Judge orders religious group to stop masquerading as Catholic

Published: 2003-10-10

ATLANTA (CNS) -- An Atlanta judge has issued a permanent injunction barring the non-Catholic Hispanic missionary group Capilla de la Fe from portraying itself as Catholic. Its members also must inform anyone who asks that neither they nor the organization are Catholic or associated with the Catholic Church. The order, issued Oct. 3 by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Alice D. Bonner, came in response to a civil complaint lodged the previous month by the Atlanta Archdiocese and its head, Archbishop John F. Donoghue. The group included about 10 Hispanic men who had been dressing as Catholic priests and conducting purportedly Catholic religious rites, including Mass, in the Atlanta area under the name "Mision Catolica: Capilla de la Fe" -- Spanish for "Catholic Mission: Chapel of Faith."

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