It’s a sad thing to see so many people fall for the apparition claims of such a fraud as Theresa Lopez. This may seem a very strong and un-loving thing to say, but the facts will speak for themselves. Whenever anyone claims to have direct messages from Heaven, it is everyone’s obligation to check into the claims. The Bible commands us to check out the spirit and tells us how to do it.

But here we have a seer with no credibility whatsoever, and 60,000 books are sold by Queenship Publishing simply because she said, "Mary said!". In Fatima Our Sweet Lady asked us to make the Five First Saturdays for sins committed against Her Immaculate Heart. These sins are listed as Blasphemy, Ingratitude, Indifference. We all know about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is to attribute to demons the work of the Holy Spirit or to attribute to the Holy Spirit the words of demons. The Five First Saturday Devotion is in some ways a prophesy of our day, for today more than ever are people committing the sin of blasphemy against the bride of the Holy Spirit. It is blasphemy to attribute to Mary the works of the deranged, the frauds, and the demonic. The word "demonic" means to "divide". It is blasphemy to say that Our Sweet Mother would advocate: divisions in the Bride of Christ, the Catholic Church, divisions between people and their bishops, divisions between families, and divisions between bishops and their priests, and divisions between parents and children. The word, Catholic, comes from "Universal" and Chapter 17 of John, where Christ prayed that we would all be one in truth. This unity was his last prayer on earth. This unity is what the demons want to destroy.

To understand Theresa Lopez, you must also understand "Cults" for it is in the cults that Theresa will emerge to divide God’s Kingdom. However, to understand cults and there connection to Lopez will only confuse your understanding of her at this point, so we have opted to make a separate booklet on cults as a response to the pastoral challenge of THE SECRETARIAT FOR PROOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY, INFORMATION SERVICE N. 61 (1986-111) VATICAN POLYGLOT PRESS.

Our booklet,

"CULTS - DIVIDING GOD’S KINGDOM ON EARTH", will show cult methods, the connection between Theresa Lopez and Vassula Ryden, Marvin Kucera, Necedah, Wisconsin, Medjugorje, and Garabandal. For now, in this booklet we will simply concentrate on

the claims of Theresa Lopez. You will see that she was a fraud from the beginning even before she thought God, or about making money in the Religious world. We have so many documented proofs of the following story of her life that to include them would add over 100 pages of documents and footnotes. To anyone of authority we will produce proof of all that follows: multiple marriages, child abandonment, fraud, credit problems, lies and deceitfulness.

Theresa Antonia Jones, daughter of Robert E. Jones and Waltraut Hillardt was born on December 20'h, 1960 in Fuerth/Bay, Germany. She was baptized according to the Rite of the Roman Catholic Church on March 24th, 1963 at Post Chapel, Fuerth/Bay, Germany by the Reverend John 1. Hickey. Sponsors to the Baptism were Helmut A. Hillardt and Liselotte Holt. 'Record number 541442 under the Baptismal Records of the Archdiocese for the Military Services.

This baptismal is contradictory to that of what Theresa stated in "Messages for the Harvest - Volume 1". In that, she claims that she was Baptized and received First Communion in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

The first identification card of Theresa Antonia Jones in our possession is a driver license from Oklahoma City issued in 1980, #446684344 (later, she used this number as a social security number) It identified her as Teresa Antonie Ames, 6001 Turner Ct. #A-13, Oklahoma City, 73159 This indicates that at least at the age of 20, she was already married to Ames.

On May 28, 1982, Mrs. (as written on the marriage certificate) Teresa Antonie Ames married Mr. Christopher Charles Hermey in Gainesville, Texas, county of Cook. She later divorced Mr. Hermey. The divorce date was not noted in the available documents. Why and how she changed the spelling of her name is yet unknown. (From Theresa to Teresa, from Antonia to Antonie, and from Jones to Ames.) Also, why she used "Mrs." Ames is unexplained. on the marriage certificate.

Yet only 3 years after the issued driver's license and at age 23, she applied to be married to Ernest Nathaniel Alcorn under the name of Teresa Antonie Jones of Tulsa, OK. This all meaning that within three years, she was on to her third marriage. On June l 5, 1984, she married Alcorn in Miami, Oklahoma, county of Ottawa. The Baptist Minister was Reverend Carol Holden and the witnesses were:

• Patricia Jones of Miami, OK

While married with Alcorn, "Tonie," as she was called by close friends, completed the Basic Emergency Medical Technician Training Program requiring 240 hours on January 31, 1985. With Alcorn, Theresa had a baby girl named Natalie Nicole Alcorn. Natalie was born August 11, 1986. During this marriage, she also gave birth to a boy by the name of Arthur; however, the father of Arthur is unknown. Arthur's father could have been Ames, Hermey or even someone else. Ernest Alcorn post scripts a letter he wrote to Tonie with, "Please stay off of the drugs." This letter was dated September 20, 1987. According to Jeff Lopez, her fourth documented husband, he and Tonie partied heavy with alcohol and drugs for the most of 1987 to early 1988.

On June 9th, 1987, Teresa purchased a used (yet new year model) 1987 Porsche 028S4. This 2 door, red sports car was purchased under the company name Alcorn Acres, Inc. Ernest Alcorn used the name Tonie when referring to Teresa as did Jeff and his two children.

0n August 31, 1987, Teresa Antonie Alcorn was served with a summons for dissolution of marriage. Ernest Alcorn was the petitioner and Teresa was the respondent. Ernest filed for custody of their daughter Natalie who was one year old at the time of the serving of the summons.

