating canon law by referring to itself as a Catholic group.

The archbishop said he was prompted to speak out in part by the case of Ashley Fahey. In a letter distributed to parishes, Hanus wrote: "I can no longer remain silent in the face of the harm being done to individuals, especially to persons who are vulnerable or impressionable in this local Church."

Hanus said clergy had raised concerns about the "lack of balance in the group's spirituality, the authoritarian approach of the leader, secretiveness, characteristics of a cult, harmful impact on families, and the questionable quality of the understanding of the Scriptures."

Dubuque vicar general Monsignor James O. Barta said he and Hanus had met with McDonald and Kruzel, who said the group's purpose was to bring people closer to God.

"On the positive side, a number of people have probably genuinely benefited from the prayer life that they have begun and the Scripture study they have done in these groups," Barta said. "But as they become more and more involved, then, what I would call abuses begin to occur."

Barta said members see McDonald as being in direct communication with God.

"I asked them one time, who is your superior, who is your guide, your mentor in all of this? They said, Kyo McDonald. And I said well, who is her superior, who is her guide, her mentor? They said, the Holy Spirit. So, that's a big jump there."

But Rev. Jim Dubert, of St. Mary's Church in Eldora, Iowa, said his encounters with Love Holy Trinity members had been positive.

Dubert, who began attending the group's monthly Bible study for priests when he was ordained seven years ago, said he is now abiding by the archbishop's instructions not to endorse the group or label it as Catholic.

"It helped me recommit myself to growing in holiness and also to have a deeper commitment to purification and sanctification, which is a long tradition in the Catholic Church," Dubert said. "In the Catholic tradition, everyone who is in purgatory is going to heaven eventually. I like to call it a Laundromat where you get cleaned up for heaven. What the Love Holy Trinity Blessed Mission is trying to do is encourage Catholics and other Christians who want to get involved to get clean clothes on earth so they can skip the Laundromat and go to heaven."

In Chicago, the mission headquarters occupies a residential building as well as a multistory red brick bungalow with lush landscaping that includes a vegetable garden. Neighbors say mission members usually keep to themselves and often come and go through a concrete courtyard that faces the alley.

Gates around the complex are kept locked and guarded with security cameras. When a reporter rang doorbells and knocked earlier this week, people came to the doors but did not open them.

Members doing repairs on the building Friday declined to talk to a reporter, instead offering copies of the mission's newspaper and saying an official statement would soon be released.

Lora Knott said she feels deceived by the group, which she said described itself as sanctioned by the Catholic Church.

"I feel so cheated, so lied to," she said. "How can they claim to be Catholic? The Catholic Church doesn't tear families apart."

"I just want to tell Ashley I love her," Knott said.

Chicago archdiocese officials said they were not sure whether they would search for Fahey or try to remove her from the mission. Officials would need to determine if she was there against her will, and that would require a face-to-face meeting.

Fahey's mother and stepfather said they decided to come to Chicago after receiving a letter from Ashley saying she wouldn't be calling or writing anymore.

When they attempted to enter the Love Holy Trinity offices Friday, a man told them: "Your daughter has made her choice. Respect her wishes."