Fifteen years ago we wrote less than one page about a priest we called Allo-wishes. We didn’t use his real name because we didn’t know enough about him. The first twenty-six lines were positive. Then the page tells of going to see one of the Father’s seminarians. He and a sixteen-year-old girl were smoking pot together. The last part of this one page goes like this:

"I thought you were converted by Father Allo-wishes? How can you be with this girl and using pot?"

"Father Al sees nothing wrong with it. In fact, he said it could help us in our spiritual life. He has even been with us when we were taking LSD."

Then the one written page goes on to ask how could this priest have the power to perform miracles and at the same time allow the use of LSD, pot, and sex. Until two weeks ago none of these questions had been answered. For 15 years we tried to get documentation but could not. Instead we have been attacked and isolated from our close friends for daring to even ask the questions.

We believed that if Father Aloysius is really a saint, he will be happy to see all the truth come to light and be exposed. Unfortunately, those who love him had failed to come forth with even one piece of support for the poor man, until now.

In order to gain this documented evidence for this poor priest we wrote a blistering attack against the book that had been published by Jeffrey J. Moynihan, called "Father Aloysius - Wonder Worker in America". We printed eight copies and sent them only to the closest friends of Father Aloysius, hoping that they would come forth with the truth, which we knew was not in that book. Regarding Jeffrey J. Moynihan, we will reserve a special chapter for him.

Thanks to one man who truly loved Father Aloysius, and who has no personal agenda to promote, we have been able to read actual letters written by Father Aloysius, his seminarians, lawyers in Fatima and the United States, testimonials, and letters by his brother, Father Jose Maria Ellacuria, C.M.F.

These letters are all dated so that we were able to put together a chronology of events that have completely vindicated Father Aloysius: but in fact, have convicted more than one of his friends of using Father for their own gain and agenda.

The truth about this priest may actually bring about his canonization, as you will see in our final chapter. The saintliness of this priest lies not in what he accomplished while living but in his dream of what could be accomplished. If we [and we include Unity Publishing, Inc.] help to carry out that dream with his prayers in heaven, he will be canonized.

How many of his friends do not even know what his dream was because of their own mistaken agenda is sad and amazing. But first of all let us put to rest the thing about the drugs and sex that Father was accused of supporting twenty years ago.

Why would one of Father Aloysius’ seminarians tell us that Father approved of his drug use? We now have the whole story. When Father went to Fatima, he brought ten young men with him to initiate his dreams of fulfilling the wishes of St. Anthony Mary Claret and Our Lady of Fatima for devotion to Our Lord in the Eucharist and veneration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. One of the original ten was asked to leave the order. We know from the documentation why, but it is not our purpose to expose any of these people. After leaving Fatima this man began to write letters against Father Aloysius to his supporters.

Three others were asked to leave the order because of drug use and /or conduct not in keeping with the order. [Again we could give the names and details but will not.] It seems that even after they left Fatima, Father feared that they might return, so he informed the international police at the border that two of them had been involved in drugs. It is probably true that Father knew they had taken drugs in the past, but judging by letters written and signed by Father Aloysius, he was very forgiving and always tried to see only the good side of people. When overwhelming evidence showed that they had not left the drugs behind, he removed them from the order and even from the possibility of returning to Fatima. There seems to be some fear on his part that they intended to start a drug operation in Fatima with some local residents.

That is the time we met one of them back in the United States. He had made slanderous statements against Father in his relationship with the family that was trying to steal money from the order. We have since seen a letter in which he admits telling the lies and expressed his sorrow. However, at the time we met him (which was the first time we ever heard of Father Aloysius), he had just returned from Fatima, was still going to daily Mass and Communion, was still taking drugs, and was caught with a sixteen-year-old girl. To defend himself to us and to his family, he told lies about Father Aloysius.

As a Catholic publishing company, who may have helped slander Father’s name even further by repeating these slanderous statements, we have a moral obligation to reconcile his reputation. We intend to do this by becoming his main supporter, and by promoting his cause for canonization. But most of all by helping to carry out his dreams, and correcting some of the gross exaggerations that only hurt his cause. Our formal apology will be our future actions.

