When Right

Goes Wrong

By Russ Bellant

National Catholic Reporter.

November 18, 1988

The Cast: Ralph Martin, Steven Clark, Tom Monoghan Umberto Belli,

the Nicaruguan Contras, the Roman Curia, Big Buisness and the CIA

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A WORLD TO WIN

SECRECY

OON'TTELL

. 'rr~A.BGOD SPEAKS

TO YOURLEADERS

ONASURPRISINGLYFREQUENT

BASIS.

~------------~7GOESwaONG

VVGrd of God network wants to 'save the world'njght-wing allianceincludes curia,big business,contras and CIA

~ IllTi.-:trwtic reneural, OTl(' or the more'[ . ::!rtn ifi'stu.tions o(ChristiunilY ijifl("{'

:;;. 1\ '(!lIC(lfI council, came alive 'in the.' " i:cII Stoff's ill the late 1960s. It is a joy-

,J/ I -vncrnent u:huse adherents pro)' and-:: ~ ::nd inn)He the fXJu'.'CTO{GrXi'S Spirit·,,1 , t'cling and holiness.

;":1(' Word O(C;;x1II.'Q:>one of the earliestl' -) charismatic groups. The record~h j .:«, iuncecer, thut its members speak.n ~'ifj('r('nt tongues and pursue higher: -: (:Iiulls than charismatics generally.

i t!v, orrr the past 21 ycars, the ~'v'();d; IIi has deviated from its origins to dis-

all die classic dements ofa cult.J': ;w:': a/so created a far-flung network

. i, Ie aim is to SOU? the world. To do this.". • 'embers feel, it must first do battle;'/: ~ the u-orld's enemies and eventually

'111 (ll'er them. To this end, it has ai·!tself Leith conservatice elements in

. ;i~ ! ·.S. church and in the Roman curia,, /, 1 ri~hl·ll!ing activists that include':i i rugu an contras, their U.5. support-

:he CIA and coneercative business.:..-'I.L'e Ii'ith (I ioidc range of radical agcn-'/(1

lh I\uSS BELLANT:--:'p",-:,alto the National Catholic ReporterDe-tr-oit

:CTEVE CLARK and Ralph Martin"Xt;" t; two busy young Christians in the,~"h, They worked at the NewmanCenter of Michigan State University inEast ~, TheY""""""Iso'biithe see- •l •.-t.c i.u of the Cursillo movement. Theyimraersed themselves in the charismaticrev i~·al that hit Duquesne and NotreDame universities in 1967.

They were fired from the NewmanCeder when the chaplain discoveredtht·y were also involved with the funda-memalist Protestant Campus Crusadetor Christ.

Iu November 1967, Clark and Martincalled a meeting in their apartment offewer than a dozen people, from whichthe ,Word of God charismatic groupheg:in. It grew to more than 100 people inthe first four months and 1,000 in sevenvears. There are now more than 1,600adr: 1, members. Their sway, however, ex-ceed-, these numbers. Through a sub-,,;djry organization, the Sword of theSpi-i t, they control an international net-work of an estimated 20,000 members,who/toe tentacles in turn reach and affectthe 'spiritual and even the social andpol.ncal lives of millions of people.

I'ress accounts and fanner membersdescribe the Word of God in the lateI%0, as unstructured, open, egalitarianand loose-knit, focused on a weeklycha nsrnatic prayer meeting. Most earlymale members, including leaders Martinand Clark, were conscientious objectorsto the Vietnam war. A 1977 letter tomembers described the early period as"limited mostly to finding a personal re-lauonship with tbe Lord and sharingwit h others in charismatic worship. Themain opportunities to serve were inthirlh"S such as setting up chairs forpra ser meetings. sharing words of en-coumgement with one another and localevangelizing."

For three years, Won! of God activitieswere conducted in this informal fashion.In September 1970, however, Clark and

Martin began to introduce changes andimpose procedures that would expandand grow to this day. They created "coor-dinators" (leaders), district subgroupscalled "subcommunities" (later called"districts") and a formal initiation Pre-cess for membership. Each member wasexpected to make a "public commitment"to the group, entering into a new "cove-narrt." Leaders thus began to describe theword of God ax a "covenant Christiancommunity."

"From that point onward," says formermember Tom Yoder, "coordinators hadincreasing control. By mid·1972, theyhad total control." Other former mem-bers corroborate this (most informants inthis story asked to remain anonymous forfear of unspecified retribution).

Ongoing explorations by Martin andClark had led them toward this tighterauthority. Around 1972, they were intro-duced to the practice of "shepherding" or"discipleship." This is essentially a doc-trine of control that causes members tobecome obedient in ever larger areas oftheir lives,

With it went a growing lexicon of ter-minologies defining authority. The Won!of God developed layers of authority.Members submit control of their lives toa "shepherd," who in turn is submitted toa higher "shepherd," who again is sub-mitted to yet a higher "shepherd," At thepinnacle was Clark (today it's Martin),the "overall head coordinator." The st.ruc-turebns been compared by some to the

(Continued on next page)

Secretive Puebla Institute has tiestoCI~reentras;-conservative bishops'Cloak-and-dagger'style marksso-called humanrights groupBy RUSS BEUANTSpecial to the National Catholic ReporterDetroit

THE PUEBLA INSTITUTE promotesitself as a Catholic human-rights organi-zation, Since the day it opened, however,it has operated in a curiously cloak-and-dagger way,

One reason may be that its ambitionsare higher than its stated aims, reachingout to engage such diverse players as CIAoperatives and contra leaders, conserva-tive Catholic prelates and rich business-men who prefer to keep BOrneof theirbusiness secret.

Another reason may be the fact thatPuebla is a front, an "action center," forthe Sword of the Spirit, which in turn isdirected by the Won! of God. a charisma-tic group with the characteristics of a cult(see above story).

The president of the Puebla Insti-tute, since its 1982 opening near AnnArbor, Mich., has been Humberto Belli, aNicaraguan who had previously beeneditorial-page editor of Managua's right-wingLa Prensa newspaper.

The original directors of Puebla wereall Word of God members, as was Belli'saide, Joe Davis. Those involved went tosometimes absurd lengths to keep thePuebla-Won! of God connection secret.

Davis, for example, denied that Bellilived in the house of Won! ofGod memberJim Berlucci. Since this reporter had al-ready met Belli's wife and daughter (whodid not pretend to hide their identities) atthe door, Davis, who had pledged toremain "single in the Lord" in a Wordof God subgroup, claimed the wife anddaughter were his.

This shroud of secrecy is spread overevery maneuver of Puebla and its parentorganizations.

In January 1983, agroup of directorsof the FDN and CIAagents ... discussedthe idea of fLindingMr.Belli to writea book to discreditthe Sandinistagovernment.

Belli's hookOne of the first Puebla projects was

publication of, Belli's first book, Nica-ragua: Christians Under Fire. No print-er or publisher is identified in the book.According to former anti-SandinistaNational Democratic Front (FDN) leaderEdgar Chamorro, the CIA was involved in

the funding, editing, production and dis-tribution of the book.

In a letter to NCR on the origins ofBelli's book, Chamorro states: "In Janu-ary 1983, a group of directors of the FDNand CIA agents who (had) been meetingfor the purposes of organization and de-velopment of projects discussed the ideaof funding Mr. Belli to write a book ... to·discredit the Sandinista governrnent . ..We proposed that Mr. Belli's work shouldbe funded, and the CIA gave the money."

In an interview, Chamorro said thebook was printed at a CIA printer inMiami, although he wasn't able to re-member its name, In his letter, he addedthat "the CIA also paid for the transla-tions to put it into English and other lan-guages.ln a meeting (at which) I was pres-ent, the budget was approved and dis-cussed with a public relations finn (If

Miami, which was going to do the work,"In separate interviews last year, Belli

and Davis denied Chamorro's assertions.Belli said he has receipts to prove he paidfor the book's printing but declined toprovide such documents or name theprinter, insisting it was a "private" mat-ter. In June 1985, Belli told the Min-neapolis Star and Tribune he "paid acompany in Michigan for printing thebook,"

A December 1984 letter sent by Davisto the Canadian branch of .Iesus to theCommunist World, a Ll.Si-based anti-communist group, says, however. that"the 400 books for the Canadian gover-n-ment will be shipped directly from theprinter in Miami."

(Continued 011 page 201

National Catholic ReporterNovember·18.'lQOO5

Word of Godt Corui nued from previous page)

k.rd-vassal relationship of the MiddleAzes.

