Sects: The Slaves of Leonard Feeney

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Finally, two brothers drove him from the community to Boston, apparently intending to put him on a plane with a one-way ticket. In the city, Colopy jumped from the car and fled to freedom. He filed his lawsuit after returning to the center to reason with Loretta, who slapped him and denounced him as a "traitor."

Whether the Supreme Court agrees with Colopy or not, he stands a good chance of eventually seeing his children outside the monastic confines of St. Benedict's. Ailing and embittered, Father Feeney has broken off contact with nearly all of his old clerical friends, has yet to induce one canonically ordained priest to join the Slaves, who regard themselves as more Catholic than the Pope. And without a spiritual leader, say other churchmen who have followed the tragic history of Father Feeney and his believers, the center will surely collapse. "They really need a priest," admits Colopy. "Those people really believe. They are not frauds."