Sunday, January 11, 2004
Disgraced priest finds home in secretive sect: An interesting story wrote by Evan More a reporter from Texas
Disgraced Texas priest finds home in secretive Central American sect
By EVAN MOORE - Houston Chronicle
October 25, 2003
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
SAN ISIDRO de GRECIA, Costa Rica -- It's a twisted trail that leads from Texas to this Central American village, and along it stretches the strange and disturbing odyssey of Father Alfredo Prado.
Prado's path is an errant one. Stripped of his priestly authority by the Oblate Fathers in Texas under accusations of sexually molesting children -- which the 73-year-old cleric vehemently denies -- Prado has now become a fugitive from his order and the chief celebrant for a reputedly violent doomsday cult in Costa Rica.
Prado is now an embarrassment to the Oblate Fathers in the United States and an annoyance to church and government officials in Costa Rica. Since his arrival in Costa Rica in January, his presence has managed to pit an international child welfare organization against the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church against the cult and the cult against just about everyone.
At first glance, Alfredo Prado is anything but imposing. Short, stocky, aging, he regards his visitors with what appears to be a startled glare, until it becomes clear that the gaze is the result of a form of partial blindness known as macular degeneration.
Seated in his quarters at the back of the "sanctuary" in San Isidro de Grecia, clothed in black vestments, Prado gives every appearance of being what he claims he is -- a priest.
Only one element seems askew: Prado's new home is a cult compound, an elongated strip of several acres on which a large house and several outbuildings house a handful of adults and eight or 10 teenage boys.
"I'm here because my Blessed Mother asked me to come," Prado said, referring to the Virgin Mary.
"She chose me to come here, and I'm honored."
More than 30 years ago, he considered himself honored to serve as pastor of St. Timothy's Catholic Church in San Antonio, where he was known as a talented, charismatic cleric, a man with a doctorate in psychology, a priest who sang, danced and did magic tricks for children.
Finding his `calling' in Costa Rica
That was long before the Oblate Fatherhood stripped him of his clerical authority in 1991, ostensibly for theological differences, but, according to Prado, accompanied by accusations of child molestation. It was long before he was sent to a church pedophile treatment center in New Mexico in 1991, long before he defied the church's orders to enter a retirement home in Missouri last year and long before he found his "calling" more than 1,600 miles from St. Timothy's, in Costa Rica.
Now, Prado has found a home in this land of contradictions, a land in which Costa Ricans legitimately boast of magnificent vistas, then obscure those views with massive security walls. Here, the legally blind septuagenarian with a history of heart problems drinks and dances at weddings he performs with no priestly authority.
Here, in the country's Central Valley, deep in the shadow of the Poas Volcano, Prado has found a new home as a "priest" and guest of the Reina y Senora de Todo la Creado.
That sect, whose name translates to "Queen and Lady of All Creation," was formed as an obscure group in 2000 by a self-styled visionary, Juan Pablo Delgado.
`Messages' from area's most exalted saint
Delgado, a 25-year-old who claims to receive and relay messages from the Virgin Mary, had previously been aligned with a group with a similar name in Heredia, a colonial town just north of of San Jose.
Both groups exalt "the Virgin," a saint who occupies a special position throughout heavily Catholic Central America. That position is even more exalted in Costa Rica, where Mary is the country's patron saint.
Nowhere is that position more evident than in Cartago, Costa Rica's first city, about 15 miles southeast of San Jose. There, in the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles, is a tiny, black stone figure of the Virgin, called "La Negrita."
The figure, almost lost on a vast, ornate altar, is credited with miracles. On Sundays, lines of supplicants extend far beyond the church out onto an adjacent square. Each year on Aug. 2, tens of thousands make a pilgrimage -- many of them walking 50 miles or more -- to pay respect and pray to the figure.
It was in that social climate that Delgado and the Heredia group's founder, Eugenio Rodriguez, first conducted their weekly sessions with "the Virgin" in the late 1990s. The pair argued in April 2000, however, and Delgado left, borrowing the name to begin his own cult.
Sometimes called "the Virgin cult," Delgado's group developed ties to Texas, specifically to San Antonio and surrounding areas, where several of its members reside. It also has its own Web site, where Delgado's "messages" from "the Virgin" are routinely posted. Sometimes cryptic and vague, they are periodically more secular, referring to current Costa Rican politics and sporting events.
Some deal with economics. With no means of support outside the group, Delgado relies on the generosity of his followers. At the direction of "the Virgin," one donated the grounds and main house for the sanctuary. At her direction, others give money, though exact amounts are unknown.
Still other messages are more dramatic. Among them are predictions that Pope John Paul II will soon be assassinated and that the world will end in the final days of December.
"We think this group is dangerous," said Bruce Harris, director of Casa Alianza, an international child welfare organization. "We've had several reports that children are being sexually abused there. Initially, there were several boys who told others that they were being molested, but we've never been able to get them off the grounds to talk to them."
Secretive and defensive, Delgado refuses interviews. Several teenage boys working on the grounds either refused to speak or nervously declined, saying they did not have "permission."
The exact size of the group's membership is unknown, although it is elite. Members are known to include lawyers, physicians, engineers, teachers and now, Prado.
But, with Prado's arrival, it is no longer obscure. The priest's residency has brought scrutiny on the group.
A San Antonio woman, a former parishioner of Prado's who has since joined the cult, enlisted Prado in January to perform weddings, hear confessions and preside over funerals. Prado, who already was at odds with his order, said he readily accepted.
"I never had a moment of doubt, no skepticism," Prado said. "The Blessed Mother decreed that I was already separated from the Oblates, that they had no authority over me.
"After the way the Oblates treated me ... they accused me of raping boys. Terrible, degrading accusations.
"I never raped anyone in my life."
Accusations of rape in Texas in the 1960s
Ricardo Salinas, however, has said that Prado raped him in the 1960s, when he was 14 and Prado was his priest.
Salinas, 50, said the assault occurred in San Antonio in 1967, when he went to Prado seeking advice about his relationship with his father.
"My father physically brutalized me as far back as I can remember," Salinas said. "I liked Father Prado. I thought he was a safe haven for me.
"One evening, after a particularly harsh argument with my father, I went to the church to talk to Father Prado. He invited me into his private rooms and gave me a large tumbler of brandy and told me to drink it."
Later, when he was intoxicated, Salinas said, Prado sexually assaulted him.
"I remember him whispering, `Sssh, sssh. This will be our secret.' "
The following day, Salinas said, he told his mother about the assault, but she did not believe him.
"She told me, `Priests never do such things,' " Salinas said.
In June 2002, Salinas wrote the archdiocese in San Antonio, seeking information about Prado. The answer came from Father Patrick Guidon, director of the Oblates there.