-In the eight and a half years I was inthe Word of God: says Yoder, "I wit-nessed, or heard stories from those involved,of situations that most people would con-sider bizarre. Some examples are: ar-ranged marriages. expulsion due to un-approved marriages, people compelled tolive in houses not of their choosing, a manf(.!'"cingdiscipline on a woman by tyingher up, and members submitting ad-vance schedules to their 'head' on aweekly or monthly basis for approval.What they call 'headship' or 'pastoralleadership' goes far beyond what you'dfind even in a cloistered monastery or inmilitary life."

WCn! accompanied by calls for "spiritualwarfare," according to Word of God docu-ments and for-mer members. The roles ofmen and women ",:,erc redefined. dcnYl11gwomen leadership positions except OVH

other women. "Manly character" was pro-moted. Members began seeing the out-side world as hostile and threatening.

Signs of a cultMany of the characteristics associated

with cults can already be found in thegrowing movement: esoteric languageand titles; secrecy; exclusivity; declare-lions of war on some vague enemy; per-sonal messages from a higher source.

For instance, Martin, speaking at acharismatic event in St. Peter's Basilicain Rome in 1975, predicted the destruc-tion of the Catholic church. Leaders inthe Word of God-connected communitieslater heard Martin and others talk of im-pending disasters and the need to "gatheran army.TThose not under the leadership

Many of the characteristics associatedwith cults can already be toundinthe growing movement: esotericlanguage and titles; secrecy;exclusivity; declaration of war onsome vague enemy; personal messagesfrom a higher source.

A 1984 booklet titled Patterns of Chris-Ii"" Community, written by Clark, af-Firms this rigidity: "The elders (leaders)can determine which community ac-tivities the individual members shouldtake part in and what services theyshould perform for the body even ifthe call implies a significant change inthe personal life of the individual·or he.family,"

ln the early 1970s; contacts were madeby Clark and Martin with the leaders ofChristian Growth Ministries in FortLauderdale, Fla. That pentecostal groupsubsequently embraoed shepherding!discipleship practice. Without the knowl-edge of the Word of God members, Martinand Clark began meeting the "FortLauderdale Five: who would becomecontroversial in pentecostal and evangel-ical circles for their advocacy of shepherd-ing.

By 1974, the FortLauderdale group,made up of Bob Mumford, CharlesSimpson, Derek Prince, Don Bashamand Em Baxter, joined with Clark andMartin to fonn a secret group called "TheCouncil." Minutes from their first meet-ing state, "We will not make a public an-nouncement about our commitment to-g-ether,"

By the end of 1975, the minutes state:"The Lord is giving us a work that manyin the church do not understand: bring-ing believers together in a committed,disciplined, submitted relationship to bei-t network of bodies that can be a servantto God in the world. That is our primarycall."

Later minutes show Clark and Martincommitted to "their present responsibiIi-tie ..•in such a way as to support the coun-cil and its stated objectives," includingplanning "national and world strategy."

Fred Bedford, a former associate of theFort Lauderdale group, recalled arrang-i"l( a meeting of the council in 1982.Council members Simpson and Mumfordan: still active in Word of God activities.

In the mid-1970s, leaders of the Wordof <.;00 set about changing the outlook ofmembers through teachings and prophet-ic utterances, Apocalyptic warnings

influence of the Word of God were consid-ered predominantly evil, according toformer members,

Much of this was fully articulated in a1981. "training course,' In one sectionClark states, "We are already at war, sowe have been attacked, Therefore, we canstrike out on an offensive - we shouldfight this war aggressively."

AlthoUgh Clark says "Satan began" thewar, he had identified humanism andleftist political ideologies as concreteenemies, In spite of the "satanic" natureof these enemies, Clark offers that "wecan have strategic truces with them," ac-cording to a training-course document.

In the Word of God, secrecy is a valuedpart of the warfare method, Clark toldmembers his warfare plan "does not haveto be open warfare, but can be covert." Headds, "If we become openly aggressive(open warfare), , ,then we would comeunder direct attack of the media andother major anti-Christian groups."Members were also told, "We want tostem the tide of evil in the church."

The training course was given mainlyto the Word of God members who had al-ready made a total commitment to thegroup. They were sworn to keep the con-tents of the course secret from anyone butthose taking the course with them,including "underway" members (thosegoing through the two- to three-year pro-cess of initiation) and even other fullmembers. They were even told to keepthe promise of secrecy a secret,

-Additionally, those given the coursewere pledged to a "Statement of Commit-ment" that said in part:

We are ready for every sacrifice,even death, the Lord honors us bycalling us to die for him or ourbrothers.

We will be loyal to our command-ers, knowing that they are com-.mitted to defend and provide for ourhomes and families. We will servewhere they direct us and in the waythey direct us.

We will keep our plans and move-ments hidden from the enemy andhis agents.

ln u 1~':)7 lIwding, Won! uf{;nd HWIll'

bcrs were encou ragcd "to set:' oursclves nsa nation {t:mpt~a!'is in or'iginai I.~ Thcvwurt- 1.t,IJ, "For us, :r1~/I. there is no dist inc.t ion between "miht.ary.' 'civilian' and'spiritual' h·adL,rship· J'(·ople saywar is hell, but in this G1Se war isheaven."

In Februurv 19K}, a directive informedmembers of ::o:lsic emergency prepar-a-nons we intend to pursue." Included werelists of supplies and instructions for sur-viving an unspecified emergcncv for 30days. No reasons fur this were discussedin the dirt-active.

Achurch of their own?The \Vord or C(ld, approximately 50

percent of whose members are fromCatholic backgrounds. contends it is nota separate church, but rather workswithin various denominations to foster"renewal." .However. several aspects ofthe Word of GOldand the Sword of theSpirit communities indicate the struc-ture and practice of an independentchurch:

• Tithing is virtually demanded ofmembers.

• There is <1 unique, authoritative doc-trine.

• Special groups have been formedsimilar to religious orders.

• Independent fellowships have beencreated that parallel denominationalchurches.

• It has its own quasi-sacramental sys-tem.

TithingMembers are expected to donate 10

percent of their income to the \Vord ofGod, and not to any other church theymay attend. To this end, members aregiven fonns to report their annual in-come to the Word of God office. An addi-tional one percent is also expected for"outreaches" of Sword of tile Spirit.

DoctrineWhile the Word of God says it has no

exclusive doctrine of its own, there is, infact, a substantial body of extra-Catholicbeliefs that members are required to ac-cept. The ultimate authority and sourcefor the Word of God belief system is thecoordinators, This elaborate doctrine istaught to initiates as a condition of mem-bership. An ongoing series of events. such.as "Life in the Spirit Seminars," conveysthese ideas and directions to the mem-bership. It takes several years to com-plete all the required courses. .

Although the Bible is cited as au-thority, great emphasis is placed onprophecies received by the leaders. A con-fidential 1977 memo to members states:"The Lord spoke again to the coor-dinators," and, "The immediate responseon the part of the coordinators has beento commit ourselves to lead, as GOd'speople, away from every worldly influ-ence."

Word of God members were told that aprophecy indicated they were a special,chosen people. God was quoted as saying,"I and those who are with me call you 'theWord of God' because you are my Wordnow to the whole face of the earth." Andagain, "I have called you and I havecreated you not for your own sake, but forthe sake of all those whom I would gatherto myself. 1am going to give you my Spiritin a way in which I have never given mySpirit to any people. I am going to makeyou my people in a way in which I havenever before made any people mypeople."

A series of prophecies was proclaimedto the Word of God members to maketheir group a "bulwark" against the com-ing apocalypse. These prophecies helpedform the basis for changing the Word ofGod into a more structured. controlledgroup.

111 the l~n·j·1l1l'IItO till' t·I)Ordlllaltll:

wrote. -A series or 12 teachings on t lnwor-ld nnd the- kingdom of God wc r,giVt'll at (;t.'IlI'ral Community (;alh'·I·IIH~

to begin the chanl:!"e~ in our lives." 'Ill!"members were told their ronly purpose inlife" was to heed God's call: '" want ever-person (in the Word of Godl to be ob-scssed .•••.ith a desire to see my salva-tion.. .Iwant you to long for it, to hunge-rand thirst for it, to pant after my po wer."

Reflecting: the more intense internallife emerging in the Word of God, thecoordinators said God told them, ·1 amgoing to discipline you.. .1am going It,

bring your lives into order. Iam going t{,discipline you so that you look like Illy

sons and daughters."From the content of these message's. an

elaborate set of teachings evolved on.among other things, the need for memobers to submit their lives to their coer-dinators, for men to begin wearing man,t les and women veils.

