‘Pope Michael’ performs duties in Kansas plains

DELIA, Kan. (AP) The weathered, blue farmhouse stands just off a dirt road in the rolling hills northwest of Topeka.

There are children’s toys lined up in the yard and irises blooming in the garden around a statue of the Virgin Mary. Satellite dishes and solar panels point toward the southern sky.

"Good morning," the dark-haired man on the front porch says. "How are you? I’m Pope Michael."

This is David Bawden.

He has never been ordained as a priest and hasn’t been to Mass since 1989. But to his tiny flock, numbering about 100 and scattered as far away as India and Australia, he is the rightful leader of the Catholic Church.

More....