In a tiny rural community in the San Diego diocese, the congregation of a small Mexican chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and a stubborn Peruvian priest who refuses to leave that congregation are locked in a battle with Bishop Robert Brom, who wants to close the place. The stalemate may be resolved in civil court as the two groups battle over who owns the property.

The disagreement is two-pronged. First, the people of El Centro Guadalupano don't understand why they can't bring in a missionary priest, pay him and keep the center open, but Brom has declared that the center is inadequate and should be closed. Secondly, the people and the bishop disagree on who owns the property--the people of El Centro Guadalupano who sold food and held dances to raise money to purchase the land and building materials and who provided labor to build the small white chapel--or the diocese of San Diego, which now claims sole ownership of the property.

The ecclesiastical tussle became a civil matter when diocesan attorney Alexandra Kelly created a document that the diocese claims clarified ownership of the property.

The original deed, signed in 1974 by founding members of Centro Guadalupano, gave ownership to "Roman Catholic bishop of San Diego, Corporation Sole" and on a second line to "Centro Guadalupano de Pauma Valley."

On July 15, 2003, Kelley created a new title that said, "For a valuable consideration, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, Roman Catholic bishop of San Diego, Corporation Sole Centro Guadalupano de Pauma Valley, hereby grants to the Roman Catholic bishop of San Diego a corporation sole the following described real property ..." The document was signed by Kelly with a notation referring to the "Roman Catholic bishop of San Diego, a corporation sole [doing business as] Centro Guadalupano de Pauma Valley."

In October 2003, Genaro Lara, an attorney representing the Centro Guadalupano congregation filed suit against the diocese, claiming fraud. "They call it a clerical correction deleting us from the title. I call that fraud," he said. "They forged the name, they purported to have authority to convey this property to the bishop alone."

Lara asserts that in 1974, "the deed was granted to two entities, diocese of San Diego, Corporation Sola and Centro Guadalupano de Pauma Valley." The diocese claims that Centro Guadalupano de Pauma Valley never existed as an entity separate from the diocese. In a recorded deposition, Brom--who came to San Diego in 1989--said that he does not know how the property originally came to be purchased.

The diocese has filed a motion for summary judgment requesting that the case be decided by the judge without trial. Lara is opposing that motion, and the trial is presently scheduled for Sept. 10.

A phone message to diocesan legal representative Bill Whelan was returned by Rodrigo Valdivia, chancellor for the diocese, who told NCR that he would only answer two questions about the conflict. Asked what claims the diocese had to the property, Valdivia said his understanding is that the diocese has functioned as the owner of the property since 1974 when the property was given as a donation to the diocese. Asked to clarify who made the donation he said, "I don't have that information."

According to Lara, the chapel at Centro Guadalupano was built by Mexican immigrants who felt ostracized by the Native Americans who attended the surrounding mission churches. With guidance from a priest at the nearby Mission San Antonio de Pala, the Mexicans raised money to create their own chapel. For the past 30 years priests from San Antonio de Pala served Centro Guadalupano.

The legal conflict between the people of El Centro Guadalupano and the San Diego diocese is closely related to ongoing attempts by Brom to close the chapel and move the congregation to San Antonio de Pala.

At first glance El Centro Guadalupano looks like an enviably vibrant community. Like a spirited horse, this community is independent and strong, balking under hierarchical control. The community has all ages, from abuelitas dressed in their Sunday best to young men in fast cars. Very few of the members speak functional English.

The community sells carnitas, tamales and other foods after Mass to pay for the center's expenses. Parish council members come two hours early to cook, and volunteers set up circles of chairs under trees in the expansive yard for religious education classes. Goats graze in a neighboring lot. Adult education is held in the chapel. The small, mission-style chapel has long been outgrown by the 300 to 500 people who attend Mass there, so before services chairs and the church pews are moved to a large wooden-roofed ramada where Mass is now held.

The surrounding Pauma Valley is a place in transition. As soaring California property prices drive suburbanites further afield, expensive housing developments are being built where there were formerly ranches and farms. A few miles down the road stands a gigantic casino run by the Pala Indian tribe. The area, once mostly native American, is experiencing an influx of Hispanics and middle-class whites.

Barnabite Fr. Paul Marconi, who has served at San Antonio de Pala and Centro Guadalupano since 1996, said his understanding is that the bishop decided to close El Centro Guadalupano "because it was very simple and it was becoming too small." Marconi remembered a pastoral visit to the chapel by the bishop several years ago on a rainy day--a rarity in Southern California. According to Marconi, the bishop saw people standing outside the church in the rain and promised them a bigger facility. Marconi said the diocese researched expanding Centro Guadalupano, but zoning and architectural problems convinced the bishop it would be better to find a new site. Marconi said the bishop asked him to stop saying Masses at Centro Guadalupano in February 2001.

Starting in 2001, a dissenting group found Fr. Abel Quispe, a charismatic Peruvian priest who had been working in various California parishes for about four years. They asked Quispe to work at the center, and he obliged. Speaking through an interpreter, Quispe told NCR he originally had permission from his bishop in Trujillo, Peru, to stay in the United States and that he presented himself to the San Diego diocese to obtain permission to work there. He served at several nearby parishes, but upon beginning Masses at Centro Guadalupano, he was asked to leave the diocese.

Quispe is now serving against the bishop's wishes, but refuses to leave. "I became a priest to serve the people, and while they need me, I'm going to stay here," he said. "If the bishop from San Diego sends a new priest to serve here, I'll go back."

Notices in local parish bulletins and flyers akin to "wanted posters" have been distributed throughout the area warning that sacraments given by Quispe may not be valid. Valdivia said Quispe does not have the bishop's permission to function as a priest and thus some of the rites performed by him, particularly marriage and confession, may not be valid.

Quispe disagrees. "Ever since I became a priest all that I do is valid," he said. "I don't have the authority of the bishop, but I think I have authority from God."

Lara said he understands the people's attachment to the chapel, "People go there with their families, they sit under the shade of the trees and they enjoy the Mass, they see their friends, they'll baptize their children, they might have music, and a party, a fiesta--this, as opposed to going to a middle-class church and being looked down upon because of their clothing, or because they don't speak good English."

In February 2003, Lara helped incorporate the Centro Guadalupano into a nonprofit corporation to eliminate being under the bishop's control. The articles of incorporation state, "The specific purpose of this corporation is to perform religious services, especially the veneration of Our Lady of Guadalupe." He pointed out that the group does not claim to be Catholic "We don't say it."

After incorporation Lara advised the group to "hire the priest that you want, because the bishop will not send you one." Then Quispe was hired as the executive director of Centro Guadalupano. He has a five-year contract.

Under Quispe's leadership, the congregation has grown from a group of about 20 dissenters to more than 300 weekly attendees at Mass. Felipe Carillo, president of the Centro Guadalupano council, told NCR that given the expanding Hispanic population in the area, he doesn't understand why the bishop would shut down a healthy community to move them to Mission San Antonio, where the aging pastor struggles to provide services. Carillo said, "We want to have our own priest here who can work with the community."