On December 22, 1987, Ernie mentioned that Teresa had the same cash and stocks assets that Jeff alleged and Teresa herself assumed of having by completing blank documents. In April of 1988, Teresa's attorney withdrew from the Alcorn divorce. Teresa failed and refused to cooperate with counsel. Answers to Interrogatories were due February 28, 1988 and she never responded. On August 18, 1989, Ernest Alcorn appeared with his counsel in District Court of El Paso County, Colorado to finalize his divorce with Teresa. Teresa lost by default in failure to appear. Natalie was now three ears old and according to documents, there were no signs of Theresa ever showing interest in visiting nor having custody of her daughter. She was awarded reasonable visitation rights; however, from obvious implications, Teresa showed lack of interest. It's possible Natalie never knew her mother.

It was in April of 1988 when Theresa was completing forms for a trademark on the Words XANADU INC. and the manner in which it was to be used was in the title of a corporation under Theresa and Jeffrey Lopez. While living with Jeffrey Lopez, Teresa now Theresa (but still went by Tonie), gave birth to Sarah Lopez on February 4th, 1989; however, Sarah died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome on March 24th, 1989.

Between 1989 and 1994, Theresa had at least twenty-five different credit collection and debt recovery notices. These ranged from credit cards, parking violations, court fees, stores and record/video clubs. On May 5th, 1990, Tonie Lopez said,

Alleging that she dislocated her left shoulder while working at Wendy's. Tonie (a.k.a. Teresa, a.k.a. Theresa) filed a worker's claim for compensation with the Department of Labor and Employment Division of Labor, Denver, Colorado. In the filing she used her social security number as 524-68-4499. She began in 1987 working for Wendy's as an Assistant Manager and her salary was $17,219.00 and went by the name Tonie Alcorn. In September of 1990, Tonie Lopez hired an attorney to take legal action against Wendy's International rewarding worker’s compensation for permanent partial disability. The insurance company of Wendy’s first made an offer of $6,000 in late October just around the time Tonie Lopez quit visiting her doctor (last visit October 23, 1990) and then in December they offered her $7,500. In January of 1991, Tonie Lopez was given $10,000 to settle from Wendy’s International. Her last day of employment at Wendy’s was December 27, 1990, however, she continued to work for Wendy's all the time into 1991 under the social security number: 446-68-4344. (This is the number of her Driver’s License in Oklahoma 1980) not her original 524-68-4499.

On August 20, 1990, Teresa A. Lopez pleaded guilty to the charge of second degree forgery/check/fraud. She was out on a $5,000 bond. The ruling of Valas Financial Corp. v. Teresa A. Lopez was that she was to pay $1,598.43 plus 22.75% interest from December 17, 1990 with monthly payments of $100.

On August 14, 1990, Theresa filed for annulment with the Archdiocese of Denver Metropolitan Tribunal along with Jeffrey Lopez. She filed under the name Teresa Antonie Jones. She only listed Alcorn as her previous marriage and left out Hermey and Ames. By this time she was a member of All Souls Catholic Church in Englewood, Colorado. It is in this church that Jeff and Theresa were married on October 13, 1990. Rev. Walter R. Jaeger celebrated and presented the Sacrament.

Yet during all this, Theresa Lopez was teaching religious education to grade two children at All Souls Parish. Her job description was to prepare these children to receive First Confession and First Communion Sacraments. She was given a Certificate of Commissioning by Fr. Walter Jaeger, pastor of All Souls Parish and also the priest that married Theresa and Jeff. He and Sheila Miyamoto, director of religious education, appointed Theresa Lopez as Catchiest for the year of 1991.

April 3^rd, 1990, was the date that Theresa alleged that she was "hearing" the voice of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As she put it in her book, Is That You, God?,

She continues to claim in the same booklet that, Shortly after (the death of Sarah) she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Then uterine cancer. Despite several operations, the cancer spread to her colon and kidney. Then it stopped spreading .As to hospital records acquired from an Italian hospital where Theresa was later checked out. there was no signs or mention of having a past involving cancer.

On February) 8, 1991, Theresa Lopez was in an auto accident. She was rear-ended while at a stop which pushed her car forward into the one in front of her. The accident resulted in "Lopez vs. Gentry. She complained of left shoulder pain. Sound familiar! This was the symptom she claimed to have with the Wendy's incident. They settled. The amount is still being checked; however, we do know that she bought a '91 Ford Probe’ on January 2, 1991 in the amount of $16,415.70. In February, she applied for custom license plates on her- car: I.H.M (Immaculate Heart of Mary ), ROSARY, MIR. (MIR means Peace in the Croatian Language), and. PRAY

On February 12th, 1991, Theresa and Jeff filed a Tax Application And Trade Name Registration for Rocky Mountain Project Peace. This was to be her new business (listed as a service) to distribute Catholic literature and collect money for some prayer kits for soldiers in the Gulf. Theresa claims later in a published booklet under her approval that she underwent a difficult pregnancy that hospitalized her six times. She claimed that in February of 1991, her infant daughter died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. 'This directly contradicts the actual recollection of events from her husband Jeff and step-son Patrick The baby actually died two years before.

From .March I7"' - 22nd, 199l, Theresa was in Medjugorje for her first time.

Theresa divorced Jeff Lopez on November 21, 1994 after her absence in the family from excessive travel with an Organization known as Catholic Evangelization Mission (C E.M ) for Russia. Later the name was changed to Queen of the Apostles Mission Association (Q A M. A.) This Organization is current and is operating from the parish offices of Saint Thomas More Parish in Denver, CO. It is a domestic non-profit organization with its registering agent being, Rachel Bresnahan, as of 8-28-97. It is using the old telephone numbers from a group called Apostles for the Triumph which dissolved at sometime prior to the formation of C.E.M. -Q.A.M.A. and has the same objectives as Pro Deo et Fatribus with operations linked in Rome, Slovakia, Russia and Bosnia Herzetrovina. That organization’s traveling spokesperson is Bishop Paolo Maria Hnilica, former titular bishop of Russia, stationed in Vatican City with past involvement with the Vatican Bank Scandal.

