Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2005, Page 46
Book Details Crimes
A forthcoming book by two Chilean journalists, detailing the sexual abuse and other crimes
of Paul Schaeffer’s paramilitary religious commune, Colonia Dignidad, indicates that the
number of young victims may number in the thousands, including the children of the
German immigrants who settled there as well as the children of local Chilean farming
families who attended the settlement‘s agricultural school. The book will also say that every
branch of the Chilean state is ―guilty of omission‖ in preventing Schaeffer‘s arrest for four
decades. Human rights groups say that the commune served as a secret torture and
detention center during the Pinochet dictatorship. The book is to be published this fall by
Random House Mondadori.
Author Claudio Salinas says commune members ―were under a spell cast by a leader who is
neither a psychopath nor brutish, but a charismatic man, and also a homosexual who only
likes boys.‖ Co-author Hans Stange says Schaeffer ―did not allow the commune members
to have a private life or freely associate among themselves, and they had to work between
12 and 14 hours a day without speaking with anyone.
The authors say the youngest members of the commune can‘t go to school because most
don‘t speak Spanish, and won‘t be able to find jobs since the only thing they‘ve ever done is
work on the farm. ―They should be protected ...[but] they don‘t fit into our society or into
modern-day German society.‖ (Maria Cecelia Espinosa, Inter Press Service News Agency,
Internet, 5/3/05)
Closed Cult Now Opening Up
The bucolic Colonia Dignidad settlement, now called Bavarian Villa, has become a more
open society since leader Paul Schafer left. Residents now live as families rather than in
separate groupings in dormitories. The new leaders are men in their 30‘s and 40‘s, most of
whom were sexually molested by Schafer. But they don‘t want to talk about that, or about
how the organization now distributes living quarters, land for cultivation, or shares in the
profitable businesses Schafer controlled. When asked about reports that a Jewish American
math professor, hiking in the area in 1985, was executed on Schafer‘s orders, members
reportedly said, ―We were very young, we don‘t know, we can‘t be sure.‖ (Larry Rohter,
New York Times, Internet, 5/16/05)
Arms Cache Discovered
Chilean officials have discovered a cache of machine guns and rocket-launchers on the
property of Colonia Dignidad, the cult formerly led by Paul Schafer that is now opening
up to the wider society, freed of his totalitarian control. The arms are evidence that Colonia
Dignidad had paramilitary functions [during the Pinochet regime], according to Interior
Minister Jorge Correa. (Reuters in New Zealand Herald, Internet, 6/16/05)
Exorcism
Priest and Nuns Charged with Murderous Ritual
Romanian Orthodox priest Daniel Petre Corogeanu and four nuns at a monastery in Tancu,
Romania, have been charged with murder and depriving a person of liberty in connection
with an exorcism they performed on an apparently schizophrenic young woman. ―You can‘t
take the Devil out of people with pills,‖ Corogeanu told Romanian TV, before he was
arrested.
Among other things, the exorcism involved chaining Maricica Irina Cornici to a rough cross,
keeping her supine upon it for three days, and stuffing a towel into her mouth to stop her
from cursing the exorcists while they prayed and wet her lips with holy water.

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2005, Page 47
Corogeanu, who had been a soccer player until 2003, was ordained by the local bishop in
the hope that despite his lack of experience he would continue his studies while he ran the
monastery. The church has promised to tighten rules and require psychological tests for
people who want to enter monasteries.
Corogeanu was one among many filling the void left by monks moving out of monasteries to
become priests in the freer religious atmosphere of latter-day Romania. He took in a
number of nuns from this impoverished region of the country, and they reportedly became
completely devoted to him. Indeed, the nuns physically and verbally attacked the bishop
when he came to the convent to suspend Corogeanu, who held several services a day, some
in the middle of the night, and attracted a fanatical following from local villages. ―He would
say prayers for exorcism on command,‖ according to a local parish priest.
Corogeanu, who still has strong local support, claims that tying Cornici to the cross was
based on the ―oral tradition‖ of the church. ―Only God knows why he took her,‖ he said. ―I
think that‘s how God wanted her to be saved.‖ (Craig S. Smith, New York Times, 7/3/05
Independent Online, Internet, 6/22/05)
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Allegedly Building Temple for End of the World
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) is building a
seven-story temple at its new Texas settlement ―big enough to hold an enormous
congregation.‖ The church said when it bought the property that it would be a hunting
retreat. But the editor of the local paper says: ―They lied to us about the purpose they were
coming here for.‖ He adds that the builders ―are driven to get it done quick,‖ perhaps in
time for what a private detective calls an apocalyptic deadline—the 175th anniversary of the
founding of the Mormon Church.
FLDS Leader Warren Jeffs and numerous followers have left the FLDS towns in Arizona
and Utah and settled in Texas in the wake of lawsuits against him for child sexual abuse and
racketeering.
Local opinion of the settlement runs the gamut from ‗hands off‘ to ‗drive them out.‘ Anti-
polygamy activists suggest that another ‗Waco‘ is possible, but the local sheriff, who
maintains good communication with the settlement, says: ―I don‘t expect any trouble.‖
(John Hollenhorst, KSL TV News, Internet, 2/17/05)
Meanwhile, dissidents who say that FLDS finances are in ―disarray,‖ have asked a Utah
judge to appoint new trustees and a receiver to stop alleged waste of FLDS assets. (Pamela
Manson, Salt Lake Tribune, Internet, 2/19/05)
Call to Remove FLDS Judge
The Utah Judicial Conduct Commission has called for the removal from the bench of Judge
Walter Steed, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, because he is a polygamist, which is against the law. Both the state attorney
general and the county attorney have refused to file charges against the judge, however.
The state Supreme Court is likely to address the issue soon. (AP in San Diego Tribune,
Internet, 2/25/05)
Last year, Hildale, AZ, police officer Rodney Holm, an FLDS member, was convicted of
bigamy and sexual misconduct and lost his job. (Salt Lake Tribune, Internet, 2/28/05)
Jeffs Ruled in Default
FLDS leader Warren Jeffs has lost the right to defend himself against allegations that he
orchestrated the firing and blacklisting of a former member in the sect‘s communities on the