33 VOLUME 8 |ISSUE 1 |2017
Correspondents
,
Reports
However, the bulk of his yoga
adherents experienced a large
disappointment. In 2011, the first
testimonies began to appear about
how Swami Maheshwarananda abused
female followers. Gradually, new facts
have been disclosed by women from
Croatia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic,
and Germany. Critics of Swami not only
report sexual abuse on their websites,
but also refer to the guru’s steep
financial expectations.
Report From Spain and Latin America
Luis Santamaría
Translated by John Paul Lennon
General Information
In September, the Ibero-American
Network for the Study of Sects/Cults
(RIES) celebrated the 10th anniversary
of when it began to publish its
electronic bulletin, InfoRIES, which has
disseminated more than 4,500 news
items on the phenomenon of sects/
cults and new religions.
Groups of Christian Origin
The juvenile court of Corrientes
(Argentina) authorized a marrow
transplant for a minor whose mother
is a Jehovah’s Witness. The judge
decreed that “the exercise of parental
responsibility is not absolute and is
limited by the child’s best interests.”
In July of this year a man died in
Buenos Aires, Argentina he had been
shot, and his wife, a Jehovah’s Witness,
refused to allow a blood transfusion.
According to the victim’s brother, the
victim did not belong to that group
but his wife made the decision anyway.
In Peru, a married couple of Jehovah’s
Witnesses lost custody of their 2-year-
old son last September when they
refused a blood transfusion for their
son, who was suffering from severe
anemia. The police stated that “the
child could have died on account of
his serious condition and his parents’
refusal.”
In September, a former member of
the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Barcelona,
Spain brought a complaint against
the organization to the regional police
on grounds of their internal tribunals,
harassment, refusal to remove his
personal information from their files,
and for covering up sexual abuses he
had suffered in the community when
he was a minor.
In Brazil, a video released in October
2015 about the Universal Church of
the Kingdom of God has caused great
controversy. The video portrayed one
of the church leaders demanding that
members of his congregation hand
over their cars as a sign of faith, and
walk home from the church.
On October 30th, 2016, Marcelo
Crivella, of the right-wing PRP party,
won the municipal elections in Rio de
Janeiro. The newly elected mayor had
been a bishop in the Universal Church
of the Kingdom of God (UCKG). During
his campaign, some media published
some of his statements as Bishop,
in which he attacked the Catholic
Church, other religions, homosexuals,
and others. This Neo-Pentecostal sect
has thus gained another position of
political influence.
Groups of Asian Origin
In September, the Malaga Supreme
Court condemned the leader of
Dharma Tradition to 7 years and 11
months of imprisonment. He was
accused of repeated sexual abuse and
for corruption of minors in the case of
a child to whom he gave spiritual talks
and whom he had initiated sexually,
exercising undue influence on her.
In October, the city of Montevideo,
Uruguay hosted the 2nd Scientific Yoga
Symposium, organized by the Spiritual
Academy of Ananda Traditional Yoga,
the Uruguay branch of Movement for
Spiritual Integration into the Absolute
(MISA), which the government had
declared “of national interest.” This
group is led by Gregorian Bivolaru, who
is presently imprisoned in Rumania for
the sexual abuse of minors.
New Age and Pseudotherapies
In the state (departamento) of
Canelones, Uruguay last August 28, a
body was found on the beach, hooded
and hand-tied. It was the remains of
German citizen Arno Wollensak, leader
of the Lichte-Oase (Oasis of Light) cult,
whose members call themselves “The
Family.” Wollensak had fled Germany,
where he was accused of sexually
abusing a minor inside the cult. Before
that, he had been a disciple of Osho,
while his wife declared she was a
medium of Ramtha, an ancient spirit.
Argentina’s drug-enforcement agency
carried out an operation in the
province of Cordoba in September
and disbanded a group that used
ayahuasca in its rituals. Ayahuasca is
a stupefacient, or drug that causes
semiconsciousness, used by Amazonia
shamans. The group spent its time
teaching and practicing holistic
alternative therapies.
In October, following opposition that
surfaced on Facebook, the Hospital
General Universitario of Elche, Spain
cancelled a conference that was to
address the topic of Bioneuroemotion
in October the conference was
intended to promote this cultish
pseudotherapy. Created by the
Spanish psychologist Enric Corbera,
Bioneuroemotion explains all illnesses
from the emotional perspective,
following in the footsteps of German
New Medicine.