Former members say the emphasi-began changing from God to communityOne woman who had been in the \Vord 01

God eight years said, "l left because 'com-munity' replaced God. 'Community' wa-identified with Jesus."

"It was done little by little by little,"says the former member, who requestedanonymity. "That's the reason so manyswallowed this junk, why they submit tothis bondage."

The Word of God can be compared to achurch also in that it claims for itselfspiritual and moral authority over itsmembers. In his Patterns of ChristianCommunity, Clark says coordinators"have the final authority in the communi,ty. . Nothing can be said to be an ac-tion of the community without their ap-proval."

Quasi-religious ordersThe beginnings of quasi-religious or-

ders also suggest a parallel to establishedchurch institutions. There are specialgroups within the Word of God for thosewho have made a lifelong commitment tostay "single for the Lord." About IOUmembers, including Clark, have madesuch a pledge to be celibate "servants of

Members are ex-pected to donate10percent of theirincome to the Wordof God, and not toany other churchthey may attend. Tothis end, membersare given forms toreport their annualincome to the Wordof God office.

the Word: after a title used by theBruderhoff, an Austrian ana baptist SectClark visited in the mid-1970s. A smallgroup of women form the "Servants ofGod's Love."

Ceremonies are conducted for thosemaking this lifetime pledge. They tend tolive in separate group households [hatmaintain a strict regimen of activitiesbeyond their Word of God duties. Formermembers characterize them as "quasi-re-ligious orders."

Super-denominational authorityFour fellowships provide denomina-

tional alternatives to the establishedchurches. Christ the King is recognizedby the Lansing diocese as a Catholicparish, although it has no building of itsown. Its priest, Father Frank McGrath, isa Word of God member. The Word ofGod's Lutheran fellowship is seeking af-filiation with the Missouri Synod. Pres-byterian and nondenominational pen-.tecostal fellowships were also created bythe Word of God. Within these fellow-ships, such parochial functions as rnar-"riages and baptisms are performed.

The Word of Godgroup conducts otherquasi-sacraments,such as a 'Lord's DayObservance' everySaturday as a kind ofeucharist; 'Baptismin the Holy Spirit';confessions withoutclergy; exorcisms;and anointing of thesick by elders.

The Word of God group conducts otherquasi-sacraments, such as 8 "Lord's DayObservance," conducted every Saturdayas a kind of eucharist; a "Baptism in theHoly Spirit," in which the initiation tocharismatic practices begins; confessionsin group or private settings without

clergy; exorcisms; and anointing of thesick by the elders.

Exorcisms - called "deliverances" -are practiced frequently. According toWord of God literature, those with cer-tain problems are considered possessedby demons, and deliverance experts curethem. Members may be judged at anytime to be possessed by a demon if theirbehavior shows, for example, greed, lust,pride or malice. One or more other peopledrive the evil spirit from the strickenmember. His or her behavior is expectedto change afterward.

Such rites are widely used by cults as ameans of control: Anyone out of line canbe deemed to have a demon. "Deliverancepractices in the Word of God put a lot ofpsychological stress on those being deliv-ered of demons they didn't even knowthey had," says Yoder, who underwentsuch experiences.

A Word of God internal document saysdeliverance practices can help new mem-bers overcome "spirits of independence,rebellion, feminism, isolation, etc." Otherpsychological targets of deliverance are"self-image problems, guilt, shame, etc."

The Word of God states in its public lit-erature, such as a book on deliverance byFather Michael Scanlan, that "solemnexorcism" or "driving out the devil from apossessed person" should only be per-formed by a priesj approved by the localbishop, as stipulated in canon law. An in-ternal document, however, states thatanti demonic deliverance can be workedon within the Word of God. The detaileddocument makes no reference to the roleof priests or bishops, but recommends a"link-up to the pastoral system of thecommunity," i.e., the Word of God leaders.

Canon law or loose cannons?Former members vary on the degree to

which the Word of God is a de factochurch. Some see it as an autonomous

School of TheologySAINT JOHN'S UNIVERSITY

COl.LEGEVILl.E, MINNESOTA

THEOLOGIC/\L EDUCATION AND SPIRITLAL LEADERSHIP SIC:CE 18\:'1'111' SEARCII FOR nUTIi /\\IJ WISDOM

,IL\STER ()F ARTS IN) Liturgical Studies) I.iturgil'a] ,\ll1sic

church. Other former members call it a"hybrid church" or a "semi-church."

If the Word of God were to claim openindependence, it would lose its influencewith church authorities, its membersfear. Thus, sources say, there is a tensionbetween the desire for the authority of anindependent church and the desire forcollaboration with Rome.

Critics charge that the Word of Godleaders hope to ~old existing church eointo their own image. They point toNewark, N.J., to illustrate their point.

In 1985, parishioners of Little FlowerChurch in Berkeley Heights, N.J .. corn-plained to the archdiocese of Newarkthat the People of Hope, a l,200-member

(Continued on next paue)

1

-~)eViSed and EX/Janded 10th Anniversary Ediri()n

CELEBRAnON OF DISCIPLINEThe Path to Spirittwl Growth

Richard J, Foster

Celebration,.'/1 )iso/)/illl'

"If cvcrvbodv in tb i..•countrv CP\d~! rL':hl-

and ht'c,J--thi!' b\lll~, wh.u ;, ,!it"f,'rcrh'r itw()ldd make (I' rhl' plnnvt , noly H' rilt' (Ib-

-~h.kh-inl' I 'Ellgil-. ,wlh,'r Ill" •.\ W'link/,111 Till1\, o111,j Th,'C:r","'.'lIh:b./l'llrthli

Domino's 'pizza tiger' linked to Word of God;\iOJI;,~h:LJL tn llondurns [I) Iurt hcr pL!1l

fur ih~' pnlp;-):o:;\·tl ~dlOOI. Mcncghan ;11:,,·'

~nH':', 1111Steutn-nville's hoard.The- C.-nl ral America coordiu.nor lo-

Domine's Pizza is Francisco Znniua.WlIrd orCod nu-mber trained this '-:':11";.be a Sword of the Spirit courdinato;·, In .u:interview last Slimmer, Zuniga said h.had incorporated a foundation for the devclopment of Honduras in Panama. lt-directors will include Monaghan. otherbusinessmen and at least one Hondur.u.bishop.

J n an August 1987 interview. Monegh.i»said the Honduran government and th.U.S. Agency for International Develop-nu-nt were aiding his projects.

In a move that could enhance his influ-ence in the Honduran as well as the U.Schurch, Monaghan announced early t hi-year the beginning of an internetione! Catholic businessman's group cnllecl egatus. The first branch was formed ir.Honduras and claims the support o!three bishops then.'.

With land acquisition and ether pluu-in Honduras, Monaghan will have signiticaru penetration of the economic. n'i:gious, political and educational sphere-of that country. Aware of the political im-plication» of his work, he noted that t h.:

(Continued Oli page? 21)

Wields influencefrom Detroitto Honduras

other employees could attend daily Mass.In his autobiography, Pizza Tiger, Mona-ghan says his ultimate goal is "to go !Dheaven and take as many people a<; pcssi-blewith me."

Monaghan readily discusses these andother church activities and matters offaith. Absent during interviews. and ab-sent in his autobiography, however, isany mention of his close working rela-tionship with the Word of God and theSword of the Spirit (see part one). Thatcloseness is clearly demonstrated in Cen-tral America, where a number of long-termjoinl MonaghanlSword of the Spiritprograms are in the works.

Monaghan has designated Honduras asa suitable country for spawning Sword ofthe Spirit projects. He has establishedDomino's franchises, a sauce packingplant and a clothing factory for high-priced export markets. all somehow con-nected to Father Enrique Sylvestre. whoruns one of two Sword of the Spiritbranches in Honduras.

Monaghan has been trying!D establisha two-year technical school in Hondurasby this fall. with the help of the Francis-can University of Steubenville. a Wordof God-controlled school. Word of Godmember Michael J. Healy. who is dean offaculty at Steubenville. has accompanied

THOMAS S. MONAGHAN owns Domi-n. '5 Pizza. a fast- food . enterprise thatdoes $2 billion in annual sales. He ownsthe Detroit Tigers baseball team and isconservatively estimated to have a per-"mal fortune of more than $250 milliion.I I.. regards his Catholic-centered spir-i:ual life as koy to his happiness. "Mygreatest accomplishment in life has beenthe fact that I've been in the state of$3nctified grace continually for 2O-someodd "ears; he !DIdNCR in April.

