Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002, Page 62
about a miscarriage or birth because the Corneaus said that their faith does not require
them to offer proof. (CNN News, 1/15/02, Internet)
Another Corneau child died soon after birth several years ago and was secretly buried in
Maine alongside an infant cousin, who prosecutors say was starved to death by the cult.
Sect members have been charged in the cousin's death.
Massachusetts Court of Appeals Justice Janis Berry has called The Body a cult that
endangers children. The state took custody of the Corneaus' four other children. (Boston
Globe, 3/25/02, Internet)
Caritas
Caritas Called "Cult" in Ex-member Suit
Five former members of Caritas, a multimillion-dollar organization that promotes visions of
the Virgin Mary, have sued the organization in Alabama state court claiming that leader
Terry Colafrancesco lures people into Caritas with promises of spiritual enrichment and then
drains them of money, forces families to live in nasty trailers at the group's compound, and
controls their lives almost totally.
Plaitiffs include a one-time Colafrancesco lieutenant and five parents suing on behalf of their
children, who still live among some 50 mostly Roman Catholics at the Caritas mission, 50
miles south of Birmingham. Since the visit to Alabama in 1988 of Marija Pavlovic Lunetti,
one of six young people who claim to have seen the Virgin in the town of Medjugorje, in the
former Yugoslavia, Caritas has become one of the largest organizations dedicated to
spreading the messages of Medjugorje. (AP, Birmingham, AL Ledger -Inquirer, 12/13/01,
Internet)
Chetananda
Correction
It was incorrectly stated in the Cult Observer summary (Vol. 18, No. 3, 2001) entitled,
―Women Call Swami Chetananda Controlling and Abusive‖ (taken from articles in The
Oregonian, July 15, 16, 19, 2001, Internet), that former followers have sued Chetananda.
The sources did not say this, and we have no report of any such suit. Also, the summary
referred to ―Donna‖ Swift. The name should be ―Dana‖ Swift.
Children
Youth Prisons in California Called Abusive
A suit filed in federal court in Sacramento against the California Youth Authority on behalf of
11 prisoners, contends inhumane conditions are pervasive. It describes such practices as
the use of cages as classrooms and the forcible injection of mind-altering drugs to control
the behavior of inmates. ..It contends that prisoners with disabilities are sometimes
isolated in dungeon-like holes splattered with feces and blood and that the inmates live in
fear of physical and sexual violence.
Instead of rehabilitation and education, the system of 11 prisons and four camps, with
about 6,300 prisoners, had become known for brutality and other abuses. Reports that
mentally ill youths were stripped to their underwear and isolated in cages 23 hours a day,
that prisoners were subjected to biomedical experiments and sexually and physically abused
by guards, and other problems led the state inspector general, Steven White, to conclude
that "it would be impossible to overstate the problem." As a result, the California Board of
Corrections ordered a review of the Youth Authority by more than 100 experts. (New York
Times, 1/26/02, Internet)
about a miscarriage or birth because the Corneaus said that their faith does not require
them to offer proof. (CNN News, 1/15/02, Internet)
Another Corneau child died soon after birth several years ago and was secretly buried in
Maine alongside an infant cousin, who prosecutors say was starved to death by the cult.
Sect members have been charged in the cousin's death.
Massachusetts Court of Appeals Justice Janis Berry has called The Body a cult that
endangers children. The state took custody of the Corneaus' four other children. (Boston
Globe, 3/25/02, Internet)
Caritas
Caritas Called "Cult" in Ex-member Suit
Five former members of Caritas, a multimillion-dollar organization that promotes visions of
the Virgin Mary, have sued the organization in Alabama state court claiming that leader
Terry Colafrancesco lures people into Caritas with promises of spiritual enrichment and then
drains them of money, forces families to live in nasty trailers at the group's compound, and
controls their lives almost totally.
Plaitiffs include a one-time Colafrancesco lieutenant and five parents suing on behalf of their
children, who still live among some 50 mostly Roman Catholics at the Caritas mission, 50
miles south of Birmingham. Since the visit to Alabama in 1988 of Marija Pavlovic Lunetti,
one of six young people who claim to have seen the Virgin in the town of Medjugorje, in the
former Yugoslavia, Caritas has become one of the largest organizations dedicated to
spreading the messages of Medjugorje. (AP, Birmingham, AL Ledger -Inquirer, 12/13/01,
Internet)
Chetananda
Correction
It was incorrectly stated in the Cult Observer summary (Vol. 18, No. 3, 2001) entitled,
―Women Call Swami Chetananda Controlling and Abusive‖ (taken from articles in The
Oregonian, July 15, 16, 19, 2001, Internet), that former followers have sued Chetananda.
The sources did not say this, and we have no report of any such suit. Also, the summary
referred to ―Donna‖ Swift. The name should be ―Dana‖ Swift.
Children
Youth Prisons in California Called Abusive
A suit filed in federal court in Sacramento against the California Youth Authority on behalf of
11 prisoners, contends inhumane conditions are pervasive. It describes such practices as
the use of cages as classrooms and the forcible injection of mind-altering drugs to control
the behavior of inmates. ..It contends that prisoners with disabilities are sometimes
isolated in dungeon-like holes splattered with feces and blood and that the inmates live in
fear of physical and sexual violence.
Instead of rehabilitation and education, the system of 11 prisons and four camps, with
about 6,300 prisoners, had become known for brutality and other abuses. Reports that
mentally ill youths were stripped to their underwear and isolated in cages 23 hours a day,
that prisoners were subjected to biomedical experiments and sexually and physically abused
by guards, and other problems led the state inspector general, Steven White, to conclude
that "it would be impossible to overstate the problem." As a result, the California Board of
Corrections ordered a review of the Youth Authority by more than 100 experts. (New York
Times, 1/26/02, Internet)