Satanism
The Catholic archbishop of Toledo,
Spain alluded to satanic sects as being
responsible for a sacrilegious robbery
in a church. In statements to the
media, he said that society “feels very
vulnerable” to these cults and secret
groups, which “operate in darkness,
hiding from the outside.” n
Note
[1] See shenyunperformingarts.org/
blog/_vW0Y_NLUBgU/what-does-
shen-yun-mean.html
Correspondents
,
Reports
However, the bulk of his yoga
adherents experienced a large
disappointment. In 2011, the first
testimonies began to appear about
how Swami Maheshwarananda abused
female followers. Gradually, new facts
have been disclosed by women from
Croatia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic,
and Germany. Critics of Swami not only
report sexual abuse on their websites,
but also refer to the guru’s steep
financial expectations.
Report From Spain and Latin America
Luis Santamaría
Translated by John Paul Lennon
General Information
In September, the Ibero-American
Network for the Study of Sects/Cults
(RIES) celebrated the 10th anniversary
of when it began to publish its
electronic bulletin, InfoRIES, which has
disseminated more than 4,500 news
items on the phenomenon of sects/
cults and new religions.
Groups of Christian Origin
The juvenile court of Corrientes
(Argentina) authorized a marrow
transplant for a minor whose mother
is a Jehovah’s Witness. The judge
decreed that “the exercise of parental
responsibility is not absolute and is
limited by the child’s best interests.”
In July of this year a man died in
Buenos Aires, Argentina he had been
shot, and his wife, a Jehovah’s Witness,
refused to allow a blood transfusion.
According to the victim’s brother, the
victim did not belong to that group
but his wife made the decision anyway.
In Peru, a married couple of Jehovah’s
Witnesses lost custody of their 2-year-
old son last September when they
refused a blood transfusion for their
son, who was suffering from severe
anemia. The police stated that “the
child could have died on account of
his serious condition and his parents’
refusal.”
In September, a former member of
the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Barcelona,
Spain brought a complaint against
the organization to the regional police
on grounds of their internal tribunals,
harassment, refusal to remove his
personal information from their files,
and for covering up sexual abuses he
had suffered in the community when
he was a minor.
In Brazil, a video released in October
2015 about the Universal Church of
the Kingdom of God has caused great
controversy. The video portrayed one
of the church leaders demanding that
members of his congregation hand
over their cars as a sign of faith, and
walk home from the church.
On October 30th, 2016, Marcelo
Crivella, of the right-wing PRP party,
won the municipal elections in Rio de
Janeiro. The newly elected mayor had
been a bishop in the Universal Church
of the Kingdom of God (UCKG). During
his campaign, some media published
some of his statements as Bishop,
in which he attacked the Catholic
Church, other religions, homosexuals,
and others. This Neo-Pentecostal sect
has thus gained another position of
political influence.
Groups of Asian Origin
In September, the Malaga Supreme
Court condemned the leader of
Dharma Tradition to 7 years and 11
months of imprisonment. He was
accused of repeated sexual abuse and
for corruption of minors in the case of
a child to whom he gave spiritual talks
and whom he had initiated sexually,
exercising undue influence on her.
In October, the city of Montevideo,
Uruguay hosted the 2nd Scientific Yoga
Symposium, organized by the Spiritual
Academy of Ananda Traditional Yoga,
the Uruguay branch of Movement for
Spiritual Integration into the Absolute
(MISA), which the government had
declared “of national interest.” This
group is led by Gregorian Bivolaru, who
is presently imprisoned in Rumania for
the sexual abuse of minors.
New Age and Pseudotherapies
In the state (departamento) of
Canelones, Uruguay last August 28, a
body was found on the beach, hooded
and hand-tied. It was the remains of
German citizen Arno Wollensak, leader
of the Lichte-Oase (Oasis of Light) cult,
whose members call themselves “The
Family.” Wollensak had fled Germany,
where he was accused of sexually
abusing a minor inside the cult. Before
that, he had been a disciple of Osho,
while his wife declared she was a
medium of Ramtha, an ancient spirit.
Argentina’s drug-enforcement agency
carried out an operation in the
province of Cordoba in September
and disbanded a group that used
ayahuasca in its rituals. Ayahuasca is
a stupefacient, or drug that causes
semiconsciousness, used by Amazonia
shamans. The group spent its time
teaching and practicing holistic
alternative therapies.
In October, following opposition that
surfaced on Facebook, the Hospital
General Universitario of Elche, Spain
cancelled a conference that was to
address the topic of Bioneuroemotion
in October the conference was
intended to promote this cultish
pseudotherapy. Created by the
Spanish psychologist Enric Corbera,
Bioneuroemotion explains all illnesses
from the emotional perspective,
following in the footsteps of German
New Medicine.
Satanism
The Catholic archbishop of Toledo,
Spain alluded to satanic sects as being
responsible for a sacrilegious robbery
in a church. In statements to the
media, he said that society “feels very
vulnerable” to these cults and secret
groups, which “operate in darkness,
hiding from the outside.” n
Note
[1] See shenyunperformingarts.org/
blog/_vW0Y_NLUBgU/what-does-
shen-yun-mean.html