During the marriage with Jeff Lopez, Theresa made some calculations assuming that she had up to $20 million with her prior husband Ernest Alcorn. She had many blank forms that she typed stating that she owned stock, land and oil wells. Cash assets of up to $1.8 million Jeff found these assumed assets and listed them for her to settle the divorce instead of having a legal separation which she insisted in having in order for her own status in the Catholic arena. A divorce looks bad, a legal separation goes unseen.

Her assumptions (Note: These calculations are (assumptions)and most likely constructed under forgery with the signature of Ernest Alcorn that does not match his signature on the Marriage License or his voter Registration) included:

1. All agreement between Ernest and Teresa (as typed on the form) for the full Release of amount of Bendex stock options in the amount 489,000.00

2. 490 acres of un-developed property for commercial use

3. 1987 Porsche 928

4. 3% ownership option held in commercial) operation, known as: Golden Nugget Casino and Hotel. Las Vegas, NV.

5. Oil and Gas leases in Pampa. Texas. 18 leases of $24,000.00

6. Release of bank accounts:

• $ 96,778.00.

• $133,718.00

• $428,996.91

• $417,832.00

• $610,810.00

Theresa had blank forms of Agreement, Power of Attorney, Assignment of Oil and Gas Lease, Release of Lien, Loan Notes, Vouchers, Checks and Stock; Certificates. It was like a do-it-yourself Forgery-kit.

Other stocks assumed were hand written and are as follows:

• IBM $112,000.00 200 Shares

• AT&T $ 92,000.00 150 Shares

• Xerox $320,000.00 200 Shares

• Good Year $ 99,000.00 120 Shares

• Am. Ex. $ 42,000.00 50 Shares

Via Coms $139,000.00 300 Shares

• Sperry Rand 4530,000.00 600 Shares

Theresa wrote various letters to Jeff Lopez after leaving him regarding her call by the Virgin Mary and was obviously with Bishop Hnilica and the bishop's sidekick Father Luciano Alamandi. Fr. Luciano claims to be a priest ordained in Fatima, Portugal. He first came with the bishop to Denver as a seminarian and acted as the bishop's translator. Jeff has reason to believe that Theresa and (Fr.) Luciano were and still are having intimate relations. In many of her letters, she implied that Jeff was a horrible husband and father. She accused hem for having strange sexual habits. She used Scott White, director of Q.A M A., Father Michael Walsh, pastor of Saint Thomas Mores and Bishop Hnilica as cc: To each letter filled with very strange allegations All within a few days, one letter is sweet, friendly and nice with no mention of such allegations, the next full of strange allegations, rough and formal tone. It is important to note that all the letters were sent from Vatican City. In these letters Theresa admits that she had taken Arthur (her son) with her and enrolled him into an English private school.

Theresa is presently in Rome under a US passport #072622880 issued February 12, 1991 in Seattle, Washington under the name Teresa Antonie Lopez.

The Archdiocese of Denver, Colorado released a statement on December 9th 1991 in response to Theresa's alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Archbishop J. Stafford reported that he had initiated an investigation into the alleged supernatural assurances. Later he concluded that Theresa was not experiencing anything supernatural.

The why of Theresa is easy. As she said, "I want to be somebody." The why of those who promote her is easy. They want a piece of the trillions of dollars made in apparitions. But the why of those who buy her books and follow her messages is something beyond logic. "Mary said?" Suddenly everyone’s life comes to a halt, and they must do everything that some self proclaimed seer says. Three miles from this office over 40 young men and women committed suicide because there self proclaimed seer said their flying saucer was coming for them. There are many Jim Jones out there. One is called Theresa Lopez. But lest you think we are picking on her, let us present to you some of the information that Archbishop Stafford received.

Father Robert Finnegan is a Roman Catholic Priest who joined the Oratorian Fathers over 25 years ago. He is currently residing with his elderly mother in Sunnyvale, California. His information comes first hand in that he was in Denver, Colorado working with Father Walsh of St. Thomas More Parish researching the Theresa Lopez reported apparitions in late 1993 and early 1994. Father Herman’s report will speak of his expertise.

RE: Theresa Lopez's alleged heavenly communications, a testimony By: Rev. Robert Finnegan

