The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 50

RELIGION Kansas worshipers secede elect pope AT FRIDAY AUGUST 17 1990 4L THE MIAMI HERALD POPE: David Bawden center with parents Ken and Clara which also serves as a place of worship at the second-hand store By CHRISTINE CRUMBO Kmght-Ridder News Service BEL VUE Kan In the shadow of the bulbous water tower in this town of 200 sits a man who would be pope to 950 million Catholics He reigns from his thrift shop astride a high-backed secondhand relic of a throne in a chapel carpeted in gaudy remnants of shag A makeshift altar stands behind him Before him sit pews padded with leopard-print cushions that once may have graced a sofa On July 16 six people deeply concerned that the Roman Catholic Church has departed too far from the teachings of Jesus met in the thrift shop-chapel By secret ballot they chose 30-year-old David Baw-den of neighboring St Marys as pope In what they say was the first valid papal election since the death of Pius XII in 1958 he won on the first count They cite canon law in refusing to reveal whether the vote was unanimous Bawden chose to be called Michael I after St Michael the Archangel defender of the faith He donned religious garb not quite suitable for the regal nature of a pope but as close as the six could come to it in Belvue a white skullcap over his slicked black hair a lacy smock atop a floor-length cassock and spit-shined black shoes Papacy of Michael I Then the gathering tossed the ballots into a fire out back of the shop The blazing scraps failed to raise the traditional plume of white smoke that signals a successful papal election Barely a week into the papacy of Michael a local priest called the election sacrilegious the fledgling brother Brian professed consternation and the followers of Michael I rejoiced doing is total common proclaimed his mother Clara Bawden 62 in the Catholic Church is way out of order said his father Kenneth 64 Or was until the 16th of July And now got our pope Brian Bawden 23 of St Marys said of his election: not for him not against him and I understand what When he heard of the election had crusaded by book and letter for what he called a valid papal election seemed intensely conscious of his position He sat in the jury-rigged chapel folding his soft hands in the traditional Catholic-school signal of quietude then draping his wrists over his stomach He spoke of himself as if he were in another room: has to have faith in what one is he said know if one can sway people and charisma is not what about God will help us got Ready for struggle He is prepared he said to engage in a struggle that may well last beyond his lifetime And he spoke of the possibility that he would have to make a It took the apostles 300 years to spread the word of Jesus throughout what was to become the Christian world he said some he said have a worse situation They were dealing with pagans dealing with people who have renounced their faith For now he said he spends his days in the back of his bargain shop the Question Mark puzzling how to spread his gospel to receptive ears His worldly resources add up to That leaves him with spiritual works of mercy to perform Corporal works cost too much After a day spent puzzling he leaves the shop at Broadway and Highway 24 the one with the white-and-yellow papal flag hanging in the window to return to the St Marys home he shares with his parents There he fills the family role he always has filled If his mother asks he takes out the garbage On Sundays he may preach a little and pray the rosary with his small flock which includes his parents and a visiting friend Teresa Stanfill Benns of Denver whom he met through friends of his mother in 1985 He claims a core of about 20 followers including a couple from Michigan who came to Kansas to act as papal electors Upset Catholics follow him His followers are disaffected Catholics upset with a Church of whenever a Traditional circuit-riding priest passed through town In 1977 Bawden eventually pursued his theological studies at the Swiss seminary of the renegade Lefebvre He stayed there four months he said leaving because he could not master French He was transferred to a Lefebvre seminary in Armada Mich The seminary since has moved to Winona Minn From Armada Bawden said he was dismissed in 1978 He said he protested to Lefebvre about the dismissal in school teachings and the refusal to list charges he could answer He found no satisfaction Bishop Richard Williams of the Winona seminary said last week