Interesting piece in the Chicago Tribune yesterday.
Important note: I know nothing about this group, except what I read in this article. I'm not endorsing or condemning this group (though I do defer to ecclesiastical authorities in such matters).
Link.
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.
