A group of Spanish-speaking men accused of falsely pretending to be Roman Catholic priests will be permanently barred from dressing as priests or performing Catholic rites, a judge ruled Tuesday.
The injunction resulted from a lawsuit filed last month by the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, which said the Capilla de la Fe, or Chapel of the Faith churches, were duping immigrants into believing they were in a sanctioned Roman Catholic Church.
Ten priests named in the suit sold relics, collected donations, even performed communion rites and heard confessions, the Catholics claimed. The lawsuit sought to bar them from calling themselves Catholic and also asked for unspecified monetary damages for donations worshippers gave to Capilla de la Fe thinking the money would go to the Catholic church.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Alice Bonner granted the injunction, ordering Capilla de Fe priests to tell anyone who asked that they are not ordained Catholic priests nor associated with the Roman Catholic Church. They will also have to say that ceremonies and rites they perform are not Catholic.
But Bonner did not award any damages to the Catholic church. Instead, she ordered that both parties would pay their own legal costs.
The attorney for the Catholics, David Brown, could not be reached for comment. The Capilla de la Fe attorney, Alan Lubel, said he would not talk about the case.