"I want to express my sincere regrets for whatever inappropriate conduct happened to you," Guidon wrote. "I apologize sincerely for any responsibility the Oblate community bears for the pain you have suffered ...
"You asked if Alfredo Prado is still alive. ... He is now in retirement and is in poor health; he is legally blind and suffers from cardiovascular disease."
Prado said he does not remember Salinas and said he had no sexual contact with him.
Prado, however, acknowledges that he was accused specifically of assaulting Salinas and others.
He also acknowledges that he has performed weddings, heard confessions and performed other priestly functions for Delgado's group. In addition, he said, he continues to do so, which is the basis of a criminal fraud complaint brought by Casa Alianza.
Casa Alianza, the Central American branch of New York's Covenant House, serves as an advocate for children's rights in five countries, including Costa Rica. The group has been active in putting pressure on Central American governments to address violations, including "death squads" in Guatemala, where police were dispatched to shoot roving bands of orphaned children on the streets.
Harris, Casa Alianza's director, became the target of assassination attempts in Guatemala after that incident. His office was sprayed with machine-gun fire, and he was forced to flee the country.
Today, Casa Alianza offices in San Jose are housed behind a massive sliding steel door and protected by an armed guard who screens visitors.
"We're sort of a rabble-rousing group for children," Harris said. "We're not very popular with some of the governments in these countries, but sometimes we're successful in forcing them into action."
Harris said he learned of the "Virgin cult" in early summer, then began receiving more calls about it in August.
Some of those were from Randall Blanco, a North Carolina information technologist whose nephews, ages 16 and 14, were placed in the group after Blanco's brother joined the sect.
Blanco said he visited Costa Rica in late August. When he attempted to see his nephews and inspect their living conditions at the sanctuary, however, Delgado's followers rebuffed him. Later, he said, he was appalled to learn that his older nephew was living in the same quarters with Delgado.
Harris began calling various agencies about the sect in September and said the Oblate Fathers in San Antonio told him that Prado had been disciplined for child molestation.
Concerned that children were being molested in the cult, Harris contacted the church in Costa Rica as well as Rosalia Gil, Costa Rica's minister of youth. In addition, he said, he filed a formal complaint of fraud against Prado and Delgado for falsely representing themselves as priests, a crime in Costa Rica.
Gil, however, said there is little she can do about the cult.
"We will be working on this group, but, immediately, we have more pressing matters," said Gil, whose agency has been involved with the arrest of a child sex-trade ring, another campaign by Harris' organization. "Unfortunately, without definite proof that children are being molested in that group, there's not much we can do.
"We are conducting an investigation, but if they are there with parental consent, we can't just remove them. And we have no evidence at this point that Alfredo Prado or Delgado have molested anyone."
Seeking records from the church
That prompted Casa Alianza to request Prado's records from the Catholic Church, Harris said.
Within weeks, four Costa Rican Catholic bishops denounced the cult.
"But they knew about them before I ever called them," Harris said. "And, if they have information that Prado is a child molester as they said, they should produce it, rather than just disassociate themselves from him and allow him to remain in proximity to several young boys in that group."
Officials of the Oblate Fathers would neither confirm nor deny that they have any proof that Prado is a child molester. Guidon, however, confirmed that Prado was stripped of all authority in the early 1990s, that he was sent to the church pedophile treatment center and that the process to expel him from the order has now begun.
Shortly after the bishops' denunciation, the violence began. Father Benm Gomez, a priest who acts as spokesman for the San Jose Diocese, read the bishops' denouncement on a weekly radio program and began receiving anonymous phone threats.
"They told me I'd better change my attitude about their group, and I tried to explain that I was just relaying an announcement," Gomez said.
"Then, they attacked me."
Anonymous threats, a violent confrontation
On Sept. 3, Gomez said, 10 men came to his home and confronted him at the front door. The men shouted at the priest about "attacking our mother," then began beating him.
Gomez suffered multiple injuries and was hospitalized for several days. Now recovered, he said he is wary about venturing onto the street.
"This group is dangerous," he said. "I'm afraid when I go to my office now, when I leave my house."
Others who have left or opposed the cult have reported threats as well. Neighbors of the group regard it with little sympathy. Residents of San Isidro de Grecia have brought a petition with 139 signatures, demanding that Delgado and his group leave the little community.
"This group can bring us nothing but trouble," said Roberto Picado Gonzalez, a welder who worked at the compound before he knew what Delgado was building.
"He (Delgado) has nothing but contempt for his followers," Gonzalez said. "When I was working there, I saw a crudely done painting of Jesus and I mentioned that it wasn't good enough for a church.
"He (Delgado) just laughed and said, `Don't worry. It's good enough for the fools who will come here.' "
Other neighbors did not wish to identify themselves, although Alvaro Zamora spoke in detail of his dealings with Delgado.
Zamora, whose property abuts the sanctuary in San Isidro de Grecia, said he first lost his wife, then his children, his bulls, his dogs and finally his home to the cult.
"My wife believed in this Pablo," said Zamora, 48. "About a year ago, she began telling me I was a `witch' because I didn't agree.
"Eventually, Pablo told her to take my two bulls and sell them. Then he told her to kill my two Rottweiler dogs, and she poisoned them. Finally, she and my twin boys (ages 17) began spending all their time at the sanctuary with my 5-year-old daughter.
"By then, I was sleeping in a separate room with a lock on the inside of the door because I was afraid my wife might kill me in my sleep. Now, we're divorced and I live with my parents."
A comfortable new life, a `frightening' message
Now, Prado resides in a comfortable if Spartan room at the back of the sanctuary, unconcerned that the Oblates have started the process to expel him from the order. He is fed, clothed and cared for by the cult and, in turn, serves as its priest.
"These people do everything for me," he said. "I have nothing. The Oblates cut me off and Ihaven't gotten my pension, but these people clothe me, feed me and house me.
"No one is being molested here.
"The Virgin is happy about my priesthood. She could read my heart that I would live here and stay here the rest of my life."
Delgado, who announced that "the Virgin" would not speak during October, left the compound this month and has not been seen. Before departing, however, he announced that "the Virgin" had directed all members with young boys to consider placing their sons with the group, because "young blood" is needed.
"We've seen that message," Harris said. "That's frightening, isn't it?"
Former S.A. priest leading Costa Rican church that many call cult
KENS 5 Eyewitness News/February 16, 2004
By Deborah Knapp
The Archdiocese of San Antonio is warning Catholics about a breakaway church deep in Central America. Dozens of San Antonians have visited the sanctuary in Costa Rica and support it financially. But an investigation is underway to see if this sanctuary is truly Eden or evil.
"I was asking people, just asking them, I can not order them because if they want to travel to hell, that's their business," San Antonio Archbishop Patrick Flores said.