A recent book, "FATHER ALOYSIUS - WONDER WORKER IN AMERICA" written by his (sometimes) secretary, Jeffrey J. Moynihan, does more harm to the man than good. The problems in the Father’s life are alluded to but then not explained. One example is the impression given about the two bishops who asked him to leave Los Angeles and then Fatima. Moynihan treats these bishops as though they do not have the right to be heard or even talked to because they treated him badly.

Jeffrey Moynihan interjects so much of his own theology and prejudicial beliefs, it is hard to know what Father Aloysius believed and what is just Jeffrey’s imagination. But his book makes belief in Father Aloysius more difficult after reading it than before: Like Father being one of the "Seven Thunders" of the Apocalypse, or being able to read everyone’s souls, or having a policeman guardian angel, or curing a dog, or suffering the invisible stigmata, or having a father with an un-corrupted body, or being able to read souls, or having the perpetual presence of the Eucharist in him all the time, or Father Charles Carpenter starting an order in Mexico, or believing in Garabandal.

We will address each one of these claims separately, and let the real saintly Father stand up, but let’s see where Jeffrey Moynihan is coming from first.

In any book the start and finish tells the true story of what the author is trying to get across. In the first four pages of his book, Jeffrey tries to establish that Father Aloysius could read the souls of the people he met. Then (when one would normally write the climax of the life of the person you are writing about), Jeffrey writes the last two pages about what he is writing the book about in the first place - Garabandal.

Father did not support Garabandal

What Jeffery J. Moynihan failed to say in his book, (which he claims is about Father Aloysius), is that he is married to Jacinta, one of the seers of Garabandal. This is no small oversight on his part since he claimed on page 56 that Father read the seer’s souls and saw the truth of their visions. He also stated that father went to Garabandal in 1970. What he did not state is that Father Jose Maria Ellacuria, O.M.F. (Fathers brother) lived in or near Garabandal, and was not only a believer but tried very hard to get Father to believe also. Father Jose Maria believed in many other mystics as well. What Jeffrey also did not say is that Father’s sister bought property in Garabandal to be there for the "warning". These three things, his wife, Father’s brother and sister, are no small oversight.

The truth is in the documentation. If Father believed in Garabandal, it would not have been a big deal considering his brother, (a priest and teacher in a seminary near to Garabandal); and his sister (who believed and bought a house in Garabandal) both put pressure on him. However, for him to openly promote or take pilgrims to Garabandal, would have showed he was not an obedient priest, which we now know that he was.

We have seen documents that prove he did not support Garabandal. Father was the Spiritual Director on a Pilgrimage in October of 1968 with a group of people, some of whom wanted to make a detour to Garabandal since they were only a few miles away. The documentation shows that Father would not go with them, because as a priest he could not go. This would be in violation of the local bishop. He also told the people that they should not go, but that he would not stop them.

He stated in 1968 that as a priest he could not go. In 1970, he went to visit his sister and brother, and from a diary of the trip, we know that he did not say Mass or attribute a supernatural character to the apparitions. He visited his sister, talked to Conchita, visited his brother, and was off the mountain in only a couple of hours.

Jeffrey’s book states that in 1972 "two of the four visionary girls of Garabandal went to see Father Aloysius, when he was living in Fatima in Portugal. Father read their souls and saw the truth of their visions." (Page 56)

Now, since we know Conchita (and we know that she does not believe what happened to her came from God), and we know that seven bishops of Garabandal, including the present one, and the present and past heads of the Sacred Congregation for the Protection of the Faith in Rome, have condemned Garabandal, what can we say about Jeffrey’s claim?

If we are to believe Jeffrey (who is married to one of the seers), we would have to believe that Father believed all these bishops and the Vatican were wrong. We would have to believe that Father trusted his own feelings more than the authority of the Church. This is not the spirit of obedience Father had to the Church. Even if Father felt that they were true mystics, he would not have said so. The fact is that Jeffrey Moynihan has admitted that Father only said that they were good girls, and that regarding his wife, that she was going to be good for Jeffrey.

We also believe that the children of Garabandal are good and honest people, and Father always saw the best in people. By his letters we can tell that he spoke very charitably about everyone, even his enemies. Regarding his ability to always read souls, this cannot be claimed in all cases. The perfect example was his choice of the first ten seminarians, and his choice of the superior to his order of nuns. He was gentle and trusting to a fault. But if he could always read souls, he would not have made the mistakes he made. This does not discredit Father Aloysius. Every saint in history has made mistakes about people, even St. Paul about St. Mark.

