New Jerusalem is a theocracy where soccer balls are illegal, John F. Kennedy is a saint, freedom of religion doesn’t exist and the end of the world is just around the corner.

It is the largest and longest surviving of a string of traditionalist Catholic colonies that have sprung up around the world.

But now, 35 years after its founding, things have gone terribly wrong in New Jerusalem, many residents say. Palace intrigues, purges and the deaths of the sect’s spiritual leaders this year have left followers divided and confused.

The dogma has become increasingly bizarre, with apocalyptic deadlines that come and go and mysterious “seers” who order one monolithic construction project after another.