The place Archbishop Patrick Flores is asking San Antonio Catholics to stay away from is a sanctuary in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica, with its rain forests, jungles and mountain scenery, has been likened to paradise. But there's a warning to Catholics: Stay away from a sanctuary there.
The reason -- a visitor from San Antonio and a controversial visionary that has the Costa Rican government investigating and the archdiocese of San Antonio involved.
Father Alfredo Prado fled San Antonio last fall after church officials ordered him into a retirement home. Now he's involved in a controversial Costa Rican religious group at a small sanctuary nestled on a ridge above a coffee plantation.
The 73-year-old Prado is accused of sexually abusing teenage boys more than 30 years ago while serving as pastor at St. Timothy's Catholic Church in San Antonio.
He has never been charged and Prado denies any wrongdoing.
Dozens of San Antonians have visited the compound in Central America. Some are drawn by Prado, others come to hear a 24-year-old with only a third-grade education.
Juan Pablo Delgado is the leader of what locals call the Virgin Cult.
KENS 5 Eyewitness News/February 16, 2004
By Deborah Knapp
The Archdiocese of San Antonio is warning Catholics about a breakaway church deep in Central America. Dozens of San Antonians have visited the sanctuary in Costa Rica and support it financially. But an investigation is underway to see if this sanctuary is truly Eden or evil.
"I was asking people, just asking them, I can not order them because if they want to travel to hell, that's their business," San Antonio Archbishop Patrick Flores said.
The place Archbishop Patrick Flores is asking San Antonio Catholics to stay away from is a sanctuary in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica, with its rain forests, jungles and mountain scenery, has been likened to paradise. But there's a warning to Catholics: Stay away from a sanctuary there.
The reason -- a visitor from San Antonio and a controversial visionary that has the Costa Rican government investigating and the archdiocese of San Antonio involved.
Father Alfredo Prado fled San Antonio last fall after church officials ordered him into a retirement home. Now he's involved in a controversial Costa Rican religious group at a small sanctuary nestled on a ridge above a coffee plantation.
The 73-year-old Prado is accused of sexually abusing teenage boys more than 30 years ago while serving as pastor at St. Timothy's Catholic Church in San Antonio.
He has never been charged and Prado denies any wrongdoing.
Dozens of San Antonians have visited the compound in Central America. Some are drawn by Prado, others come to hear a 24-year-old with only a third-grade education.
Juan Pablo Delgado is the leader of what locals call the Virgin Cult.
Troubled ex-S.A. clergyman still with group in C. America
Express-News Mexico City Bureau/January 4, 2004
By Dane Schiller
San Isidro de Grecia, Costa Rica -- Father Alfredo Prado has a new life here, a reinvigorated purpose and circumstances as unusual as his protégé, self-proclaimed visionary Juan Pablo Delgado.
The 73-year-old Austin-born clergyman has proclaimed the Gospel for decades in Texas, Mississippi, Arizona and villages in Mexico, where he used a bullhorn to preach under the stars.
Because of problems in his past - the exact nature of which neither he nor Catholic Church officials would describe - he doesn't have the church's permission to be in Costa Rica or to function as a priest. He says he needn't answer to church officials on that subject - just to the Virgin Mary.
And so he prays, counsels, advises and even celebrates Mass with pilgrims who come here to listen to Delgado, who says he receives messages from Jesus Christ, the Virgin and St. Michael.
Prado said he is Delgado's spiritual adviser and that he was called here by the Virgin.
He said the Oblates turned their backs on him despite his having preached the Gospel for so long.
"They threw me out in my old age and my blindness and all they threw me out, no money, no nothing," said Prado, who said his only income is a monthly $160 Social Security check.
Prado left the United States last year without permission and is disobeying the church by functioning as a priest, wrote Father David Kalert, who heads the U.S. Oblates out of Washington, in an Aug. 20 letter to Archbishop Hugo Barrantes Ureña of San José, Costa Rica.
"There are various, very grave allegations against him, and they seem to be credible," states the letter, without mentioning specifics....
Express-News Mexico City Bureau/January 4, 2004
By Dane Schiller
San Isidro de Grecia, Costa Rica -- Father Alfredo Prado has a new life here, a reinvigorated purpose and circumstances as unusual as his protégé, self-proclaimed visionary Juan Pablo Delgado.
The 73-year-old Austin-born clergyman has proclaimed the Gospel for decades in Texas, Mississippi, Arizona and villages in Mexico, where he used a bullhorn to preach under the stars.
Because of problems in his past - the exact nature of which neither he nor Catholic Church officials would describe - he doesn't have the church's permission to be in Costa Rica or to function as a priest. He says he needn't answer to church officials on that subject - just to the Virgin Mary.
And so he prays, counsels, advises and even celebrates Mass with pilgrims who come here to listen to Delgado, who says he receives messages from Jesus Christ, the Virgin and St. Michael.
Prado said he is Delgado's spiritual adviser and that he was called here by the Virgin.
He said the Oblates turned their backs on him despite his having preached the Gospel for so long.
"They threw me out in my old age and my blindness and all they threw me out, no money, no nothing," said Prado, who said his only income is a monthly $160 Social Security check.
Prado left the United States last year without permission and is disobeying the church by functioning as a priest, wrote Father David Kalert, who heads the U.S. Oblates out of Washington, in an Aug. 20 letter to Archbishop Hugo Barrantes Ureña of San José, Costa Rica.
"There are various, very grave allegations against him, and they seem to be credible," states the letter, without mentioning specifics....
Priest or Pedophile?
LAST UPDATE: 2/13/2004 2:59:10 AM
Posted By: Holly Whisenhunt
The Catholic Church says he's a renegade priest. The Archdiocese recently warned followers to stay away from Father Alfredo Prado. He is accused of molesting young boys. Prado now belongs to a violent dooms day cult in Costa Rica. Trouble Shooter Brian Collister and his photographer risked their lives, traveling to Central America to track down and confront Prado about the allegations.
More than 30 years ago when Ricardo was just 14 he and his family went to St. Timothy's Church on the Westside. He turned to Father Prado after an argument with his father. "When I was growing up, I thought the world of Father Prado." Ricardo recalls.
But Ricardo says instead of helping him, Prado gave him a glass of brandy then seduced and raped him. "He had his hands all over me down the front of my pants, he was unbuttoning my shirt."
Ricardo says he told his parents but they didn't believe him, because priests don't do that. He says after Prado raped him, his life spiraled out of control, including several suicide attempts, and years of therapy. Ricardo says his emotional scars have not healed, "The extent of the damage this did to me, I still feel to this day".
Ricardo is not alone. Other alleged victims came forward in the early 90's. The oblate order of the Catholic Church sent Prado to a pedophile treatment center and stripped him of his right to preach. Then just last year, faced with retirement, Prado disobeyed the church and fled the country.