that he vaguely remembered Bawden but knew nothing of the circumstances of the dismissal In 1980 the Bawdens moved to St Marys a bastion of Traditional Catholic teaching and the home of St Academy and College There while his brother attended classes David performed clerical work and studied for the religious brotherhood he said David Bawden left after about a year because the school defied moral law in meting out excessive discipline he said He since has performed several jobs including cabinet-making Brian Bawden said last week that his own career at St also kablooey" The break with St school was only the latest in a string of family political and religious upheaval he said life has been one battle after Rome that has imbued Catholics with the ecumenical spirit instituted the saying of Mass in the language of its celebrants and rechris-tened the Holy Ghost the Holy Spirit They also are disaffected Traditional or Old Catholics who once followed the maverick Swiss Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre The archbishop refuses to say anything but the old Latin Mass and has been excommunicated for performing ordinations without the sanction of Rome The followers of Michael I do not celebrate any Mass believing themselves to live in a time foretold in the Old Testament Book of Daniel a time when the Eucharist the supreme sacrifice at the heart of Catholic celebration will be taken away a time near the Apocalypse And there is a practical reason Michael I cannot say Mass: He has not been ordained though he has devoutly wished to be since age 10 When he was a child in Oklahoma City David Bawden followed the stereotypical Catholic path to the priesthood He became an altar boy and attended Mass regularly But during the late 1960s and early his mother and several other mothers in the parish became disenchanted with current religious teachings They withdrew their children from church-sponsored classes and began teaching them on their own In 1972 the Bawdens widened their split with the Roman Church They stopped attending Mass each Sunday participating instead in a Latin Mass every two to six months Bible study becoming part of baseball routine IBEUEFSTOOOWi Before his election David Bawden spent eight months writing a book with eresa Stanfill Benns a Denver homemaker and day-care provider The self-published book is titled Will the Catholic Church Survive the Twentieth Century? Three hundred and fifty books have been sold in 24 countries said mother Clara Following are some of the beliefs laid out in the book: All ordinations most baptisms and most confessions performed after the reforms of Vatican II are invalid So are most Masses because they are said by priests who claim allegiance to a false pope Those who wish to cease heretical practices to become true Catholics should cease attending the Mass in English There exists within the Catholic church a precedent for the election of the pope by Catholics other than the College of Cardinals We live in the time of an Antichrist Many events heralded by those hopeful that the world will be united in one faith for instance the erosion of Communist control or the fall of the Berlin Wall may be the workings of the devil From the first official written communication of Michael no cleric priest or bishop unless they are sent by the Apostolic See and can produce written proof of their Canonical Mission from ourselves Sadly we report that none of the reverend clergy has seen fit to submit themselves to the Apostolic See and remain under their censures of suspension and excommunication for their various crimes Brian Bawden said his reaction was my God Now I know what to think I follow the church in Rome I go around electing popes The soft-spoken new Michael I echoes neither his ebullience nor his doubt Instead the man who since 1987 DAVE DRAVECKY: Faith helped the former pitcher in his fight against cancer Brett Butler leads his teammates in prayer every week big leagues I got a hit and reporters were interviewing me after the game Hey this was the big time But when I got to my room I cried Was this all there was? I felt so The Moore said: the World Series last year was fantastic as was the acclaim we received from our fans But when it was all over we still had to go home We need the same help putting our lives in order as the next Paul Gardner a minister who organizes services said: players live their lives in a fishbowl but they have the same sort of needs and problems all of us have Most are family men but away from their