For. Phil Kronzer

Date: March 1996

By the Providence of God, I was happily able to travel to Denver in August of 1993 for the Pope's visit to the youth of our nation. I stayed at the Raddison Hotel South; therefore, the nearest parish was Saint Thomas More's in Englewood, where I went with a few others daily to concelebrate Holy Mass. The pastor, Father Michael Walsh, a native-born Irishman in his early 60's, was most hospitable, friendly, open, fraternal, and generous. He was hosting several thousand French youth and their bishops, along with Cardinal Lustiger of Paris, at his parish during this papal visit. He asked me if I had heard of the alleged messages of the Blessed Virgin to Theresa Lopez, and I said I had but had not read any of her texts. He asked what I thought of the whole thing, and I said I did not know enough to make a judgment and would have to wait until I did, but that so far, what I heard did not strike me as wrong. Someone pointed her out to me from afar in the church before Mass. During one of the Masses I concelebrated, by happenstance, Theresa Lopez came to Communion in the line I had been assigned by the pastor to minister to. I might point out that I am in the habit of distributing Holy Communion without looking in the communicant's eyes but purposely raising the host so that neither they nor I can look into one another's eyes thus becoming a distraction from Our Lord, Whom they are about to receive. When Theresa Lopez came up, I did as I do for everybody else, but there was a slight pause on her part which caused me to look at her. To my surprise, I found that she was NOT looking at the Host but at ME with wide-open eyes and a VERY EAGER look, as if for approval. I deliberately looked away and said, "The Body of Christ"; she received without responding back with "Amen" and almost ran back to her pew. I remember saying to myself, "Something is wrong with that woman." The contrast with the other communicants was startling; they were far more devoutly attentive to Our Lord in the Host, and there was no attempt to get my attention, as she had tried to do. Later, I mentioned to the two women who went to the church with me that I had a slightly disturbing experience giving Holy Communion to Theresa Lopez; one of them happened to have sat right behind her in the church and volunteered that she was surprised to notice that Theresa DYED her hair blond! We kept these observations amongst ourselves at the time.

The pastor, Father Walsh, then invited me to lunch at his residence which was a couple of blocks away from the church, as he was having the newly-appointed Latin Archbishop of Moscow, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz for lunch; a few other priests were also there. I had the opportunity to ask all sorts of questions of the Archbishop about Russia and the Church there; the pastor was pleased with my role and the conversation because so much good information came out of the Archbishop who was, at first, rather quiet, and others were not jumping in.

By the end of the papal visit, I had gotten to know the pastor a little better, and he offered to invite me back to the parish for the Advent-Christmas Season, as he would need the help. He had the largest parish in the Archdiocese, and his older brother, a retired priest, was returning to Ireland after an extended visit, leaving him one priest short, while I was free for that time period. It was arranged, and I flew back at the very end of November. I stayed with Father Walsh. We were the only two living at his residence, and the two associates came down for lunch and dinner from their residence right next to the church. One of the associates was a priest my age from the state of Kerala, India, where he had been an exorcist and a healer and had converted some 6,000 Hindus, mostly untouchables, because of his ministry and charism of exorcism. I stayed until just after Christmas, before the New Year.

The very night I arrived at Father Walsh's residence, which was after 9pm, to my surprise, he wouldn't let me retire but wanted me to hear some of Theresa Lopez' private writings. She had an inner circle she had formed, called the disciples, and I believe there were about 12 of them, for which she claimed the Blessed Mother had dictated special instructions which had been gathered into a syllabus of some 40 lessons. In April of '93, she began to expound on these instructions to the inner circle; the pastor had been present at the first of these and had recorded it. So there I sat, listening to Father Walsh read the first one, then another of these instructions, somewhat randomly, about a half of a dozen of them. He wanted an initial response of my impressions. What I heard (he would not show them to me) sounded rather spiritual. There was one, however, which was a meditation on the Visitation, which impressed me very much as superior to the rest. Father asked me at this point if I thought Theresa could have made these instructions up. I said, "No. I don't think so; they are too far advanced in spirituality for someone not in the contemplative way. Then he asked, "Could she have copied them?" I said, "Yes; she could have." We spoke of these instructions for at least an hour and a half before retiring. I realized then that one of the reasons the pastor wanted me there is that he saw I had a background on the subject of spiritual theology, and he wanted to pick my brain. Every day, there was some conversation in private with me over Theresa Lopez. Finally, after about 5 days he gave me the syllabus, told me to read it and evaluate it, and required me to tell no one I was doing this. I told him I would be taking my time reading perhaps only one or two a day.

I have to point out that in the rectory, there were two large four-foot high paintings done by a local artist of the Blessed Mother; of Virtues dressed in a pink gown, inspired by Theresa Lopez' description of her apparitions. One of these was hanging in the pastor's living room; the second was hanging in MY room. I took an immediate disliking to the paintings. The reason was the face. It did not look proportionate: the eyes were too wide apart, the face too long, the chin too prominent. In short, it looked like some American girl who dressed up the Virgin Mary. Within a day or so, it dawned on me that the paintings looked like Theresa Lopez herself!

As I mentioned above, within a week, the pastor gave me the syllabus to read with the instructions that I was to evaluate them and tell no one that I was reading them. I told him that it would take some time, as I would be reading only about one or two a day. He agreed. Meanwhile, I found out that: 1.) the associates [of Saint Thomas More parish] did not accept the messages of Theresa Lopez as authentic and that 2.) the members of a pious association originating in Austria called Pro Deo et Fratribus, with a few women members living in the parish, were staunch believers in Theresa and were leaders of her inner circle of about a dozen. There were also several hundred parishioners who were sold on it and many more who were not. Father \Walsh was very careful not to alienate any of these people, and he did a remarkable job of prudently preventing any overt clashes between the believers and the non-believers. Without ever completely accepting them, as his older brother did, he seemed to favor them because of this respect for the piety and spiritual experiences of the people who did accept them. Theresa herself was not in town at the time but in Europe with Bishop Hnilica. She had just separated from her supposed second husband and had taken her son (not by him) with her.