He took refuge at this religious sanctuary in Costa Rica. The group is described as a violent cult. It's led by a 24-year old, Juan Pablo Delgado, who claims to see visions of the Virgin Mary. Prado now serves as his spiritual advisor.
Even though he's now hundreds of miles from San Antonio, the controversy continues. Costa Rican reporters found out Prado was staying in the compound along with several young boys.
Reporters quizzed the 73-year old last year when immigration officials hauled him in for questioning about the molestation allegations.
Costa Rican officials let Prado stay. But what exactly goes on inside this mysterious cult compound? Is Prado a priest or a pedophile? ...........
LAST UPDATE: 2/13/2004 2:59:10 AM
Posted By: Holly Whisenhunt
The Catholic Church says he's a renegade priest. The Archdiocese recently warned followers to stay away from Father Alfredo Prado. He is accused of molesting young boys. Prado now belongs to a violent dooms day cult in Costa Rica. Trouble Shooter Brian Collister and his photographer risked their lives, traveling to Central America to track down and confront Prado about the allegations.
More than 30 years ago when Ricardo was just 14 he and his family went to St. Timothy's Church on the Westside. He turned to Father Prado after an argument with his father. "When I was growing up, I thought the world of Father Prado." Ricardo recalls.
But Ricardo says instead of helping him, Prado gave him a glass of brandy then seduced and raped him. "He had his hands all over me down the front of my pants, he was unbuttoning my shirt."
Ricardo says he told his parents but they didn't believe him, because priests don't do that. He says after Prado raped him, his life spiraled out of control, including several suicide attempts, and years of therapy. Ricardo says his emotional scars have not healed, "The extent of the damage this did to me, I still feel to this day".
Ricardo is not alone. Other alleged victims came forward in the early 90's. The oblate order of the Catholic Church sent Prado to a pedophile treatment center and stripped him of his right to preach. Then just last year, faced with retirement, Prado disobeyed the church and fled the country.
He took refuge at this religious sanctuary in Costa Rica. The group is described as a violent cult. It's led by a 24-year old, Juan Pablo Delgado, who claims to see visions of the Virgin Mary. Prado now serves as his spiritual advisor.
Even though he's now hundreds of miles from San Antonio, the controversy continues. Costa Rican reporters found out Prado was staying in the compound along with several young boys.
Reporters quizzed the 73-year old last year when immigration officials hauled him in for questioning about the molestation allegations.
Costa Rican officials let Prado stay. But what exactly goes on inside this mysterious cult compound? Is Prado a priest or a pedophile? ...........
A.M. Costa Rica: "Controversial U.S. priest not yet dismissed "
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A priest from the United States who has become a controversial figure here technically still is a Roman Catholic priest but his religious order is trying to dismiss him.
The Rev. David Kalert is the provincial superior of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate for the United States. He told a reporter that the dismissal process has been going on for several months and that the priest, Alfredo Prado, 73, does not have permission from the Oblates to be in Costa Rica.
"I contacted the bishop there a couple of weeks ago to alert him that (Prado) was present," Kalert said.
The provincial superior was interviewed by a reporter for the San Antonio, Texas, Express-News who relayed the information here. Kalert would not discuss the priest’s performance there, and it was unclear exactly what dismissal might mean: expulsion from the order or termination of being a priest.
To date there are no known charges leveled against Prado in Texas.
Prado is involved with a group of religious believers — some say cult — who insist that the Virgin Mary is making multiple visitations near Grecia.
The priest was summoned to the Costa Rican immigration authorities last week and told that because he is a tourist he should not practice priestly duties.
The controversy centers on the Santuario de la Virgen Reina y Señora de Todo lo Creado in San Isidro de Grecia, an agricultural and retirement community west of here. The Sanctuary of the Virgin, Queen and Lady of all Creation, does not have the support of the local Roman Catholic parish nor of the Diocese of the Province of Alajuela where the community is located.
But the believers are strong in their faith. The words of the Virgin are passed through one young man named Delgado.
The night of Sept. 4 some 10 men beat up a young priest who is the official spokesman for the national conference of bishops, and the victim blamed the believers. The battered priest has been the media figure issuing statements disassociating the church from the visitations.
Meanwhile, Prado, who has hired a lawyer, claims he is getting death threats. The lawyer denies sanctuary members administered the beating to the younger priest at the man’s home in Escazú..
The case has gone so far that the lawyer, Gerardo Machado Ramírez, has filed a plea with the Costa Rican Supreme Court alleging violation of religious rights.
Prado first came to Costa Rica in January to witness the visitations. The sanctuary was a low-level religious dispute until Casa Alianza, a child welfare organization, called attention to Prado and claimed he had been expelled from the Catholic Church in Texas, in part, because of allegations of abuse of minors.
The organization, a branch of the New York Covenant House, said it filed a formal criminal complaint charging the priest with usurpation of authority and fraud, all based on the allegation that he no longer was a priest but was pretending to be one.
A day later, Prado, told the Spanish-language press that he was a victim of revenge in the United States for his complaints about witchcraft and rampant homosexuality in the Seminary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in San Antonio.
El Diario Extra newspaper said the priest said he saw a container with human blood in the residence for priests in San Antonio.
Prado, who is blind and with a bad heart, carries a certificate he says is signed by Patrick F. Flores, bishop of San Antonio, that gives him the right to say Mass in private, which is what he does.
The priest, a U.S. native of Mexican parents, will try to obtain an immigration status that will let him stay longer than the 90 days usually granted to North American tourists.
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A priest from the United States who has become a controversial figure here technically still is a Roman Catholic priest but his religious order is trying to dismiss him.
The Rev. David Kalert is the provincial superior of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate for the United States. He told a reporter that the dismissal process has been going on for several months and that the priest, Alfredo Prado, 73, does not have permission from the Oblates to be in Costa Rica.
"I contacted the bishop there a couple of weeks ago to alert him that (Prado) was present," Kalert said.
The provincial superior was interviewed by a reporter for the San Antonio, Texas, Express-News who relayed the information here. Kalert would not discuss the priest’s performance there, and it was unclear exactly what dismissal might mean: expulsion from the order or termination of being a priest.
To date there are no known charges leveled against Prado in Texas.
Prado is involved with a group of religious believers — some say cult — who insist that the Virgin Mary is making multiple visitations near Grecia.
The priest was summoned to the Costa Rican immigration authorities last week and told that because he is a tourist he should not practice priestly duties.
The controversy centers on the Santuario de la Virgen Reina y Señora de Todo lo Creado in San Isidro de Grecia, an agricultural and retirement community west of here. The Sanctuary of the Virgin, Queen and Lady of all Creation, does not have the support of the local Roman Catholic parish nor of the Diocese of the Province of Alajuela where the community is located.