families two or three weeks a month If a he said I want it to be that Church denies association St rector the Rev Ramon Angles vehemently denied that his school had any connection with the Bawden family and said it offered no program to prepare young men for the religious brotherhood have nothing to do with these people We have not had anything to do with these he said The election of Michael I he said was and clownish not to mention Monsignor William Curtin chancellor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City Kan said through a spokeswoman that he had no comment on the election and that anyone who wished to break with the church was free to do so Michael I said he greets the barbs of detractors with patience and forbearance that comes from God He declares with certainty that someday he will don the regal raiment of Michael I as an ordained priest From somewhere in Russia or in will emerge a bishop to ordain him he said heard of stones of bishops in Russia or China never heard of Vatican he said Such men presumably would subscribe out of blessed ignorance to the rites and practices that preceded Vatican II the 1962-65 church council that instituted the doctrinal changes he finds odious baseball players want to go to chapel because they think Gruber said a game if I have a goocLday I might pop off a little bit and looking at me like went to chapel today and listen to But hey not perfect why I need to believe if Jesus Christ was a baseball player go in hard to break up the double play and then pick up the guy and say love Butler said SHUL OF BAL HARBOUR Serv Bal HarbourBay HarborSurfside "EVERYONE IS WELCOME" Fn sundown Sat 9am Daily 7 30amsundown 9532 Collins Ave (Center Building) Rabbi Sholom Lipskar 868-1411 Reconstructionist BETH OR RABBI RAMI SHAPIRO Shabbat Serv Fri 8pm 1 1715 SW 87 Ave SHABBAT SHALOM 235-1419 Reform CONGREGATION BET BREIRA SHABBAT SERVICE 8 15PM 9400 SW 87 AVE Rabbi Tabachnikoff Cantor Charson Membership Inquiries Welcomed 595-1 500 TEMPLE BETH AM 5950 Kendall Dr 667-6667 Rabbis Jonathan Kendall Mark Kram Dr Herbert Baumgard Founding Rabbi Summer Services conducted by members of our Torah Study Class selected lay readers TEMPLE ISRAEL OF GREATER MIAMI 137 NE 19 Street 573-5900 Friday August 17 th 7 00 PM SINGLES RECEPTION 8 00 PM SHABBAT WORSHIP Torah Portion Re'eh Cantor Rachella Nelson WE WELCOME ALL VISITORS! 5pm You separate God from baseball You separate God from anything like trying to separate your mind and your body life what all The religious fervor on major-league clubs has met with general acceptance Once when Butler was talking about his religious conversion someone in the clubhouse turned on a laugh machine But there is hardly a player or a manager in the major leagues who will say publicly that the Christian movement is in any way hurting SOCIETY FOR HUMANISTIC JUDAISM Mr Robert Novak Regional Director Simon Wiesenthal Center "Combating Anti-Semitism in the World Today" Friday August 17 8pm The Unitarian Umversaiist Bldg 3970 NW 21 Ave Ft Laud For more information call 772-6221 Liberal AGUDAS CHAVARUM CONG RABBI CANTOR STERLING ZAHN Serving All the Unaffiliated A Center for Jewish Interfaith Marriages Conversions Bris BarBat Mitzvah and Baby Namings 382-1010 Not affiliated with any Rabbi in this paper ALL PEOPLES SYNAGOGUE Invrtes All The Unaffiliated To Join Us To Share Our Jewish Traditions Together For High Holy Day Services Call For Information RABBI LORING FRANK 861-5554 7455 Collins Ave MB 861-5554 CENTER FOR JEWISH AND INTERFAITH MARRIAGES JOYOUS WEDDINGS PERFORMED IN OUR SYNAGOGUE OR ANYWHERE INTRODUCTION TO JUDAISM AND CONVERSION SEMINARS BRIS BABY-NAMING CEREMONIES BARBAT MITZVAH INSTR AND SERVICES MAZEL TOV! come on like Melton said the general population probably one in five and if hitting a higher percentage in baseball because that group has been targeted for church To those who might argue that young fans of other religious faiths be confused by how their heroes are bringing religion into sport Phillies reliever Carman answers commandment is to spread the word about Jesus Christ TEMPLE EMANU EL OF GREATER MIAMI 1701 Washington Avenue Miami Beach Dr Irving Lehrman Rabbi Samuel Pothberg Aux Rabbi Yehuda Shifman Cantor Kabbalat Shabbat 6 PM SATURDAY MORNING SERVICE 9AM Daily services are at 8 A 7 TEMPLE MENORAH 75 St Dickens 866-022 1 Rabbi Eliot Pearlson Cantor Murray Yavneh Sunday-Friday 8am 6 15pm Saturday 9am 7 30pm TEMPLE NER TAMID 7902 Carlyle Ave Mia Bch 866-8345 Rabbi Eugene Labovitz Cantor