~Innaghan has lent his name !Dvariouschurch projects. He is one of Cardinal Ed-mund Sroka's inner circle. He and Chrys-I", chairman Lee Iacocca signed a fund-f,1ising letter to cover expenses of thepa pal visit to Detroit last spring. AtSzoka's request. Monaghan gave $100,000t·, the Vatican !Dhelp computerize ita op-e-r-ations. He established a chapel in hiscorporate headquarters so that he and

Martin and Gallic traveled !D Rome toseek fonnal approval for the Sword of theSpirit.

In 1986. Gerety discussed the contro-versy with officials in Rome. He retiredshortly afterward, but Archbishop 'TheodoreMcCarrick inherited the problem. Hope' Sword of the Spiritleaders express confidence the Vatican In 1983. Word of God leaders an-will grant the Sword of the Spirit some nounced the formation of Sword of thekind of canonical status that would ne- Spirit as the vehicle for its national andgate the archbishops' demands. They are international growth. About 50 affiliateschampioned in the Vatican by Bishop in the United States and abroad comePaul Cordes. vice president ofthe Pontifi- under its umbrella. Branches exist. forcaJ Council for the Laity, although sev- example, in Baltimore. Providence. Mi-eral senior cardinals there are thought to ami, Managua, Beirut. Dublin. Johan-be cool to Sword of the Spirit. nesburg arid Manila .

The pope's views on Sword of the Spirit _ .Bword of the Spirit runs various out-have not been fully clarified. But a confer- reaches, including Servant Ministries.ence of Word of God members and as- through which books. cassettes andsoeiated groups held at the University of music are produced. University Chris-Steubenville last spring included several tian Outreach provides a campus pres-prelates close to the pope (NeR, April 8). enee, and the Center for Pastoral Re-Cardinal Edouard Gagnon. president of newal attempts to reach church leaders.the Pontifical Council for the Family FIRE (Faith. Intercession. Repentance(PCF), said of the movement, "The pope and Evangelism) targets Catholics. Ledaccepts them. He is ready to accept them by Martin and Father Scanlan. it is basedeven if at times they exaggerate on one at Scanlan's University of Steubenville.

point or another. . The pope has avery solid trust in them." Gagnon also ap-pointed one couple !Dthe pcr bccau se,he said. they were based at the Univer-sity of Steubenville.

Hispanics are approached through Kervj;

nut. formerly known as Hispanic-Arn.-ricon Missions, \,vhich operates throughout the \Vestern Hemisphere. Agora ln-ternational organizes businessmen.

A number of these groups have subsidiary activities, such as Vine Books, ,:Servant Ministries unit intended {,reach Protestant audiences.

The branch communities in variou.cities around the world have local units ruthese mostly Ann Arbor-based out.reaches. These branches may have Ironhundreds to more than 1.000 member,each. They follow the doctrine. practice,and leadership of the Word of God. whicl.serves as their ideal community.

The entire network of businesses ancbranches is engaged in what one \Vord o-God leader called "a radical analvsis ".where the world is going and how w,must stand against it - how we must be-come a counterculture. . (We mustmake clear that we're not just picking au,scattered problems in a system wit lwhich we otherwise basically agret.'.".

Word of God(Continued from previous page)

branch of the Sword of the Spirit. tookover their parish. The parishioners calledtuem a cult.

Then-Archbishop Peter Gerety ex-amined the allegations and insisted'the group sever its ties to Sword of theSpirit. About 25 families then left Hope:

Hope leader Robert Gallic and Sword(,' the Spirit leaders appealed to support-• rs in the Vatican to overrule Gerety.

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Hispanic SpiritualityTIiEOWGICAL EDUCATIONAND SPIRITUAL FORMATION

1969-1989For more information:(312) 262-8100. Ex!. 665

Mundelein College6363 N. Sheridan Rd.• ChiclgO. Il60660

The Anniversary Summeron the shore of Lake Michigan

and in the heart of Chicago

June 19-July 28. 1989

National Catholic ReporterNovember 16. 19888

,( 'untirllJed [rom })<.1":<" 5)

:,·!;i dcknow!t:dgul t hnt contra leader.: L-(, f("ht:lo printed (\\'0 cditions of hi .s

,",_The- Stur arul Tribun.: quoted FUNn ...k-r Alfonso Calejas as ~<lying, '"I read.i ;,r~~d' of (he book and th,)ught it was a":Li' -I book. so I spoke tu Nicaraguan;'n::_,d;" private individuals, who helpedih.mberto ..•..-ith the publication."

'Vcodv Heppner. whose public rela-uc ;'i~ fir-m Keppner Associates in Miamift'i,t"bented the FDN from 1982 to 1985,.-:!'~~fL", contra gmup' paid fol' Belli's',1)' x. "\\'1.' had Belli's book published, butit .\ 3:-. publ ished with FUN funds that(.,-::!.' III us." said Keppner. Although he;~t:, lined to name-the Miami printer of thetlt .. .k. Keppner says he worked "with one"f -'·..,irprinters that printed it." Be esti-m.u ed that 5,000-6,000 copies werepp:~tl-d.

i~<!lli had other dealings with the eon-: nt,'"', despite his claim that he was not aCOli! r-a supporter. He arranged for Mana-gu,t's Cardinal Mib'Uel Obando y' Bravo.rct c rning from Rome after being nameda c.u-dinal. to offer Ma&Sin Miami for con-t ra leaders. According to Chamorro, the,'lie: arranged the event through Bellibecause he was seen by the contras asObando's "ambassador" in the UnitedSt.ues.

The cardinal was also close enough toHt·,1i to have him appointed in 1982 asI,n,- of only five lay consultants tothe Vat-iG~:1 Secretar-iat fur Non-Believers. Then-l .uonship between Belli and Obando.~')I:'" back to their association .••..-ith the:--Iv.»rd of the Spirit in Munagua in the1 ~!.-!}~.

B,·lIi's background\;,:lli';j sever-al versions of his political

:;;.-::)ry are vague at best. At a Mconie:')'-;~rl'ncl' in Dallas in August 1984, he-u.: -d. "For 10 years I was a Marxist-l., .ru ...\ I rom the lime 1 ltll high school

Belli had otherdealings with thecentres, despite hisclaim that he is nota contra supporter.He arranged forManagua's CardinalObando y Bravo,returning fromRome after beingnamed a cardinal,to offer Mass inMiami for contraleaders.

um il {became a Christian in 1977, whenI was 31 years old." In his second book.Be. aking Faith, published a year later.he says his studies at the University ofPennsylvania "undermined my commit-ment to Marxist theory" in the early19~Os. Returning to Nicaragua in May19'::1, he joined the FSLN (Sandinistas)for two years, even though he didn't "be-lieve any more that Marxism was a truescience." He also began working for theCentr-al Bank of Nicaragua that year.

In perhaps his first contact with a U.S.nurional security agency, Belli began re-

I'

cciving Agt'n('y for International De-velopment lAID) contracts in 1977, ac-cording U) his cur-riculum vitae. He alsoreceived research contr-acts ..•..-ith privateagencies such as a Rockefeller-FordFoundation survev.

He became a member of Ciudad deDios, established in 1978 in Managua asan affiliate of the Ann Arbor-based Swordof the Spirit. Although his second book isbiographical, he never mentions Ciudad.

Ciudad de Dios (City of God) washeaded by a wealthy merchant. CarlosMantica. Its small membership includedleaders of various elements of oppositionto the Sandinistas, including CO~EP. abusiness group; the Nicaraguan Penna-nent Human Rights Commission.and LcPrvnnu newspaper. All three groups wereclose to Obando y Bravo, as was Ciudaditself Members included Editor JaimeChamorro and theologian Roberto Car-denal, both of La Prcnsa.

Xavier Zavala of the Human RightsCommission and Alfonso Robelo, bothleaders of the Nicaraguan DemocraticMovement (MDN), were close to Ciudad.The MDN led the boycott of the 1984 elec-tions in Nicaragua. ~

Father Federico Arguello. a close as-sociate of Carlos' Mantica, was reportedin Newsweek to have received $31.000through a labyrinth of corporations andbank accounts set up by Oliver North. Ar-guello, who is also close to Obando yBravo, oonfinned receiving the moneybut would only say it went through a NewYork bank. .