But the believers are strong in their faith. The words of the Virgin are passed through one young man named Delgado.
The night of Sept. 4 some 10 men beat up a young priest who is the official spokesman for the national conference of bishops, and the victim blamed the believers. The battered priest has been the media figure issuing statements disassociating the church from the visitations.
Meanwhile, Prado, who has hired a lawyer, claims he is getting death threats. The lawyer denies sanctuary members administered the beating to the younger priest at the man’s home in Escazú..
The case has gone so far that the lawyer, Gerardo Machado Ramírez, has filed a plea with the Costa Rican Supreme Court alleging violation of religious rights.
Prado first came to Costa Rica in January to witness the visitations. The sanctuary was a low-level religious dispute until Casa Alianza, a child welfare organization, called attention to Prado and claimed he had been expelled from the Catholic Church in Texas, in part, because of allegations of abuse of minors.
The organization, a branch of the New York Covenant House, said it filed a formal criminal complaint charging the priest with usurpation of authority and fraud, all based on the allegation that he no longer was a priest but was pretending to be one.
A day later, Prado, told the Spanish-language press that he was a victim of revenge in the United States for his complaints about witchcraft and rampant homosexuality in the Seminary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in San Antonio.
El Diario Extra newspaper said the priest said he saw a container with human blood in the residence for priests in San Antonio.
Prado, who is blind and with a bad heart, carries a certificate he says is signed by Patrick F. Flores, bishop of San Antonio, that gives him the right to say Mass in private, which is what he does.
The priest, a U.S. native of Mexican parents, will try to obtain an immigration status that will let him stay longer than the 90 days usually granted to North American tourists.
A.M. Costa Rica: "Priest says 10 supporters of Virgin beat him up"
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A priest who is the spokesman for the Roman Catholic Episcopal conference said he was attacked by about 10 men at his Escazú home Wednesday night.
The cleric blamed the attack on the Roman Catholic Church’s position on a reported series of visitations by the Virgin Mary at a dwelling in San Isidro de Grecia.
The priest said that his brother also was beaten by the men and showed a television audience his bruised neck where men grabbed him. The priest is the most visible person for the church in the controversy.
A spokesman for the group known as the Santuario de la Virgen Reina y Señora de Todo lo Creado denied any responsibility for the attack.
The sanctuary came into the news this week because a priest there, U.S. citizen Alfredo Prado, 73, was singled out by Casa Alianza as a man who had been let go by a Texas parish. Casa Alainza is a
child welfare organization. Prado denied allegations of improper behavior Thursday.
The allegations are not supported by independent evidence, but the Catholic church here immediately disavowed the activities at the sanctuary, and immigration officials called in the priest for an interview Thursday.
An official explained to the priest that he was not allowed to work because he was here as a tourist. If the priest chooses to seek an immigration status so he can stay here, he will have to provide a police record. Officials are believed to be checking his U.S. police record anyway.
The allegations against the priest blurred when the church got into the act. They said he was not authorized to conduct his priestly duties. The sanctuary has long been an embarrassment for the Catholic Church here and its history goes back at least three years, long before the priest arrived six months ago. Traditionally the church is uncomfortable with miracles, particularly those that intrude on the miracles the church has verified.
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A priest who is the spokesman for the Roman Catholic Episcopal conference said he was attacked by about 10 men at his Escazú home Wednesday night.
The cleric blamed the attack on the Roman Catholic Church’s position on a reported series of visitations by the Virgin Mary at a dwelling in San Isidro de Grecia.
The priest said that his brother also was beaten by the men and showed a television audience his bruised neck where men grabbed him. The priest is the most visible person for the church in the controversy.
A spokesman for the group known as the Santuario de la Virgen Reina y Señora de Todo lo Creado denied any responsibility for the attack.
The sanctuary came into the news this week because a priest there, U.S. citizen Alfredo Prado, 73, was singled out by Casa Alianza as a man who had been let go by a Texas parish. Casa Alainza is a
child welfare organization. Prado denied allegations of improper behavior Thursday.
The allegations are not supported by independent evidence, but the Catholic church here immediately disavowed the activities at the sanctuary, and immigration officials called in the priest for an interview Thursday.
An official explained to the priest that he was not allowed to work because he was here as a tourist. If the priest chooses to seek an immigration status so he can stay here, he will have to provide a police record. Officials are believed to be checking his U.S. police record anyway.
The allegations against the priest blurred when the church got into the act. They said he was not authorized to conduct his priestly duties. The sanctuary has long been an embarrassment for the Catholic Church here and its history goes back at least three years, long before the priest arrived six months ago. Traditionally the church is uncomfortable with miracles, particularly those that intrude on the miracles the church has verified.
The Tico Times Online Daily Page: "PANI Investigates Youth Living at 'Sanctuary' "
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net
Alfredo Prado
The Child Welfare Agency (PANI) said Friday that it is investigating the circumstances of two minors living on the grounds of the so-called 'Sanctuary' in San Isidro de Grecia, home to polemic U.S. priest Alfredo Prado, accused last week by child-advocacy group Casa Alianza of "usurpation of authority and fraud."
PANI Minister Rosalia Gil told The Tico Times that child welfare authorities paid a visit to the 'sanctuary' last Thursday and discovered two boys, ages 14 and 16, living there with the U.S. priest, who reportedly was accused of sexually abusing children in San Antonio, Texas, where he was expelled from his parish (TT, Sept. 5).
Gil said the two brothers are reportedly living at the sanctuary with the permission of their parents, and there is no evidence that either has been a victim of sexual abuse. She did, however, say that the 14-year-old should be attending school under Costa Rican law, and that the PANI is reviewing the situation to determine the best course of action.
Prado, 75, maintains he is innocent of all allegations of misconduct. Casa Alianza, however, has accused him of celebrating mass and marriages without the approval of Costa Rica's Catholic Church, which last week said it is investigating the matter.
The Church already has taken a critical stance against Prado and the 'sanctuary,' where the Virgin Mary is thought by some to have appeared.
The Church does not recognize the sanctuary, and many of the residents living nearby are skeptical, according to local press reports. Immigration authorities last week said that Prado is in the country on a 90-day tourist visa and is prohibited by law from working or celebrating religious events.
Those who claim the Virgin appeared at the sanctuary are fervent in their belief. Last Thursday night priest and Catholic Church journalist Glen Gómez, who denounced the sanctuary as unauthorized by the Church, was attacked at his home in Escazú by 10 people who reportedly claimed to be "sons of Mary" from the "sanctuary," according to the daily La Nación.
Gómez was hospitalized for 24 hours.