One thing we know, from the documentation, is that he did not trust mystics. He had a great deal of experience with many of them and there is not one that we can show that he supported except for the seers of Fatima.

The truth about Fatima lies in the seminarians and not in Father Aloysius. When Father went to buy property for the seminary he was sick and bedridden. He had to rely on the seminarians to handle the legal transactions. Two of them (unbeknownst to Father) were friends of the seller’s family. The result was that Father almost lost $15,000.00 and had to go to court to prove that the money was taken by fraud. The fact that he won the case is proof of the fraud. He won the case against people who lived in Fatima in a Portugal Court.

He also had the possible problem of drugs being used in Portugal by at least two of the boys. He handled both of these problems properly; however, since he was very sick and these problems received no small amount of public notoriety, the Bishop asked them to leave Fatima.

In the mean time, accusations were being spread around by those who were dismissed from the order, causing no small problem for Father in financial support. As we now see from the documentation, Father always believed that God spoke to him through his superiors and the bishops. His obedience to the Bishop of Fatima and all other Bishops over him, will in the long run show his saintliness, just as is the case of Padre Pio.

On To Mexico

The next thing we would like to clear up is the founding of the order in Mexico. It has been alluded to that Father Charles Carpenter founded the order in Mexico. We have been told this by several people. It is almost stated that way on Page 46 of Moynihan’s book: "One of the group, Charles Carpenter, decided to carry on Father’s new order." We don’t know where this is coming from, but the truth is that Father Aloysius negotiated with the Bishop of Ciudad Obregon in Mexico for the order and the property, himself, in 1977. The Bishop accepted the order on the grounds that Father Aloysius was the founder of the order. The order he founded was continuous from 1972 without interruption.

Exaggerations

One of the reasons the writings of Faustina’s Divine Mercy was suppressed by the Church is that writers and promoters were not careful with the facts. All kinds of claims and exaggerations were placed in her messages (and her life) that were not there. Unable to control the situation, the Church closed everything down.

The same thing happened with some of the writings of St. Brigitte of Sweden, the messages of La Salette, and Padre Pio. The fifteen promises of Our Lady to St. Brigitte never happened. Later writings of one of the seers of La Salette have been condemned. Several books written about Padre Pio without local verification have been condemned.

Let us not have the same thing happen to Father Aloysius. We now have a good idea of Father’s personality. When something good happened to him, he would say his guardian angel helped him, and this is probable true. This does not mean, however, that a policeman is his guardian angel, and Father never meant it that way.

Father often spoke of the dream of Saint Anthony Mary Claret being the Seventh Angel of the Apocalypse. Regarding him being one of the "Seven Thunders" of the Apocalypse, let history judge that. For us to make such claims will only harm the promotion of his work and his dreams. To claim that he suffered the invisible stigmata without any documented proof will also hurt his reputation.

Everyone should understand that miracles bear witness to the truth. To claim that his father has an un-corrupted body, requires proof of the body and the truth that his father bore witnessed to. If he did, let his sainthood stand or fall on its own without mixing it us with the cause of Father Aloysius.

Regarding Father having the perpetual presence of the Eucharist in him all the time, we must insist that this would be quite a drastic change from the history of such cases. Father must had the spiritual presence of Christ in him at all times, because he definitely performed many miracles through his prayers. But pay close attention to this, every single person in history (that we know of) that did have the un-dissolved host in them from one communion to another, like Theresa Neumann and Anna Catherine Emmerich, did not eat any food whatsoever. In fact, food would not stay in them if they attempted to do so. The reason for this is that it would be sacrilegious to put food in the same tabernacle as Our Lord.

Father may very well have prayer like Padre Pio: "Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You. Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often. Stay with me, Lord, etc." But this does not mean that he had the Physical Presence within him all the time. Such claims should not be made unless they can be proven. If they can, we would have no problem with them, but unsubstantiated claims only hurt the man.

The Truth About Father Aloysius

Father Aloysius was born in Spain on the feast day of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, one of the great theologians of all time, and baptized on Christmas Day 1873..