According to Joe Davis. who defendedArguello in a Moonie newspaper last fall,Argu{!110found the money in a personalaccount one day. "In the course ofinquir-ing about the source of the funding, hecontacted Oliver North, whom he hadbriefed about the Nicaraguan church theprevious spring. North responded that hehad helped arrange for the funding.which. North said, was donated by theprivate Scaife Foundation."

Other projects reportedly supported byNorth included Obando's eucharistic con-gress last November.· Ciudad played akey role in organizing the congress. A1984 memo from W.R. Grace & Co.,headed by J. Peter Grace. released to theNew York Times, noted thai Obando wasseeking funds for training "pastoralcadres," a term Ciudad and other Swordof the Spirit branches use to describethemselves.

Appa ..•.ently, Obando intended the Gracemoney to go to Ciudad, among others.AJso, Grace's wife once sent money toSword of the Spirit and has maintainedcontact with its leaders. The Grace-controlled Sarita Kennedy East founda-tion also funded the activities of MarioParedes, who. sources say, has assistedPuebla.

In 1980, Belli became editorial pageeditor of La Prensa. According to BobWoodward's recent book. Veil. the CIAbegan funding La Prensa that year.

Also in 1980. Ciudad and the Sword ofthe Spirit were planning to oppose theSandinistas. Carlos Mantica wrote in theSeptember 1980 Pastoral Renewal. aSword of the Spirit publication. that "welook forward to more difficulties in the fu-ture, and a time of great evangelism afterthat."

SOP strikes In NicaraguaCiudad had discouraged Christian

participation in the overthrow of dictatorAnastasio Somoza. The anti-Sandinistaplans are reflected in the sentiments ofone Sword of the Spirit operative. whowrote to coordinator Steve Clark in 1980:"I personally feel like the whole CentralAmerican range of things is the place offortification at this moment if we are re-ally going to get into the war and dealwith the situation,"

In a July 1982 memo circulated to keySword of the Spirit leaders. an elaborate

scenario to organize in Nicaragua wasproposed. The memo's author hoped Bellicould pr-esent. the plan to the pope whenthe latter visited Nicaragua.

The memo proposed a spiritual coverfor its political intentions: "The attitudestoward the government should not be di-rectly confrontatory, or overtly political.Instead, especially at the outset, the con-cern of the various participants in this ef-fort should be mainly spiritual. . Theitems on this sheet, which will obviouslybe perceived as hostile to the purposes ofthe government, should not be revealed."

The memo elaborated on ways that Ci-udad, the Cursillc movement and "sound"Protestants could mobilize Nicaraguansagainst the Sandinista government incoordination with La Prensa, Obando

from the State Dcpart rnunt and variousnational security agencies. The councilhas provided consuhuncies to the StareDepartment, White }{OUS(: and U.S. In-formation Aiency and has received USIAfunding. Forn-er Seattle br-anch scholar-in-residence George \Veigel served on aUSIA panel and <11:;0was senior consul-tant to the program that set up the Na-tional Endowment for Democracy.

\Veigel later established the JamesMadison Foundation, the Washington.D.C., branch of the council, and publishesits newsletter under the auspices ofEvron Kirkpatrick, a career intelligenceoperative whose other publication, WorldAffairs, has defended death squads. TheWorld Without War Council also !X'1I~Belli's books.

and the pope, Punitive actions against"leftist Christians" and "problematicbishops" and the "disciplining of priests"were advocated. When the church wasstrong enough, "a direct confrontationwith the government about its policies.aims. etc. by the church would be good ...perhaps to pave the way for a new govern-ment more consistent with Chr-istianprinciples."

By the fall of 1982, Belli was workingwith rightist and pro-contra groupsacross the United States. Early supportcame from Freedom House and the Insti-tute for Religion and Democracy (!RDl.Freedom House. a group with leadersclose to the intelligence agencies andwith views close to the State Depart-ment. published an interview with Belliconducted shortly after he moved to theUnited States. .

The !RD has promoted Belli throughits newsletter and by distributing hisfirst, CIA-funded book. lRO boardmember Richard John Neuhaus. aspeaker. at Word of God events, joinedPuebla Institute's Board of Reference.

The World Without War Council. aself-described peace group, organized a

.multicity tour for Belli and Arturo Cruz.then a contra leader being supportedwith a monthly stipend from OliverNorth's safe. .

The World Without War Council fea-tures programs dominated by speakers

Organizations with close governmentties have promoted Belli; the State De-partment and the Office of Public Affairshave directed journalists and peopleseeking speakers on Central America toBelli.

Belli has also associated himself withthe Heritage Foundation, the CardinalMindzenty Foundation and CAUSA. Thelatter is the political ann of the Unifica-tion Church (Moonies). Belli has spokenat CAUSA forums. The Moonies have of-fered Belli's books for sale through theirown distribution networks.

Through the Heritage Foundation.Belli has shared thepodium with contraleader Adolfo Calero. He has also reoceived honoraria from Lynn Bouchey'sCouncil for Inter-American Security, :1

new right, pro-contra group.Belli has presented himself as merely

a Christian activist disillusioned with theSandinistas, He claims to be a criticabove the battle. with no ties to anycamp, not supporting the contras or Ma-nagua. In order to maintain this posture,Belli has had to deny the identity of hissponsors and associates, such as the CIAand the contras.

Other layers of secrecy prevent thePuebla Institute from being linked to theWord of God and Sword ofthe Spirit. Theconnection, sources say, would have anegative impact on Sword of the Spirit'sother operations in the Philippines, Leb-

2 0 N,-l!io",,1Catl)<?l«:J3ep0rterNovember 18, 1988

anon or Ireland, as well as in the restof Lntin America.

In the Philippines, the Word of Joy, a~word of the Spirit branch headed byFat.her Herb Schneider. conducts semi-n.u-s for counterinsurgency military lead-ors. The purpose, according to a militaryspokesper-son interviewed by the Chris-ticni Science Monitor, is to make the sol-diers more effective fighters, The year-long seminars use the same program thatthe Word of God and some Sword of theSpirit branches use to indoctrinate newmembers in their organizations,

Sword of the Spirit has a programoperating in the midst of the civil war inBeirut. Instead of proclaiming a success-ful cvangclism, however, Ralph Martin ofthe Word of God says in a newsletter theprogram has to maintain "secrecy" to op-erate effectively,

Following the moneyPart of the financial support that has

made the Word of God, Sword of theSpirit and its satellite operations possiblecomes from several corporate sources.

From its founding in 1982 until itmoved to New York in 1986, Puebla'sboard of directors was drawn from Wordof God members in T&B Computing, asoftware company doing business as far.twnv as China. More substantial is thesu pport of Domino's Pizza owner TomMonaghan (see separate story).

Other members cf the new board,along with Belli, were:

• James Finn, editor of FreedomIlouse's Freedom ot Iesue and a founding

board member of the Institute for Rcli-gion and Democracy, Finn was a formerchairman of the World Without WarCouncil.

• George "Veigel, also a board memberof the Institute for Religion and Democ-racy and head of the James MadisonFoundation. Madison Foundation boardmember E\TOn Kirkpatrick, husband orJeane Kirkpatrick, publishes Weigel'sAmerican Pu rpose newsletter.

• Thomas Melady, a former ambas-sador to Burundi and Uganda forRichard Nixon. He has served for yearson the board of the Foreign Policy Re-search Institute, a right-wing think tankwhose funding, directorship and projectshave been associated with several intelli-gence agencies. His involvement v,1thPuebla was arranged by former Interna-tional League staffer Nina Shea, who es-tsblished the Washington office of thePuebla Institute,

The right on human rights_ Shea authored a July 1986 Interna-tional League report that claimed therewere many thousands of political prison-ers in Nicaragua. Its findings werecriticized at the time by establishedhuman-rights groups. The report did notcover contra abuses but merely referredto the contras as the "armed opposition."

In her report, Shea says the Interna-tional League relied on its Nicaraguan af-filiate, the Pennanent Commission onHuman Rights (CPDH), for information.The CPDH was then receiving fundingfrom the AFL-CIO and the National En-

dowment for Dl'll1ocr:a'y t ltnHlgh the pro-contr-a Prodcmca ~',rrllj;!. The CPI)} I.based in Nil·ar;lg11;l. rn-vr-r c'tit.irized t lu-comrns. The ht'<ld of ihI' CI'D}l at thetime of the report V;:lS ~.l;:rt.<J Haltodano,a friend or Belli and associated wit hCiudnd de Dios

Whether the Word ofGod is a cuft, as someformer membersclaim, or more sin-ister, as others say,it has successfullypermeated vitalareas of church life,as well as social andpolitical life.