Members of the sanctuary later denied playing a role in the beating, according to La Nación
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net
Alfredo Prado
The Child Welfare Agency (PANI) said Friday that it is investigating the circumstances of two minors living on the grounds of the so-called 'Sanctuary' in San Isidro de Grecia, home to polemic U.S. priest Alfredo Prado, accused last week by child-advocacy group Casa Alianza of "usurpation of authority and fraud."
PANI Minister Rosalia Gil told The Tico Times that child welfare authorities paid a visit to the 'sanctuary' last Thursday and discovered two boys, ages 14 and 16, living there with the U.S. priest, who reportedly was accused of sexually abusing children in San Antonio, Texas, where he was expelled from his parish (TT, Sept. 5).
Gil said the two brothers are reportedly living at the sanctuary with the permission of their parents, and there is no evidence that either has been a victim of sexual abuse. She did, however, say that the 14-year-old should be attending school under Costa Rican law, and that the PANI is reviewing the situation to determine the best course of action.
Prado, 75, maintains he is innocent of all allegations of misconduct. Casa Alianza, however, has accused him of celebrating mass and marriages without the approval of Costa Rica's Catholic Church, which last week said it is investigating the matter.
The Church already has taken a critical stance against Prado and the 'sanctuary,' where the Virgin Mary is thought by some to have appeared.
The Church does not recognize the sanctuary, and many of the residents living nearby are skeptical, according to local press reports. Immigration authorities last week said that Prado is in the country on a 90-day tourist visa and is prohibited by law from working or celebrating religious events.
Those who claim the Virgin appeared at the sanctuary are fervent in their belief. Last Thursday night priest and Catholic Church journalist Glen Gómez, who denounced the sanctuary as unauthorized by the Church, was attacked at his home in Escazú by 10 people who reportedly claimed to be "sons of Mary" from the "sanctuary," according to the daily La Nación.
Gómez was hospitalized for 24 hours.
Members of the sanctuary later denied playing a role in the beating, according to La Nación
Archbishop Patrick Flores of San Antonio is warning Catholics about a Costa Rican religious cult in which a former San Antonio priest has taken refuge.
In an uncharacteristic move, Flores has issued a statement urging Catholics to stay away from the Reina y Se�ora de Todo la Creado, which translates as “The Queen and Lady of All Creation.”
The group, which has ties to Texas and several members from San Antonio, is centered around Juan Pablo Delgado, a 24-year-old “visionary” who claims to receive messages from the Virgin Mary. It has a reputation for violence in Costa Rica, and its members are reportedly preparing for the end of the world in late December.
Father Alfredo Prado, former pastor of St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in San Antonio, has become the group’s chief celebrant. Prado became a fugitive from the Oblate Fathers earlier this year when he defied orders to enter a retirement home and instead fled to Costa Rica.
Prado, 73, was stripped of his clerical authority in 1991 after differing with officials of the Oblate Fathers over theology and after he was accused of molesting boys — a charge he has vehemently denied. Recently, the Oblate Fathers served final notice on Prado that he is being removed from the priesthood altogether.
The cult has been denounced by three Costa Rican bishops. Citing those denouncements, Flores said, “I caution everyone in San Antonio to not get involved. I recommend this for your good and the good of the universal church.”
Flores’ release did not specify Prado by name but mentioned the concern of the Costa Rican bishops over Prado’s presence and his celebration of Mass and other sacraments at the cult’s sanctuary in San Isidro de Grecia, near San Jose.
“In addition to their suspicions concerning the validity of the apparitions themselves, the bishops of Costa Rica have also voiced concern over apparent irregularities involving the Blessed Sacrament and the unauthorized celebration of the sacraments by those who do not have the authority of the local bishop to perform these priestly functions,” the release states.
The archbishop did not address the child molestation accusations. The Oblates will neither confirm nor deny that Prado was disciplined for molesting boys, but Prado has said he was accused of such behavior and has denied the accusations.
Instead, Flores admonished Catholics to avoid the cult until — and if — the apparitions Delgado claims are proven.
“If this apparition ever receives the approval of the bishops, somewhere down the line, then it will be made public,” Flores said.
“It has already been made public that it does not have the approval of the bishop or the archbishop in that area.”
Link:
Archbishop Warns
In an uncharacteristic move, Flores has issued a statement urging Catholics to stay away from the Reina y Se�ora de Todo la Creado, which translates as “The Queen and Lady of All Creation.”
The group, which has ties to Texas and several members from San Antonio, is centered around Juan Pablo Delgado, a 24-year-old “visionary” who claims to receive messages from the Virgin Mary. It has a reputation for violence in Costa Rica, and its members are reportedly preparing for the end of the world in late December.
Father Alfredo Prado, former pastor of St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in San Antonio, has become the group’s chief celebrant. Prado became a fugitive from the Oblate Fathers earlier this year when he defied orders to enter a retirement home and instead fled to Costa Rica.
Prado, 73, was stripped of his clerical authority in 1991 after differing with officials of the Oblate Fathers over theology and after he was accused of molesting boys — a charge he has vehemently denied. Recently, the Oblate Fathers served final notice on Prado that he is being removed from the priesthood altogether.
The cult has been denounced by three Costa Rican bishops. Citing those denouncements, Flores said, “I caution everyone in San Antonio to not get involved. I recommend this for your good and the good of the universal church.”
Flores’ release did not specify Prado by name but mentioned the concern of the Costa Rican bishops over Prado’s presence and his celebration of Mass and other sacraments at the cult’s sanctuary in San Isidro de Grecia, near San Jose.
“In addition to their suspicions concerning the validity of the apparitions themselves, the bishops of Costa Rica have also voiced concern over apparent irregularities involving the Blessed Sacrament and the unauthorized celebration of the sacraments by those who do not have the authority of the local bishop to perform these priestly functions,” the release states.
The archbishop did not address the child molestation accusations. The Oblates will neither confirm nor deny that Prado was disciplined for molesting boys, but Prado has said he was accused of such behavior and has denied the accusations.
Instead, Flores admonished Catholics to avoid the cult until — and if — the apparitions Delgado claims are proven.
“If this apparition ever receives the approval of the bishops, somewhere down the line, then it will be made public,” Flores said.
“It has already been made public that it does not have the approval of the bishop or the archbishop in that area.”
Link:
Archbishop Warns
Saturday, January 10, 2004
Eden or evil?
Express-News Mexico City Bureau/January 4, 2004
By Dane Schiller
San Isidro de Grecia, Costa Rica -- On the edge of a lush coffee plantation, San Antonio Catholics with careers ranging from law to biochemistry invest their faith in a shaggy, black-haired prophet who never made it past third grade.
Drawn to this hilly compound by the belief that Juan Pablo Delgado is God's messenger, the pilgrims reject three bishops' warnings not to be tricked by the enigmatic 24-year-old, who shares with them daily messages from a Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary only he hears and sees.