After about another week, Father asked me how I was coming with the syllabus. I reported that I was still slowly going over it. I was looking for the mediation on the Visitation which had REALLY impressed me. About half way into December ('93), 1 found it one Tuesday morning before lunch. I stopped and reflected. It was as good as I had remembered it, but the oddity was that it stood out from the style of the lessons preceding and following it. It seemed out of place. I remember that Father Walsh's question "Could she have copied it?" came back to me, and I said to myself, "I wonder what hat Catherine Emmerich wrote on this subject (the Visitation)". I resolved to check that out. The very next day, before lunch, the pastor came running in carrying 4 volumes of Venerable Maria of Agreda in his arms, coming right upstairs to my room and saying that one of the parish staff who had been an original member of the inner circle of disciples, and whom Theresa Lopez had arbitrarily kicked out of it the Spring before, had discovered months ago that a paragraph of one of the syllabus' instructions was identical to the text in volume 1 of Mary of Agreda's work of private revelations. Father, who had never heard of Mary of Agreda, asked her to give him all of the volumes of Agreda. The woman felt prompted to finally come forward with her discovery. The pastor gave me the volumes and said, "Go to it; top priority!" He was coming back around 5pm and wanted me to have a report.

Meanwhile, the pastor confessed that he had caught Theresa in several lies and evasions. I told him bluntly, "You only need ONE LIE to evaluate!" The Indian priest also told me she had been very evasive and had not gone to any of the priests assigned to her by the Chancery to see. I was impressed by this Indian priest, as he had been an exorcist in India, had been ordained 25 years, was orthodox, theologically well-trained, and zealous for the faith. He was also sharp in his judgments, once made, but while that might put off political and diplomatic types, it indicated to me forthright honesty and a clear mind.

Now I knew that Theresa Lopez was a hoax.. l spent about 6 hours pouring over the syllabus and reading Mary of Agreda. Besides the original clue (on about page 172 of volume 1), for 5 hours, I got nowhere. Finally, it occurred to me to pray to the Blessed Mother. After all, it was HER honor and reputation that were at stake, since Theresa Lopez was claiming special revelation from the Blessed Virgin Mary. After a break of about 15 minutes for prayer, I returned to my study. I turned the page from where I had been reading, and lo and behold, there was the meditation on the Visitation that I had been searching for! Word for word! Whole paragraphs! A couple of pages straight! Theresa had changed only the title of address from "My Daughter" in Mary of Agreda to "My Angel" in her own syllabus. I noted where in Agreda's book I had found the passage; it was in the second half of the chapter which was entitled "Instructions to the Disciples." If my hunch was right, then the next chapter of the syllabus should come from a later chapter in the 2nd half of "Instructions to the Disciples." Lo and behold, there it was, as I supposed. And the next, ... and the next! About a half hour later, Father Walsh walked into the house (around 5:30 PM) and asked me if I had found anything. I answered, "Gold! Eureka! I've found the vein!" He came running upstairs. I handed him Agreda, told him to turn to the right page, and I read from Theresa's syllabus, word for word, paragraph after paragraph. Then he would interrupt me and read from Agreda, and I would continue from the syllabus. Then at my request, he played the audio tape of Theresa's initial class to the inner circle from back in April. It was the first few minutes of the tape. This was important, for on it in response to Father's asking her "Where do these messages come from?" Theresa had answered, "Directly from the Blessed Mother to me; I mean like dictation, stronger than when I am in Church (the alcove which had a statue of the Blessed Mother)."

Father Walsh then proceeded to tell me that he had to go to the Chancery the next day (about the 15th or 16th of December) and give a report on the phenomenon. We went out for dinner and returned in an hour to cross reference the plagiarism’s. I gave him the specific instruction to play the first few minutes of the tape first, which has her asserting the origin of the messages of the syllabus, and then to read them from Mary of Agreda. I cross-referenced about a dozen instructions from the syllabus.

Then Father told me much more. Not only the staff member came forward with the text of Mary Agreda, but Theresa's supposed second husband did also. He told of Theresa spending up to nine hours a day in the basement reading and copying passages from spiritual books. He remembered seeing Saint John of the Cross, a book on Blessed Maria Taigi, and Mary of Agreda! I found out that Theresa was not from Denver at all but had arrived a few years earlier, apparently running away from something, and she was not on speaking terms with her mother. She also canceled about eight appointments with Father Walsh by failing to show. Her marriage situation was hopelessly complicated, and she was seen to have romantic infatuation with a young European priest associated with Bishop Hnilica. Mr. Lopez was definitely left in the dust.

The next day, Father Walsh was off to the Chancery for a third appointment with Father Jones, the priest whom the Archbishop had appointed to chair the committee to investigate the affair. Unexplainably, Father Walsh's car broke down, which had never happened to him before. A layman came to his aid, and he wound up getting there an hour and a half late after having called ahead warning of his delay. Of course, he came back late for dinner and relayed the satisfaction of Father Jones upon seeing and hearing the evidence presented. They knew she was copying things and crediting the Blessed Mother with revealing them to her because they had already found plagiarized material in her published material. But to have such clear evidence of fraud, asserting on tape that the instructions to her inner circle came like dictation from the Blessed Mother "directly" to herself, and then to find pages of pilfered quotes in Mary of Agreda's text was just what was needed to satisfy most unambiguously the demands of truth.