Baltodano has since u-Ft CPDH to heada human-rights group that is part of thecontra structure and operates under thesupervision of Elliott Abrams' office,superseding an earlier contra human-rights unit that failed to improve the con-tras' human-rights image.

Shea says it was her July 1986 reportthat caused Belli, Davis and others tohire her for Pueblo's Washington office.

Shea described the formation of the

new Pueblo lnstit ut e as :1 merjn-r "l.brought his people . end r brt.u ..mine."

Shea said Puebla was going tf) l ..membership organization with ;,1

Catholic board and political basr-. ..\\.phmning to he Catholic funded andrected." said Shea. Direct-mail sfJlic 'lions, foundations and the Knigbt-. :'I:

Columbus were prospective ~OUr({'3co: fi-nancial support, she noted

Although New York Cardinal JO'Connor's office has been supportive.said Shea, "we want to be a lay organ.. a.tion, unfettered by the hierarchy."

In spite of the changes in Sln.H_'1U:\-

Puebla is still a Word ofGod/Sword of\~,·Spirit operation. The Puebla postal p<·rmit is still paid by them and has a Wr-rdof GodISword of the Spirit address for h,ll·ing. The Puebla publication, Niccriuiucin Focus, is printed in Ann Arbor. Accord.ing to Shea, Puebla's change from oil:

explicitly antiliberation theology st.ance-to a human-rights emphasis was in-: i·gated by Davis, Belli and their lay orgnni.zations.

The Word of God has traveled a loug.labyrinthine road since its inception a~a simple prayer group in the 19fj;1~

Whether it is a cult, as some former rm-.n-bers claim, or more sinister, as oth: r..say, it has successfully permeated \.::;-.:areas of church life, as well as social ."v-jpolitical life. The official reaction of 1~l

church has ranged from turning a blindeye to extending benevolent support. '; -u-Word of God is a story the last cbapte: I';which has not yet been wr-itten.•

Monaghan(Continued from page 8)

college he seeks to establish could developHonduras' "next generation ofleaders."

With the Sword of the Spirit as an ally.he hopes to make Honduras a bastion ofanti-Sandinista sentiment. To this end,he toured refugee camps near the Nicara-guan border in a U.S. Army helicopterwith Congressman Carl Purcell fromMonagh an's Ann Arbor district. The tour"OS arranged by the Puebla Institutersee main story),

Monaghan and Zuniga deny a politicalinterest in supporting the contras. Zuniga,who fled Nicaragua with his family in1979 at the collapse of the AnastasioSomoza regime, says no politics are in-volved in his activities in Central Amer-icu. But Monaghan, in an interview with

Domino's employsmany Word of Godmembers, whileother real estatebusinesses ownedby Monaghanhave Word of Godmembers asofficers.

the far right-wing COllseroatiue Digest,said failure to support the contras couldthn-aten the United States: "Talk about!itunino('s if we lose! It's going to be EISal-vadot. it's going to be Panama, it's goingIn I~' Mexico. \Ve could have a Soviet client,1;11\' ;llollg 1Il/" :-;ouilu-I'II horde r, "

Munaghau\ relationship to Word ofCod and Sword of the Spirit goes beyond! lit' I {ondu r-an ad ivit ics:

• Domino's corporate chaplain, FatherPatrick Egan, is also a Word of Godmember and head of the Word of God'sChrist the King parish. It was Egan thatsparked Monaghan's interest in helpingSylvestre in Honduras. Monaghan andEgan had Nicaraguan Bishop Pablo An-tonio Vega celebrate a Mass at theDomino's corporate headquarters chapellast August. .

• A Word of God member who ran forAnn Arbor city council as a Republicanran his campaign from Domino's head-quarters.

• Monaghan helps fund the TV minis-try of Word of God cofounder Ralph Mar-tin and also aided the failed TV ministryof Father John Bertolucci, a top leader inFIRE, the Catholic branch ofthe Swordof the Spirit based at the University ofSteubenville. Bertolucci and Puebla In-stitute head Humberto Belli are both onthe Steubenville faculty. Martin said in1986 that Monaghan gave his TV pro-grnm H $100,000 matching grant.

• Domino's employs many Word ofGodmembers, while other real estate busi-nesses owned by Monaghan have Word ofGod members as officers,

• Bishop Kenneth Povish, an adviserto the Word of God's New Covenantmagazine, is also Michigan chaplain toMonaghan's Legatus group.

• Legatus has integrated Word of Godmembers into its leadership and activities.

Monaghan says he was inspired toform Legatus within hours of meetingJohn Paul II in Rome last summer. Itsmembership is made up of corporateCEOs with firms having annual sales ofat least $4 million. CEOs of financial cor-porations must head firms with $80 mil-lion in assets. Its stated purpose is "pro-moting and supporting moral ethics inbusiness in conformity with the teach-ings of the Roman Catholic church sothat the lives of all can be enhanced."

The first chapter of Legatus wasformed in Honduras in .Junc 1987 throughthe effort of Zuniga, who also became theI.Rgatus liaison for Central America. AMic-hig;lll chnpl.er W;t:; Iot-med sE'n,,-;,i

weeks late-r, with monthly meetings thatfeatured such speakers as J. Peter Gran',Michael NOV:lkand Mother Angelica.

By August 1987, Bob Thomton washired as executive director of Lcgatus,working out of a Domino's office adjacentto Monaghan's. He had previously beenitUSilWHS munage:r lor Si'rV:lllt Ministries,the outreach arms of Sword ofthe Spirit.Thornton has arranged fur Father HerbSchneider of Manila, one of the three top

Sword of the Spirit leaders, to for-:Phillippines chapter of Legatus.

Thornton estimated in April that I ..•·.·.:tus had 150 members, with 90· If",th~' Michigan t:h:IIIl,er. Head of III" d.tcr and one of the four director- I,!international group is Detroit bu-rn-

(Continued on next !KJJ.:C)

National Catnolic Heporte-November 18. 198~ 21

Monaghant Continurd [nrm pr,·~·inuspnt:d

1l1;!11 Frank Stella. ;1 Republican partyfund.miser wit h strong White House con-ru-ctions.

Stella has been a candidate fur several\\ "lute i f()U~t~ appointments. including thelntclligvnce Oversight Board (Jon) LIndu.ubassador to the Vatican. The lOB ad-vises the White House or. the legality ofcovert opera lions.

From 19$5 to 191H. Stella was chair-II1;lIl of the RI...•publican Heritage GroupsCouncil. the ethnic outreach unit of theRepublican Nat ional Committee. Thecouncil's leadership includes heads ofE:I:'-t European emiJ:.""-c groups that col-:;lhnratl,d with Hitler before and during\\-orld War II. One of those leaders showedthis writer his photo in a Nazi uniform;Iilt! talked of his continuing tit's to Nazigmups.

One of Stella's coleadcrs in Italian(~{)P polit ics was on honorary member ofI'.:,Z. rhe cabal of fascists, Mafia andothers that sought to overthrow the ltal-i.tn gO\·t.Tnml'nt in the 19705. In 1986,~telln gave nn Italian-American award to:1/1 Italian P-2 member who was a knownarms trafficker. Stella has also beenattempting to legalize Las Vegas-stylegambling in Detroit.

Legatus has attempted chapters inmany other cities. It got a major boost inBoston when Cardinal Bernard Law,another of the four international directors,hosted an organizational meeting forlocal business leaders, whom he asked toform a chapter. Law has worked with theWord of God in several capacities, includ-ing the board of advisers of FIRE and asa speaker at a Word of God event lastsummer. Zuniga described Law as in-terested and supportive of his work inCentral America.

Legatus approaches bishops in variouscities to aid in the formation of Legatuschapters. It has held meetings with Arch-hishops Renate Martino and Pio Laghi.papi-ll representatives to the United Na-tions and United States, with the aim of;1 l.A.'gatlis meeting in Rome with the popethis fall.

The one-week Legatus meeting inH(;me will include presentations hy Car.dinnl Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadel-phia and Phyllis Schlafly. both of whomarc described by Monaghan as "resourcepeople" for the event. Post meetings of

1A.'g:ltWi chapters in tlondura.<: and Michl-g:lI1 have fc.uun-d Word nfC;od roorclinatori\l:irtin and Univvrsit v of SteubenvillePresident Father l\1ictl;wi Sr.mlnn. FlI-lure nu-et iugs will include Randv andThe-rese Ci~er, Word of God activi~L<;,onhow 1.0 improve one's marriage.