The fourth of nine children, he entered the Claretian minor seminary at the age of eleven. After studying in many different seminaries he became a priest November 3, 1929 at about 24 years of age. He was sent to the Claretian seminary in Compton, California, in 1931. In brief he taught Greek and Latin at Dominguez Seminary and the Claretian College from 1931 to 1935. He taught at St. Jude’s Seminary at Momence, Illinois, from 1935 to 1942. In 1942 he went back to California to be Master of Novices. Then from 1943 to 1948 to the Dominguez Seminary in California. From 1948 to 1957 he again became Master of Novices at Claretian College in California.

In 1975 he stopped teaching to work directly with the public and to form Claretian Guilds of laymen and women. In 1963 Cardinal McIntyre of Los Angeles expelled Father Aloysius from Los Angeles telling him he would have no faculties to function as a priest in his archdiocese. These kind of things have happened to almost every saint in history. St. Jerome had problems with the bishop of Jerusalem, and we could sight hundreds of other cases. But in such cases one should not attack the bishop. These kinds of tests God sends to all saints.

His removal was probably the result of pressure from priests who saw all the donations that Father was getting for his Guilds and felt they would be getting them if he was not around. The Bishop may have caved in to this pressure, or he may have been testing Father’s obedience, for any good mystical theologian knows that obedience is the primary test of any claimed miracle worker. Whatever the reason, Bishop McIntyre was a good bishop and Father’s removal was not without the master plan of God, who knows how to test his saints.

Father did not protest or even ask the bishop’s reasons. He accepted it as the will of God. He was sent back to Spain on leave and then became a pastor in Phoenix, Arizona from 1963 until 1966. From 1966 until 1969 he served in San Antonio, Texas. In 1969 Cardinal McIntyre granted amnesty to priests he had exiled, and he returned to Los Angeles.

In 1971 he took ten young men as his novices to Fatima to build a house of prayer. Father Aloysius and his novices did not get along well with the other Claretian novices in Fatima because of the strict codes then went by, so the Claretian Father General in Rome told him to start his own order with the ten novices.

This he did (and had the blessing of the Bishop of Fatima as well). However, as stated above, things did not go well with his order at first and he had to leave Fatima. He and the seminarians went back to the United States and from there he negotiated the opening of the house in Mexico. This also seems to be in God’s plan, since the order was founded in Fatima by Father Aloysius, (having a Fatima message as it’s mission statement), but then moved to Mexico where it is most needed (one priest for every 15,000 Catholics). Also to be considered in trying to see God’s plan is that over a quarter of the Catholic Church of the world is in South America.

Father received approval from the Bishop of Ciudad Obregon in Mexico in 1977 and opened the

in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico. Father Aloysius had returned to Los Angeles in 1973 but his new order never ceased to be. On April 10, 1981 he died and was buried at the San Gabriel Mission in California.

In brief, Father was born in Spain, ordained a priest at the age of 24, served in the Los Angeles diocese for four years, then in Illinois for seven years, back to Los Angeles diocese for twenty-one years until exiled by Cardinal McIntyre in 1963. He went to Phoenix, Arizona, for three years, and then three years in San Antonio, Texas. With amnesty he returned to Los Angeles for two years. In 1971 he went to Fatima for two years, and back to Los Angeles in 1973 until his death seven years later in 1981.

The truth about Father is that he was a saint who could perform miracles of healings in mind and body. He sometimes understood hidden things about people in order to help them with their sins. He was a great confessor because he was so gentle with the sinner. He had a great devotion to the Mass, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and Veneration of Our Lady.

His weakness was that he trusted people too much and saw only goodness in everyone. He could get tough when he had to, but usually he waited too long - hoping for the good to come foreword.

As we stated above he did not trust people who claimed to be mystics, but did not openly criticize them. It would be wise to let Miss Frances Hennessey rise or fall on her own merits and not have her cling to the shirttails of Father. (Pages 15,16,.17, 18, 19, and 20 of Moynihan’s book)

We still do not have the documented evidence of his miracles as required by the Church law; nevertheless, the overwhelming circumstantial evidence is that he performed many. In fact there is some evidence of miracles since his death. If anyone would come foreword with one documented peace of evidence of one provable miracle that came as the result of Father Aloysius’ intercession, his cause would be greatly moved along.

A provable miracle must be something only God can do. What is needed is documentation from a doctor before the miracle showing incurable damage to the human body, then the reports from the doctor showing an instant cure.