Edward Klein Saturday Mornings at 8 45AM Saturday Evenings at 6PM Monday to Friday services 8AM and 6PM Sunday services at 8 30AM ancP6PM TEMPLE TIFERETH JACOB FREE CONVERSIONS TO MEMBERS 887-9595 Hialeah 951 4 Ave Svc Fn 8 1 5p Sat 9 30a Rabbi Nathan Zwitman SDD CHOICE HOLIDAY TICKETS NOW $25 Hebrew-Sunday School Bar Bat Mitzvah Havurah HAVURAH OF SO FLA 666-7349 PARENTS AND KIDS STUDY TOGETHER committed family man no amount of money can compensate The Baseball Chapel led by former New York Yankees star Bobby Richardson has an extensive minor-league organization that many players credit for bringing them into the fold Peaked in 1980 Teufel a Mets infielder said that although he played for a Catholic high school team and attended Bible-study sessions at Clemson his interest in religion peaked when he was in the Southern League in 1980 Said Harwell: are the formative years when the kids have never before been away from parents girls liquor drugs a lot of temptations If they get through that and get to the major leagues found the Some teams have a stronger Christian following than others One or two fervent born-again Christian players can influence a whole team and that Christian orientation can wane without the more committed players around The Giants for a number of reasons have a larger Christian presence than most teams Pat Ritchie an Evangelical Covenant Church minister who organizes the services said that attendance has been bolstered by former pitcher Dave faith through his fight with cancer and the acquisition of players in the offseason who were chapel leaders with their previous teams Carter Jose Alvarez Dave Anderson Kevin Bass and Bob Knepper since released Pray for teammate An hour before game time on a recent Sunday at Candlestick 19 of the 25 players gathered to listen to a Christian message and say prayers with pitcher Steve Bedrosian for the recovery of his leukemia-stricken son Cody That night after the team lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-5 a dozen players and their wives went to a Bible-study session at a home "Alvarez and Knepper have such a thorough knowledge of the Bible that if I were a pastor have no qualms in hiring them for my Ritchie said Jay Gordon Melton director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara said that while athletes are sincere in their beliefs they also have been targeted by evangelical Christian groups for their potential influence on young people Christianity has BASEBALL FROM IE well-attended Superhyped egos? In fact many players regularly invoke the name of the Almighty in giving thanks during postgame interviews Autograph mister? It is not unusual to get a citation from the Bible along with a auto- graph these days I usually add Joshua 1:9 or said pitcher Mike Moore means the Such hell raisers of years past as Gary Gaetti of the Minnesota Twins and Frank Tanana of the Detroit Tigers have found religion And ballplayers of the stature of Gary Carter and Brett Butler of the Giants Scott Sanderson and Moore of the Kelly Gruber and Tony Fernandez of the Blue Jays Tim Teufel of the New York Mets and Don Carman of the Philadelphia Phillies lead their teammates into chapel every week I As in all congregations there are varying degrees of religiousness among ballplayers There are zealots evangelical born-again Christians There are lukewarm believers occasional churchgoers during the offseason Then there are those who accord- -i ing to longtime Tigers announcer and occasional preacher Ernie Har- well happen to wander in to see going Over the bumps The converted say in words that sometimes ring with missionary zeal that the Bible has helped them i over the bumps of the baseball 1 world a lot of tension in what I said Montreal relief pitcher Tim Burke be an effective reliever got to have great 2 focus I was worried about things I had no control over But when I became a Christian I found I could leave my worries and anxieties with Part of the attraction of religion said Sid Bream of the Pittsburgh Pirates is that ballplayers have achieved all the material wealth 1 they could hope for and yet they feel a need for something more secure and lasting seen players with beautiful wives families money But lonely Those things buy them i happiness Bream said Butler said: think I get to the major leagues going to have everything all the money all the fast cars all the But when they get here still a void in their lives Rough beginning remember my first night in the Deadline: Monday at To Advertise Call A 1.