They follow what they feel in their hearts and sniff from Delgado's socks - which they smell in praise for the sweet scent that's said to come from wounds on his feet similar to those of the crucified Christ.
And they laugh at outsiders who compare them to doomsday cultists like Jim Jones' People's Temple followers, who committed mass suicide in Guyana in 1978, or David Koresh's Branch Davidians, who perished in an inferno ending a federal siege of their compound near Waco in 1993.
"We are engineers, lawyers, doctors - we are not crazy people," said Guadalupe Nypaver, 64, of San Antonio.
But leaders of the Catholic Church, who admit to having laymen spies, paint a far different picture of this Eden in Central America.
Delgado's spiritual adviser is Father Alfredo Prado, 73, who recently was dismissed from his Oblate order and accused of sexually molesting two San Antonio teenagers more than 30 years ago, when he served at St. Timothy's Catholic Church.
The legally blind Prado, who denies any wrongdoing and defies the church by continuing to celebrate Mass and hear confession, never has been charged with a crime and says he's being unfairly attacked.
But his link to Delgado has deepened suspicion of the younger man.
Church leaders contend what happens at Delgado's compound is tragic, if not sinister. They believe Delgado cuts himself to make the Christlike wounds, and they're skeptical of the messages, from the purely devotional to the grimly apocalyptic, that Delgado delivers on his knees, into a microphone, before a rapt audience.
And the local archdiocese thinks Delgado, whom some believe could be schizophrenic, is making money by deceiving people.
"It is very, very dangerous because he is manipulating the people with fear by saying the Virgin says the world is going to end and you have to be here or you won't be saved," said Father Sixto Varela, an administrator for the Costa Rican diocese of Alajuela.
Father Glen Gómez, a spokesman for the Catholic bishops' conference of Costa Rica, claims he recently was beaten by young men claiming to be "children of the Virgin Mary" after he spoke out against Delgado.
On the advice of two Costa Rican bishops, Archbishop Patrick Flores of San Antonio took the unusual step of warning his flock not to visit.
"I caution everyone in San Antonio not to get involved," Flores wrote in a column published in Today's Catholic in November. "I recommend this for your own good and the good of the universal church."
Prado said he believes debate will continue over Delgado, but the compound will grow to 100 times its current size and draw thousands.
"It is difficult to explain to a nonbeliever because you know the saying: for the nonbeliever no explanation will suffice," he said. "For the believer, no explanation is needed."
Warnings of destruction
Church officials keep records on everything from the names of Delgado's dogs, Kadosh and Petrus, to photographs and government identification numbers of several followers.
Delgado, who canceled an interview for this article that was said to have been approved by the Virgin during a midnight session, hasn't had a traditional job in years and he's young enough to be a grandchild to many of the pilgrims. But that doesn't stop his followers from looking to him for answers on how to live and kissing his feet.
Nypaver and other pilgrims form a core group of about a dozen Alamo City Catholics who learned of Delgado through friends, family, church and Bible study.
They come, sometimes monthly, to be in a place with an incredible view, a blessed stream, a guesthouse, wooden chapel, and plantings of sugarcane, coffee and banana.
The compound's life-size mannequins of Christ and the Virgin are dressed in crowns and regularly changing elaborate outfits designed by Delgado and made by a dressmaker follower.
"We haven't given up on the world, but at the same time we don't need to prove anything to the world," said Alicia Treviño, 56, who owns a San Antonio day-care center and was here on her 19th trip.
Followers said they spend their days praying, discussing faith and waiting for messages. For them, this is paradise.
"I cannot imagine the Garden of Eden was any more beautiful," said Kathy Gruber, 60, a retired clinical biochemist from San Antonio.
Delgado's followers don't have death wishes, they say. And that recent bulldozing some thought was for bunkers? That actually was part of expansion, which is funded largely by Texas donations and includes another two-story guesthouse.
For Nypaver, Gruber and the others here, this is a mystical world where nothing happens by chance. Whether finding a pair of glasses lost in a stream, managing the stress of daily life or seeing a child survive risky surgery, it all is the will of God.
They don't easily trust outsiders, who they believe spread lies about their paradise and secretly monitor and photograph them for church officials challenging their claim to a reserved seat to heaven.
Delgado's followers believe he is on the same road to sainthood taken by others once plagued by doubters. Through history, reports of the Virgin's appearing to people have been numerous and worldwide.
Such people have power regardless of the truth of their claims, said Martha G. Newman, director of religious studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
"He or she becomes an actor in a drama that lifts him or her out of the everyday and offers a special position as an intermediary to the divine," she said. "They provide (believers) ... with a strong sense of community, a strong sense of a connection with their God, and often a sense of consolation, instruction or confirmation of faith."
Some nearby residents said they avoid Delgado and his followers.
"Nobody gets involved with them and they don't get involved with anybody," said Andrea Alfaro Rojas, 25. "They are nice enough people, but we don't share their beliefs."
Words of the Virgin
Followers watched carefully on a recent evening as Delgado, wearing a black robe, went to his knees and stared at a spot 8 feet up the chapel's wall.
Clutching a microphone near his moustache and small goatee, Delgado spoke what his believers consider to be the words of the Virgin.
A teenage assistant, studying to be a priest, rang a bell to alert the area to the incoming messages.
"I tell you that I am the always virgin holy Mary, mother of the only and living God," he said in a soft, high-pitched voice in Spanish. "All my children, I, your mother, receive all your prayers. I intercede for all your needs."
Most of the 83 onlookers, many of them from Mexico, knelt. The elderly sat. Children lie on the floor.
Some wrote down the words and recorded his voice. Others cried. Delgado's voice has a higher pitch when communicating messages from the Virgin and a lower one when reciting those of Christ or St. Michael.
Delgado has had thousands of such visions, which started four years ago.
The messages deal with love, fire, brimstone and on occasion, practical matters. During one vision, he told a couple who own the compound site that they and their two children should give him their house and build a new one. They did.
There have been warnings to avoid the tumult that will come with the "destruction of the greater part of the world," descriptions of the earth shaking and seas rising in a vapor, even a prediction the pope will be assassinated by priests.
One message stated that when the world ends, only those in the compound will be saved. Last May, Delgado quoted the Virgin saying, "My warning has again been rejected, the punishment has arrived. This war will be worse than any other."
Delgado's visions, some of which are transcribed and posted in English on the group's Web site, come most nights after 6 p.m.
But once they came at 4 a.m., to accommodate pilgrims leaving on a morning flight.
Express-News Mexico City Bureau/January 4, 2004
By Dane Schiller
San Isidro de Grecia, Costa Rica -- On the edge of a lush coffee plantation, San Antonio Catholics with careers ranging from law to biochemistry invest their faith in a shaggy, black-haired prophet who never made it past third grade.