While waiting for the pastor to arrive for dinner, I related all I had found out to the Indian priest as we were eating. Then I asked him how he had known so much earlier that she was a fraud. He said it was very simple. When all this started, a few years before, Theresa Lopez had said that the Blessed Mother wanted all the people to travel to Saint Frances Cabrini Shrine in the foothills of Golden on the second Sunday of the month of that January to consecrate themselves to her. But when the day came there was such a snow storm that no one could leave their homes! So either the communication was wrong or the Blessed Mother was not in control of the weather! We both laughed. He also told me that she had come to him first for guidance (She was from a much smaller parish.) and that he wanted to meet her in her own house, knowing that in diabolically-influenced phenomena there is a strong connection between the devil and particular places. But Theresa never let him come to her house. Instead, she went to the pastor, whom, after a couple of meetings alone, she also evaded. The Indian priest thought she was deceived by the devil. I countered with another view: she obviously had a personality disorder and was irrationally craving attention in order to feel important. (I related the look she gave me at Communion time the Summer before.) Also, she was estranged from her mother, which would account for Wanting to be specially visited by the Blessed Mother to compensate for that broken relationship. And finally, she had schizoid tendencies, as the video tape of one of her talks showed, and she was VERY intellectual and mental in her presentation. He countered by saying that those are the sorts of people it is easy for the devil to deceive since they crave importance and are easily flattered, and they flatter others. I came around to this point of view when I found out from the pastor upon his return from the Chancery, that Bishop Hnilica from Europe said that he believed her (She was Czech born and could communicate with him in German.) because she knew things about Eastern Europe that no one here could have known. Moreover, I also found out that at the time of the first "appearance" of the Blessed Mother at the Saint Frances Cabrini hilltop Shrine to the Sacred Heart, several yards away, ANOTHER woman was claiming to have had an apparition too, from the same Blessed Mother at the same time!! Bizarre!!

I returned to California just before the New Year, with the arrangement to return to Denver for Lent-Easter Week. Theresa Lopez was scheduled to give a talk (January 94) on Marian Spirituality in Santa Clara during a week-end retreat, so upon returning, I went to Father Robert Hughes, who was involved with the organizing of the retreat, to tell him what I found out. He was very surprised and wondered if he should cancel the whole thing. Bishop Hnilica and some of his priests were coming. I pointed out that canceling would not be absolutely necessary; just keep Theresa from speaking, and I told him to call Father Walsh to corroborate my story. Well, as it turned out, Theresa Lopez never came, though the Bishop and his priests did. The very day I flew back to Denver in early Lent, Archbishop Stafford had made his statement declaring that the alleged apparitions and messages to Theresa Lopez were NOT supernatural and that promotion of them was forbidden. I was met at the airport by the sacristan of the church who told me this right away. The timing was important, as Theresa had announced that now The Blessed Mother wanted everybody to descend upon Denver for a special consecration to Mary at the Cabrini Shrine on the Feast of the Annunciation a few weeks later. This was definitely discouraged with the recommendation that people stay home and go to their own parishes using the De Montfort preparation and formula for Marian Consecration. That did not end the problem, as several hundred people, many as far away as Louisiana, Kansas and Ohio, had come and were deeply perplexed by the Archbishop's pronouncement. Some explanation was needed, but as often is the case with the canonical or bureaucratic mind, none is given but the bare statement of authority. I felt that if anyone needed to talk about their perplexity, I would make myself available for that task in person-to-person conversation in the hall. That is exactly what happened. Dozens of people asked me why, in small groups, and I was pretty frank with them, saying I had inside information of fraud and that I had seen some of the plagiarism. I pointed out to them that they could go to the book called "Apostleship For the Holy Family" and find the idea for Our Lady of Virtues and the prayer for the Holy Spirit in the Chaplet of Virtues stolen from it. (Someone had noticed that afterwards.) I offered also, the general point that Theresa had had a very troubled background and had signs of imbalance, so there was not a question of malice involved, but that one should pray for her. As I anticipated, my explanations alleviated their perplexity and reassured them that the Archbishop was not being rationalistic or against the supernatural but had VERY good reasons for its judgment. Many people thanked me for my explanations and said that my version made sense. I emphasized that approved devotions and apparitions were promoted by the Archbishop, as his statement indicated. It always amazes me that such needed pastoral explanations are ignored, and the people are left hanging without the tools to make some sense of decisions like this. As far as I know, the priests would not explain anything and just expect people to fall in line. Those days are long since gone; people need some reasons and can no longer be treated as children who are just expected to obey without their justified questions being addressed. I have little sympathy for the idea that one does not want to expose Theresa Lopez to detraction. She has LIED to the Church PUBLICLY, for whatever reason, although psychological imbalance is the most plausible reason. The people have a right to be told something. (I have, therefore; told these facts several times before actually putting the events into writing and am thus able to recall many otherwise forgotten yet important details.)

I would like to make one final point. All publications of the Theresa Lopez writings ought to be treated as things to be avoided. Why, one might say, since what she copied was approved matter, and nothing contrary to faith? But it is the particular combination and assembling of such texts that can do damage. At root, there is an IRRATIONAL cause in the arranging of these texts that will eventually do damage to people who take them seriously, study them, use them for their devotions, and form themselves in their spirit. They are arranged AGAINST the Holy Spirit, on the basis of a LIE. Just as someone's own arrangement of Biblical texts can be very arbitrary and harmful, even more so these texts coming from Theresa Lopez, which we KNOW are deceitfully offered. Taking spiritual clues and guidance from a deception and an irrational spirit will do devastation to one's own growth. I cannot see Theresa Lopez' booklets in a neutral light. Vigilance is needed here to discourage use of her texts. In PRACTICE, all things are either good or bad, as the moral theology teaches.

Signed Father Robert Finnigan

CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD

2626 E. 7^th Rue. Parkway

DENVER, C0. 80206

June 19, 1996

Dear Phil,

Thanks for your letter and for asking me to write an appendage to Fr. Finnegan's original letter which I will gladly do for you. I only pray that people who are still involved in the cult of Theresa Lopez may be given the light from God to turn away from this.

Whatever Fr. Finnegan has said in his letter is very true. Let me add a few more things .which have been reported to me by her former disciples and my own further discernment on this. But most of it has already been reported by Fr. Finnegan. I have a great respect for Fr. Finnegan because of his great learning, spirituality and discernment which he had manifested during his stay in St.Thomas Moore Church.

