From Deseret News archives:
Dubuque archbishop bars religious order
Archbishop Jerome Hanus said last week he could no longer remain silent about Love Holy Trinity Blessed Mission. The diocese said it was concerned about the secretive nature of the group, its leader's authoritarian approach, possible harm to families and evidence of "characteristics of a cult." He could find no evidence of "appropriate formation in Catholic theology" in the mission leader's teachings, which he said are "close to fundamentalism."
Dick Vogt, a mission member who donated a 400-acre farm near Bellevue where the community plans to create a retreat center, denies the accusations. He said the group's leader, Agnes Kyo McDonald, is unavailable for comment "because of the persecution" of her group.
Monsignor James Barta, the archdiocesan vicar general, said the archdiocese was pushed to take action following the outcry over 19-year-old Ashley Fahey, who disappeared after telling her parents she was going to become a sister with the community.
Fahey's family says they have been cut off from her since, but have been told she's in a convent in Chicago run by the mission, which claims roots in the Catholic Church.
Members of the mission have been meeting in eastern Iowa Catholic churches and other venues for more than a dozen years. Mission members say there are several hundred people involved in the group, mainly at its headquarters in Chicago but also in five Iowa communities.
Vogt, who lives in Dubuque, said the mission is trying to establish itself as a new order, just as "Mother Theresa started a religious order." Since October, members have purchased 10 apartment buildings for more than $2 million in downtown Dubuque, according to city records, to generate revenue to become self-supporting.
He said Fahey has entered a "period of discernment" of her own free will and doesn't want to talk to the media or her family. "She can leave at any time," he said.