Drawn to this hilly compound by the belief that Juan Pablo Delgado is God's messenger, the pilgrims reject three bishops' warnings not to be tricked by the enigmatic 24-year-old, who shares with them daily messages from a Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary only he hears and sees.
They follow what they feel in their hearts and sniff from Delgado's socks - which they smell in praise for the sweet scent that's said to come from wounds on his feet similar to those of the crucified Christ.
And they laugh at outsiders who compare them to doomsday cultists like Jim Jones' People's Temple followers, who committed mass suicide in Guyana in 1978, or David Koresh's Branch Davidians, who perished in an inferno ending a federal siege of their compound near Waco in 1993.
"We are engineers, lawyers, doctors - we are not crazy people," said Guadalupe Nypaver, 64, of San Antonio.
But leaders of the Catholic Church, who admit to having laymen spies, paint a far different picture of this Eden in Central America.
Delgado's spiritual adviser is Father Alfredo Prado, 73, who recently was dismissed from his Oblate order and accused of sexually molesting two San Antonio teenagers more than 30 years ago, when he served at St. Timothy's Catholic Church.
The legally blind Prado, who denies any wrongdoing and defies the church by continuing to celebrate Mass and hear confession, never has been charged with a crime and says he's being unfairly attacked.
But his link to Delgado has deepened suspicion of the younger man.
Church leaders contend what happens at Delgado's compound is tragic, if not sinister. They believe Delgado cuts himself to make the Christlike wounds, and they're skeptical of the messages, from the purely devotional to the grimly apocalyptic, that Delgado delivers on his knees, into a microphone, before a rapt audience.
And the local archdiocese thinks Delgado, whom some believe could be schizophrenic, is making money by deceiving people.
"It is very, very dangerous because he is manipulating the people with fear by saying the Virgin says the world is going to end and you have to be here or you won't be saved," said Father Sixto Varela, an administrator for the Costa Rican diocese of Alajuela.
Father Glen Gómez, a spokesman for the Catholic bishops' conference of Costa Rica, claims he recently was beaten by young men claiming to be "children of the Virgin Mary" after he spoke out against Delgado.
On the advice of two Costa Rican bishops, Archbishop Patrick Flores of San Antonio took the unusual step of warning his flock not to visit.
"I caution everyone in San Antonio not to get involved," Flores wrote in a column published in Today's Catholic in November. "I recommend this for your own good and the good of the universal church."
Prado said he believes debate will continue over Delgado, but the compound will grow to 100 times its current size and draw thousands.
"It is difficult to explain to a nonbeliever because you know the saying: for the nonbeliever no explanation will suffice," he said. "For the believer, no explanation is needed."
Warnings of destruction
Church officials keep records on everything from the names of Delgado's dogs, Kadosh and Petrus, to photographs and government identification numbers of several followers.
Delgado, who canceled an interview for this article that was said to have been approved by the Virgin during a midnight session, hasn't had a traditional job in years and he's young enough to be a grandchild to many of the pilgrims. But that doesn't stop his followers from looking to him for answers on how to live and kissing his feet.
Nypaver and other pilgrims form a core group of about a dozen Alamo City Catholics who learned of Delgado through friends, family, church and Bible study.
They come, sometimes monthly, to be in a place with an incredible view, a blessed stream, a guesthouse, wooden chapel, and plantings of sugarcane, coffee and banana.
The compound's life-size mannequins of Christ and the Virgin are dressed in crowns and regularly changing elaborate outfits designed by Delgado and made by a dressmaker follower.
"We haven't given up on the world, but at the same time we don't need to prove anything to the world," said Alicia Treviño, 56, who owns a San Antonio day-care center and was here on her 19th trip.
Followers said they spend their days praying, discussing faith and waiting for messages. For them, this is paradise.
"I cannot imagine the Garden of Eden was any more beautiful," said Kathy Gruber, 60, a retired clinical biochemist from San Antonio.
Delgado's followers don't have death wishes, they say. And that recent bulldozing some thought was for bunkers? That actually was part of expansion, which is funded largely by Texas donations and includes another two-story guesthouse.
For Nypaver, Gruber and the others here, this is a mystical world where nothing happens by chance. Whether finding a pair of glasses lost in a stream, managing the stress of daily life or seeing a child survive risky surgery, it all is the will of God.
They don't easily trust outsiders, who they believe spread lies about their paradise and secretly monitor and photograph them for church officials challenging their claim to a reserved seat to heaven.
Delgado's followers believe he is on the same road to sainthood taken by others once plagued by doubters. Through history, reports of the Virgin's appearing to people have been numerous and worldwide.
Such people have power regardless of the truth of their claims, said Martha G. Newman, director of religious studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
"He or she becomes an actor in a drama that lifts him or her out of the everyday and offers a special position as an intermediary to the divine," she said. "They provide (believers) ... with a strong sense of community, a strong sense of a connection with their God, and often a sense of consolation, instruction or confirmation of faith."
Some nearby residents said they avoid Delgado and his followers.
"Nobody gets involved with them and they don't get involved with anybody," said Andrea Alfaro Rojas, 25. "They are nice enough people, but we don't share their beliefs."
Words of the Virgin
Followers watched carefully on a recent evening as Delgado, wearing a black robe, went to his knees and stared at a spot 8 feet up the chapel's wall.
Clutching a microphone near his moustache and small goatee, Delgado spoke what his believers consider to be the words of the Virgin.
A teenage assistant, studying to be a priest, rang a bell to alert the area to the incoming messages.
"I tell you that I am the always virgin holy Mary, mother of the only and living God," he said in a soft, high-pitched voice in Spanish. "All my children, I, your mother, receive all your prayers. I intercede for all your needs."
Most of the 83 onlookers, many of them from Mexico, knelt. The elderly sat. Children lie on the floor.
Some wrote down the words and recorded his voice. Others cried. Delgado's voice has a higher pitch when communicating messages from the Virgin and a lower one when reciting those of Christ or St. Michael.
Delgado has had thousands of such visions, which started four years ago.
The messages deal with love, fire, brimstone and on occasion, practical matters. During one vision, he told a couple who own the compound site that they and their two children should give him their house and build a new one. They did.
There have been warnings to avoid the tumult that will come with the "destruction of the greater part of the world," descriptions of the earth shaking and seas rising in a vapor, even a prediction the pope will be assassinated by priests.
One message stated that when the world ends, only those in the compound will be saved. Last May, Delgado quoted the Virgin saying, "My warning has again been rejected, the punishment has arrived. This war will be worse than any other."
Delgado's visions, some of which are transcribed and posted in English on the group's Web site, come most nights after 6 p.m.
But once they came at 4 a.m., to accommodate pilgrims leaving on a morning flight.
See Full News here: Eden or Evil?
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