I was told by couple her friends that Theresa told them that Our Lady was going to fulfill the promises of Fatima of the conversion of Russia through her. She also said it seems that she had spoken personally to Sister Lucia(whom Our Lady appeared to). It was as if Sister Lucia had failed and Theresa was there to fulfill what Our Lady had wanted Lucia to do.

Theresa called a group of people the Apostles (numbering 12) and told them that Our Lady had personally picked each one and that they had a very special job to do. Theresa ca!!ed this group the- ."remnant flock". She tried to give them cohesiveness by telling them that the Church was falling into decay especially by the Bishops and Cardinals closest to the Holy Father. The Holy Father was being persecuted and they had to stand by him. She told them they had to be so united as to be willing to die for one another. She gave them the outlook that they were the only good people in the Church and that they were going to be severely persecuted because of their faithfulness.

Theresa's clothes were very expensive although her husband did not have a very high-paying job. She always wanted the very best and somehow seemed to have gotten it. She traveled to and from Europe on a whim, and drove a sports car. She had a lap top computer and a fountain pen costing in excess of $150.00 to record the messages she was writing. Theresa said that to pray the rosary, one mouths the words and thinks about what one wants.

.

When questioned about the validity of her theological teaching, Theresa would often become defensive and would sometimes become enraged. Her group would always come to her defense.

When she felt threatened by a person or if she had no further use for them she would move them from the "inner circle" by telling them that that's Our Lady wanted. She used the messages that she wrote for her personal wants and desires. She told her group that certain messages were not to be openly circulated.

Theresa would constantly tell the group that Our Lady was not happy with them because they were not doing what they were supposed to be doing. That if they continued Our Lady would merely go somewhere else. Theresa was always the favored daughter who could do no wrong. It seems that Our Lady would appear to Theresa no matter where she was. This was often puzzling to the group, so their prayers and actions would double trying to please Our Lady. This was clearly a Control gimmick created by Theresa.

Theresa said Our Lady gave her a new name, Theresa Marie. When asked if Marie was her middle name, her answer was no. The implication was that she was Our Lady's very special daughter, worthy to bear the name of Mary.

Theresa Lopez was brought to me first by one of the ladies in our parish, but I too wanted to meet her. She came down to the office after the mass on a certain day and told me that Our Lady told her to go down to the man in the office. Thus she thought that Out Lady meant me. She asked me if I could be her spiritual director to which I agreed. She claimed that she had visions in Our Lady's alcove in St. Thomas Moore Church, on the top of the hill of Mother Cabrini Shrine and in her home.

I asked her, why I didn't see her spending time before the Blessed Sacrament. I really forgot the answer she gave me. I have some vague memory she might have said that she was busy helping her husband in his business.

The deceased pastor of All Souls, Fr. Jaeger, told me she lived together with Jeff, her future husband before marriage, and had a baby which died shortly after birth. Then shortly after that incident she was happily married to the same man in All Souls Church.

She asked me many times if I could be with her on the top of the mountain of Mother Cabrini Shrine, while she had the alleged apparition. I told her I could never go with her, if she was trying to get media attention, which she did in spite of my caution. Later she also brought media in St.Thomas Moore Church.

I already figured out there was something wrong with this woman. After that she stopped seeing me. Then I thought that I should do some teaching to this woman from the writings of St. John of the Cross & Teresa of Avila, where it talks about visions. One of the ministries I do in St. Thomas Moore is to visit families to enthrone the pictures of Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary and to begin a family Rosary.

So I called Theresa Lopez whether I could visit her in her home for a little chat and to bless the home. She accepted in the beginning but canceled the appointment on the day before. After that I completely lost touch with her but carefully watching all the further developments with her alleged apparitions and many times I chuckled and wondered where it was all going to end up.

Most of the apparitions of Blessed Mother took place in an ignorant country place, and after that such places became famous by pilgrimages. In this case Mother Cabrini Shrine is already famous, because a saint lived there and worked wonders and miracles. Long before these alleged apparitions on this particular mountain, the pilgrims visited in good numbers throughout the year to make retreats and to spend time in prayer.

Another point in question is that Theresa Lopez promoted Second Saturday Devotion (the Saturday before the second Sabbath in her own words) which is contrary to the request made by our Lady in Fatima. It takes only little common sense to know Where it is all coming from, either from the Devil or her own make up.

One more thing just came to my mind is that after the Commission started studying her, she was told not to read any of the writings of the great mystics. But she was disobedient and was seen several times reading the writings of St. John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila.

Whatever I wanted to say, has been already said by Fr. Finnegan. Hope these additional information will help you to figure out what it is all about. May the Lord richly bless you and may our dear Mother Mary protect you and help you to discern.

Yours sincerely in Jesus & Mary,

Signed Fr. Herman

To: Mr. Phillip I. Kronzer

I wish to acknowledge your kind letter of February 5, 1997 concerning Theresa Lopez.

The last time I saw, 'I'heresa Lopez was in early summer of 1993. We had a retreat in Florida A few weeks later, I met Theresa’s husband and sons in Florida. My principal, Mr. Ohler, was also present with his wife and three daughters.

During e retreat Theresa answered every question directed lo her. However, when she was asked if her son; had seen Our Lady, she responded, "Yes." When Mr. Ohlers’s daughter asked Theresa's sons if they had ever seen Mary, they responded emphatically,, "NO!!" That made me, realize something was amiss.