Father Aloysius may become a saint for one reason and one reason only. This is that he had a dream of doing the will of the messages of Our Lady of Fatima, which happened to be the goal of Saint Anthony Mary Claret, St. Don Bosco, Padre Pio, Pere Lamy and many more saints. That dream can be summed up in the name of his order, which can also be called his mission statement: THE MISSIONARIES OF PERPETUAL ADORATION OF THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT AND VENERATION OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY".

This may seem like a long title, but it says it all, and that is what Father wanted to do. Fatima is summed up in these two things, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament [Read the story of the angels devotion to the Blessed Sacrament on the two first apparitions.], and veneration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the end Her Immaculate Heart will triumph.

Father wanted an order of Priests and Brothers who would spend hours in both devotions, who would follow more closely the aims of St. Anthony Mary Claret and his other patrons: St. Joseph, the Angels, St. John, the Baptist, the Apostles, St. Eymard, St. Baylon, St. Michaela, St. John Eudes, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Francis Xavier, St. Camillia de Eellis, St. John of God, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, St. Simon Stock, St. Dominic, St. Catherine Laboure, St. Bernadette, St. Gonzaga, St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, and St. Stanislava Kontka. He spelled out in his canons what he wanted on a day by day basis for his priests, brothers, and nuns.

The order of nuns fell apart, and the order of priests in Mexico is not yet doing his canons the way he wanted to. But do not count out the Miracle Worker yet. We believe that Bishop Arzube and Mother Lillie, Foundress of the Trinitarians of Mary in Tecate, Mexico, have seen Father since his death.

We also believe that although the original girls picked by Father to carry out this work did not stay together, by the grace of God Mother Lillie and the Trinitarians of Mary in Tecate are doing just what Father wanted and more. They have great devotion to the Immaculate Heart, they have Perpetual Adoration in more than one place in their convent going 24 hours a day, they help the poor, pray for priests, and spread the good news of God’s Kingdom.

Although in Heaven, Father Aloysius may very well see in Mother Lillie the fulfillment of his dreams. We expect that when the order of priests follows more closely to his canons, his dream of an order of priests that spread devotion and honor to the two pillars of the Church (the Eucharist and the Immaculate Heart of Mary) will also be fulfilled. Us lay people should also carry out his dreams of the Guilds that he had when living.

Two of Mother Lillie’s sisters have had experiences and/or cures from the Father. We have always known that what Sister Lillie is doing is a great service to the Kingdom of God on Earth, especially in adoration to Our Lord in the Eucharist (the dream of Father Aloysius), and it prayer for priests. With this new documentation we now believe that Father Aloysius is a great saint, and is praying from Heaven for her and her order.

In 1972 Father Aloysius attended the Mass of Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary. He paid notice to the four statues in the Basilica of Fatima: St. Anthony Mary Claret (the forerunner of devotion to the Eucharist and veneration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and therefore a forerunner of Fatima), St. Dominic (the saint of the Rosary), St. John Eudes (devoted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Eucharist ), and St. Stephen, the King of Hungary (whose successor will bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary). Perhaps someday Father’s statue will be there also. It will be up to us. Where are the lay Guilds now? We would like to join one.

No matter who is doing God’s will, they will have demons all around doing whatever they can to discredit and to stop the work. Fatima is our special devotion. There is two prime messages at Fatima:

1. The first came from the Angel of Fatima, who taught the children that Christ in the Eucharist should be adored with proper dignity and respect. He showed them how to do this and who to pray. The prayer of the Angel was also a prediction of the future sins against the Blessed Sacrament.
2. Honor and love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, especially the Five First Saturday Devotion for reparation for sins committed against Mary.

Perpetual Adoration is part of our work and our promotion (but only always done with great respect and dignity, not casually).

The Five First Saturdays has been a special part of our work. Sins against Mary (especially against Fatima) is the reason we went into the business of Testing the Spirit. There is no greater sin against Mary than to have a false Mary. There is no greater sin against the Holy Spirit than to have a false Mary claim to be His Spouse.

These two devotions are the two pillars that will save the Church as seen by the dreams of St. John Bosco.

Since Father Aloysius Ellacuria had the same devotions and the same dream, it is appropriate that he become our patron saint also.

May he pray and guide Unity Publishing, Inc.

With deepest respect for the life and work of

Father Aloysius

Rick Salbato

The Feast of Pentecost, 1997