Leg.nus has shown tl predilection forright-wing politics in other c-ays. InMarch. a two-day retreat held in AnnArbor featured former John Birch Soci-ctv activist. and New Hight leader Paulweyricb. :1 political opcrarivr- of beermagnate .Joe Coors.

Monnghun told NCl? that IA....gatus ishis most important commitment. '" feelit's the reason Iwas put on this ear-th," hesaid, "to establish Legatus." He said heeven joined the Knights of Malta, headedby ,J. Peter Grace, in order to help buildLcgatus. "Frankly, lru honored lo beasked to he a member of the Knights ofMalta." Monaghan said. ··1(8always beena prestigious organization, but the role itserves I'm still not sure of. I was in-terested, frankly, in being able to identifycandidates for Legatus."

Aller Monaghan's induction into thegroup in January, fellow Knights BowieKuhn and Lcw Lehr-man agreed to helporganize a New York City chapter ofLegatus. Monaghan said that a mid-August meeting in Cardinal John O'Con-nor's residence had 47 candidates formembership, including J. Peter Grace.

Monaghan is a lifelong Catholic. Hespent more than six years in a Catholicorphanage and a brief time in a semi-nary. His lifelong dreams, he said, alsoincluded wealth and material success.His is a story of rags-to-riches. of wealththrough dctennination. And his views onpoverty, labor and social justice wereshaped by his personal business success.Although he professes loyalty to the popeand church teachings, Monaghan does notfollow Catholic teaching on responsibili-ties conferred by wealth, his critics say.

Monaghan is an ardent free-enterpriseadvocate. He believes unfettered: busi-ness practices should be accepted, with-out unions or government influence. Con-t rary to the bishops' economic pastoral,which calls for "commitment to the publicgood: which empowers the disadvantaged,Monaghan has been charged with havingan outdated approach to char-itable workby a former associate pastor of his parish.

Father Frederick Thelen. in a letter toan Ann Arbor newspaper, called Mona-ghnn's "free-enterprise" projects in Hon-duras "not in the mainstream Catholicchurch of today." While praising Mona-

22 1\:abonaJ Catborc Reporter

r-~')'mrfl~~r1 A. 1Sren

ghan's many works of charity. Thelenadds, "But if one docs not work to empowerthe people themselves to address the rootcauses of their poverty, you have onlyhalf the faith when it comes to churchteaching on social morality.">

Despite Pope John Paul 11'5 teachingthat unions are "an indispensable ele-ment of social life," Domino's employeeshave been told by Monaghan that nounions will be allowe-d at his company,according to former employees. They sayMonaghan refers to unions in disparag-ing terms. He told NCR that "unions arethe cause of our federal deficit." He said

for a pa rty for 70 people. and invited : '),prr-ss to cover the three-dav affair. B .;!

ncssmcn and well-known sport.s il:ld . r:tertainment ligures participated in .• i-conspicuous consumption. One t·\.:ll

planned for the partygoers includc-! ;!

midnight seance on a nearby sacred '<utive American burial ground,

In spite of the pope's c:\11to exercis-"option for the poor," Monaghan's rea) ..~.tate enterprises are aiming at the :J?-":':·;~:t·market. He announced plans ca rl ie- t.

build a housing complex in Ann Ar!"Hwith units se lIing at $500,000 each

Practically none of his well-publiciv.»:

f'/Tonaghan told NCR he disagreedwith the bishops' pastoral on theeconomy. 'It's like a liberal Demo-cratic party platform ... 1think mostbusinessmen disagree with it. '

unions are needed, however, when em-ployees are mistreated. Monaghan saidhe did not want to say much about unions,for fear of being "targeted" by them. Hesays such fears prevent other business-men from criticizing unions.

Domino's workers are' paid minimumwage, although recruiting posters andwant ads promise to pay "up to $8 anhour" for pizza delivery persons. The dif-ference comes from mileage reimburse-ments due employees who must use theirown cars and pay their own gas and in-surance to deliver pizzas. Prospectiveemployees are encouraged to accept theseterms in hopes of someday becoming awell-paid franchise manager.

Employees are also expected to con-form to Monaghan's Personal tastes. Anumber of male employees were fired orforced to quit in January when they re-fused to cut their hair to Monaghan'sstandards. One of them, a 17-year-<>ld

. pizza maker, is suing Domino's to getreinstated in his $3.60 per hour job, withback pay, Monaghan explained at thetime of the incident that he wantedDomino's to reflect "family values."

Monaghan has been criticized for buy-ing expensive gifts for associates, but hehas a ready answer: He buys items hewants his friends to have, and giftaaren'texpensive by his standards. But evenpeople who respected Monaghan weresurprised when he spent a million dollars

acts of charity have been directed to l :'l'poor and needy. One former employe- ofthree years, John Velner. credits ':"101".;1

ghan's pick-yourself-uI>-by-the-Oool.":r" p-attitude as the reason. "He has a HornicAlger view of the world," says Velncr. "Itlook years for him to set up a ret iremc ntbenefit. program. Ifsomeone brought t "c·subject up, he used to say they should ",.tablish a Domino's franchise to plan ··Uf

their future:Monaghan toldNCR he disagreed wrt h

the bishops' pastoral on the economy"It's like a liberal Democratic party plat.form, ... 1 think most businessmen ci~·agree with it:

While he told NCR that he has no '1•••·r-ial relationship with the Word of God. hestated that Martin "is one of the I.."Catholic speakers inthe country: He saidhe joined the University of Steubenville-board at the request of Martin and Si,·C·benville President Scanlan, adding ... l'cdo anything that either of them asked"Monaghan praised Steubenville as "Ilk

center for Catholic education in t h·United States:

Although the president and provos-t c."

Notre Dame have addressed Leae: u-meetings. Monaghan cr-iticized that u ni-versity. "1 think Notre Dame. some of; b-things going un there - it's almost ')(come the work of the devil." I\lun;t.!!:·;l:·

said. -lUl

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DOUG SCHIRCH

Based on a sermon by Doug Schirch, Jan. 7, 2005; Edited by Jodi H. Beyeler

When Associate Professor of Chemistry Doug Schirch ‘82 was working with the ecumenical

Christian organization Witness for Peace (WFP) in Nicaragua during the late 1980s – the height of

the country’s violent civil war – he joined his co-workers in commiting not to eat Domino’s pizza.

Little did he know how this vow would be tested in his walk of faithfulness to God.

Left: Doug Schirch ‘82 joined Witness For Peace in Nicaragua

several years after graduating from Goshen College, at a time

when the decade-long war in that country raged between the

U.S.=backed Contra guerillas and the Sandinista

revolutionary government’s army.

At that time, the U.S.-based pizza company was owned by one of the organization’s “enemies”:

Tom Monaghan, a conservative Catholic who reportedly helped finance the Contra guerrilla

movement. The U.S.-backed rebels were waging war against the Sandinistas, the revolutionary

government that had recently toppled the country’s 45-year-old Somoza dictatorship. While

remaining neutral in Nicaraguan politics, Schirch and WFP opposed U.S. government’s

involvement in the Contra war. “We brought delegations to witness the impact of the war; we

documented Contra human rights abuses; we worked with the U.S. media to foster more accurate

coverage of the war; and we lobbied [the U.S.] Congress to cut off aid to the Contras,” Schirch said.

During a cease-fire late in the war, Schirch was impressed by the determination of Nicaraguans to

end the destructive hostilities. “Three of us were in a hamlet in a conflictive zone when several

dozen Contra guerrillas and Sandinista army soldiers arrived, peacefully, to discuss their

differences. Both bands had come fully armed with rifles, machine guns and grenades, which a

couple weeks before they would have been using against each other,” he said. “For two hours they

mingled like guests at a cocktail party in the dusty, barren opening in the center of this hamlet,

disagreeing ardently about the war’s causes, but agreeing unanimously that all Nicaraguans

suffered as a result. Afterwards, two Sandinistas shared how painful it was to dialogue with

Contras who had recently killed a close friend and wore his hat as a war trophy. They admitted

that the necessity to find common ground with their enemies had compelled them to be there.

That left an impression on me.”

Left: Schirch, associate professor of chemistry, returned to the

campus Science Building this academic year to teach a new

generation of students.

It was in 1987 that Schirch had first traveled to Nicaragua,

influenced by the call of Jesus Christ to love one’s enemies. “In graduate school I was deeply

impacted by what Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi wrote about Jesus’ teachings on loving the

enemy, and what that means in today’s modern, politicized world,” said Schirch, who quickly

found out that his enemies were not poor Nicaraguans fighting on both sides of the war.