I learned of Bishop Stafford's decision concerning Theresa, I called Father Mike Walsh in Denver. He filled me in on the details which Father Finnegan supplied lo you. I quickly retracted my support for Theresa in the second editorial of "The Remnant Church." I have not heard from Theresa Lopez since the summer of 1993.

Strange as it might seem, I feel that the Holy Spirit allowed many of us to be duped by Theresa for a reason. Jesus Himself warns us that in the last days "false prophets will arise to lead astray, if possible, even the elect."

1 am sorry that Theresa has caused so much grief in your own family; . Unfortunately, there is nothing that I can add to what you already know. It is possible that Theresa may have been authentic in the early days and was later used by Satan to cause confusion. I would personally have nothing to do with her or Bishop Paolo Hnilica.

I appreciate the letter since it will help answer some of the questions that I have had myself about this matter.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Msgr. Richard L. Carroll

How Bishop Paolo Hnilica came to know about Theresa Lopez we are not sure. But we do know what his ambitions were, and that the idea of an American Seer in his pocket fit right into his plans.

Bishop Paolo Hnilica was born in Slovakia in 1921, which was overrun by Stalinists when he was a seminarian. He was ordained a priest at the age of 29 and then a bishop only three months later. Some prominent Italian journalists question whether Hnilica is even a bishop since they cannot find out the date, place or bishop that consecrated him. To be sure, in an underground seminary much can happen. But why a bishop at the age of 29 and only after 3 months as a priest.

Nonetheless, after communist takeover he left his country and fled to Rome. He has lived in Rome for over 40 years. Never has he been part of the Vatican to our knowledge. Pope Pius XII did not ask him to remain in Rome. Pope Paul VI did not ask him to found his organization called, Pro Deo et Fratribus Association (meaning "For God and the Brothers"). After the bank episode the name was changed to Pro Fratribus ("For the Brothers") dropping the "for God" part. The claimed reason for this association is to collect moneys to support the Church behind the iron curtain; however, this is not done under the umbrella of the official Church and there is no outside accounting as to where the moneys go.

In the early 80s Bishop Hnilica took an interest in Medjugorje and began making countless trips back and forth from Rome to Medjugorje. In our next chapter we will show why he did so, even though the Bishop of Medjugorje forbid him to go there. Problems started for Hnilica when the Italian Police arrested and convicted him for involvement with Mafia connections to Roberto Calvi and Flavio Carboni. Calvi was found hanging from a rope under Blackfriar’s Bridge in London and Carboni was placed under house arrest in Rome. Hnilica was convicted for paying millions of dollars to Carboni for documents related to Calvi’s bank problems. Hnilica tried to involve the Vatican in the affair, but the Vatican testified in court that they had no connection with Hnilica. The question then comes, "Where did Hnilica get the money?"

Hnilica lives in the Prati section of Rome about a mile from the Vatican. According to Vatican Officials, he has no connection with the Vatican whatsoever, on any subject. Now the poor Bishop is in deep problems. His strong ties to Medjugorje have been weakened by the arrest. Medjugorje is trying to distance themselves from him. He sees the war in Bosnia as stopping (or at least slowing) the flow of pilgrims and money to Medjugorje. What he needs is a new Medjugorje. Where does most of the Medjugorje money and pilgrims come from? America! What if these pilgrims could get the same "spiritual high" by going to an apparition site, meeting a seer who talks to the "Virgin", and has the backing of a Bishop from Rome?

What Hnilica needs is an American Seer in his pocket. Enter Theresa Lopez. With Theresa present, Hnilica ordains four priests at Fatima, who never went to a seminary. How a retired Bishop ordains a priest, we would like to know. How a retired Bishop ordains a priest in another Bishop’s territory without his permission, we would like to know. And we will find out for you. Anyway, with these four newly ordained priests and Theresa Lopez, Hnilica tries to make Denver, Colorado the Medjugorje of America. Today Theresa Lopez is hiding out with one of these priests in Rome, presumably under the wings of Bishop Hnilica.

Bishop Hnilica’s plot to take Medjugorje money and pilgrims failed so far. Many Medjugorje followers saw through this farce and wrote countless letters to Medjugorje and to the centers to expose and to stop him. A good example of this is Charles R. Toye, who runs "Send Your Spirit Publishing" in Reading, MA He wrote two booklets against Theresa Lopez, plus articles in his newsletters. He also wrote to Father Slavko Barbaric of Medjugorje.

What is strange about all this is that Father Slavko Barbaric supported Bishop Hnilica. Even though proof was given that Bishop Hnilica was trying to steal pilgrims and money from the Medjugorje circus, Father Barbaric would not back up the American Medjugorje centers in condemning him. Why?

According to journalists in Medjugorje, Bishop Hnilica’s countless trips in and out of Medjugorje was to smuggle millions of dollars out of communist Yugoslavia to support and promote Medjugorje in Rome and around the world. These journalists also claimed that some of this money was used to buy arms for the Croatians. Not a small amount of this money went into Hnilica’s deep pockets. Now! We ask "Where did he get the money he gave to Carboni?" Answer, "From Medjugorje!"

Now! Why does Father Slavko Barbaric support Bishop Hnilica’s efforts to steal from Medjugorje? Because Father Barbaric has skeletons in his closet. If Bishop Hnilica was smuggling money out of Yugoslavia for the cause, who knew about it? Who was involved in the smuggling from Medjugorje? If he was involved, how can he now go against the man who can expose the whole thing. What would happen if Hnilica came out with the truth? Who in Medjugorje would be arrested, tried and convicted of fraud and smuggling?

No! Father Slavko Barbaric is not going to go against Hnilica, but he would sure do so if he could. He can’t because his hands are not clean, and Hnilica knows it.