However, ideological enemies – individuals and institutions in the U.S. that supported the Contra

war – still existed, but WFP workers in Nicaragua did not have to encounter directly. Monaghan

was not the only influential person in the United States supporting the Contras; Humberto Belli, a

Nicaraguan exile, was well known as a lobbyist for U.S. aid and arms to the Contras. These men

were both on Schirch’s enemy list.

DOES GOD TALK TO OUR ENEMIES?

Left: Schirch, left, stands with Humberto Belli, a lobbyist for the U.S. aid

and arms to support the Contras during the Nicaraguan civil war. The

two found common purpose in higher education in Nicaragua.

The decade-long Nicaraguan war abated in 1990 – devastating the

country’s economy and leaving 75 percent of Nicaraguans living

below the internationally defined poverty line, a level that persists

even today. That same year, Schirch married Nicaragua native Maria

Sanchez. The couple started a family, and Schirch needed a job, so

they moved temporarily to the United States but planned to return to

Maria’s home country. He had earned a doctorate in biochemistry

after graduating from Goshen College, where he said he had discerned

God’s call to, someday, become a college professor at a small, liberal

arts, church-affiliated college. But that type of school didn’t exist in

Nicaragua. “If you imagine God sending someone to igloo-making school, and then to the Sahara to

find a job, you’ll appreciate how I felt,” Schirch said. “[I thought that] somewhere I must have

misunderstood God.”

During a visit to Maria’s family in the small village of San Marcos, Schirch learned about a new

university to be established there. It would be a branch campus of the University of Mobile (Ala.), a

Baptist liberal arts college. “At that moment it became clear,” Schirch said. “This was where I was

going to work.”

It was a perfect fit. The U.S.-based college was pleased to have found an American professor who

was a committed Protestant, fluent in Spanish and had previous experience in Nicaragua.

Then three years into his faculty post in the chemistry department, unexpected institutional

challenges began that eventually impacted Schirch’s career. He agreed to serve as academic dean,

though he did not seek the position; another candidate could not be found. “I can accurately say

that when I took office, everything began to fall apart,” he said.

The school experienced significant upheaval after Nicaraguan media publicized reports of

financial mismanagement and impropriety by the presidents of both the university’s Alabama and

Nicaraguan campuses. Students withdrew from classes, leaving no money to pay the bills, and a

new president at the campus’s parent institution threatened to close the Nicaraguan campus.

“Although obstacles seemed to dissipate just in time to avoid disaster, it was never enough to get

us out of the woods,” Schirch said. “For two years it seemed the campus could fall like a house of

cards.”

As academic dean, Schirch was put in a difficult position when asked by parents whether they

should withdraw their children “before it was too late.” The college’s future weighed on him

heavily. “I had terrible doubts about what was right to do. Convinced that God had asked me to

take this job, I told Him I couldn’t do it with integrity if I didn’t know what would happen to the

campus,” Schirch said. “I didn’t expect the prayer to be answered, any more than I expect God to

tell someone how the stock market will turn.”

Later, when he happened to read the biblical book of Esther, he found a source of hope. “Most

intriguing was the reminder of how God transformed impending catastrophe, turning the tables so

that those who appeared doomed were miraculously delivered,” he said. “I was skeptical, but God

continued to speak convincingly in different ways, until I realized that I needed to act on my

convictions and be assured of the campus’ future.”

But Schirch couldn’t have foreseen the irony in God’s plans.

When the University of Mobile decided to attempt to sell the Nicaraguan campus to another U.S.

institution, Schirch was involved in courting potential buyers. It was then that he came face to face

with his former enemies in a completely different context – as collaborators on a joint mission.

In 1999, Humberto Belli, the Nicaraguan who had raised support in the U.S. for the Contras,

stepped forward to endorse the school’s last chance for survival: a purchase by Franciscan

University of Steubenville (Ohio), a conservative, evangelical Catholic school where Belli had

taught.

“More than once I asked myself if I had sold out,” Schirch said. “Later, when Humberto Belli said

that he had discerned that God wanted him to leave his current job and become unemployed, so he

would be ready to work at the campus under its new owner, my head reeled. I caught myself

thinking, ‘God, you expect me to believe that you talk to Humberto Belli? What’s next, you eat

Domino’s pizza?’”

Amidst his internal struggles, Schirch remembered something he had read while a student at

Goshen. “A theologian was decrying the gulf between Christians on the political right and left in

the U.S. Since the two sides often don’t associate, yet each can work alongside non-Christians with

similar political leanings, the author asked: ‘Can the divided Christians both claim to be centered

on Christ?’ God wasn’t asking me to join Humberto to support the Contra war. He was asking me to

work with Humberto on something I felt passionately led to do: save a Christian liberal arts

college. I realized that the success of the endeavor was going to require some tolerance on my

part.”

But for a time, this too seemed destined not to be. Just prior to finalizing the sale, the potential

buyer backed out of the negotiations; the University of Mobile would close the Nicaraguan campus

after all. “Humberto Belli was wrong about his future job, and I was wrong about the institution’s

future,” Schirch said. “It was a depressing, leveling experience. We were both equally delusional in

thinking God had spoken to us.”

WHEN GOD WORKS THROUGH AN ENEMY TO PERFORM A MIRACLE

Left: The Schirch family – (left to right) are Juni (11), Maria,

Doug, Joshua (7) and Jessica (13) – moved to Goshen in July 2004

as Doug left the faculty of Ave Maria College of the Americas in

San Marcos, Nicaragua, to become an associate professor of chemistry at Goshen College.

With faculty and students concerned about the school’s impending closure, and with three days

left to find a donor to contribute $1 million to keep the classroom doors from being closed, Schirch

said he knew that “only a miracle could save the campus. But I hardly dared to pray for one.”

The next day Schirch received a phone call. A priest in California, Fr. Joseph Fessio, asked to help.

He said he had a friend who used to own Domino’s Pizza, Tom Monaghan, who had sold his

business for $1 billion so he could dedicate the rest of his life spending his entire fortune to

promote Catholic causes. Monaghan said he had been inspired by Jesus’ New Testament lesson to

a rich man about inheriting eternal life.

Monaghan eventually bought the Nicaraguan campus and incorporated it as part of a new Catholic

college in Michigan, Ave Maria College, dedicated to the liberal arts and cultivating a vibrant

Catholic spirituality. The Nicaraguan campus didn’t close, and Humberto Belli became its new

president. Schirch said, “It was undeniable God had an unfolding plan for the campus, and I was

expected to work for it along with Humberto Belli and Tom Monaghan.”

The college was not transformed overnight, and initial campus ministries efforts to encourage

spiritual development were largely unsuccessful. “Although 90 percent of the student body was at

least nominally Catholic, most had no interest in the school’s Catholic mission,” Schirch said.

Belli instituted new policies, but the result was considerable rebellion by students and faculty;

many of the Catholic students said they wanted to return to the Baptist leadership. “Dr. Belli and I

had such different ideas about how to proceed,” Schirch said, “that it almost reached the breaking

point.” Eventually the crisis dissipated and the new policies were dropped.

But the next year, miracles began to happen, and the new Catholic campus experienced a profound

spiritual renewal. Schirch said, “One year no students were interested in weekly prayer meetings,

and only 14 of the 450 on campus wanted to go on a spiritual retreat. Two years later, there were

100 students attending weekly prayer meetings and 200 went on spiritual retreats.” The Holy

Spirit was at work.

“Although I’ve read articles accusing Monaghan of starting a college in order to cultivate narrow-

minded storm troopers for conservative political causes, and I still feel strongly about what

happened in the 1980s, I found my Catholic colleagues were primarily desirous that students take

a closer walk with Jesus. I have no disagreements there. My colleagues share some human traits

that make all of us weak, but I also saw them be kind, forgiving, prayerful, humble and sincere,”

Schirch said.

“I’m glad I stayed long enough to see, after God saved the campus from closing, a glimpse of the

purpose that he saved it for,” Schirch said. “It seems it is all too easy for us Christians to fight

among ourselves. It doesn’t always have to do so much with a lack of fundamental beliefs that

unite us, but perhaps rather with our tendency to focus on what separates us.”

Has Schirch ended his boycott of Domino’s pizza? “At an Ave Maria board meeting, I sat at a table

with Mr. Monaghan and other Ave Maria administrators, and we broke pizza together.”