33 VOLUME 5 |ISSUE 3 |2014
In May 2014, SOS Abusi Psicologici,
together with the Association of Victims
of Terrorism (AVITER), was a guest of SOS
Antiplagio Novara at a news conference,
where the theme of “comparison of
sectarianism and terrorism” was discussed.
The collaboration continues with EXIT S.C.S.
onlus, partner of SOS Abusi Psicologici,
in the context of addressing, with the
working groups that are promoted by
various European associations, extremism
and radicalization as security threats at the
local level. Of particular note have been
meetings earlier this year with the Institute
for Strategic Dialogue (Brussels, March
21, and London, May 8–9) the European
Network of Deradicalisation (ENoD) (Berlin,
October 31 and November 1, 2013) and
the Radicalisation Awareness Network
Deradicalisation (RAN-DERAD) (Berlin, May
25, and Brussels, June 16–17). EXIT S.C.S.
onlus has been mentioned among the
promising practices in the RAN document
Preventing Radicalisation to Terrorism and
Violent Extremism: Strengthening the EU’s
Response (p. 35). The organization also
was mentioned among the best practices
with several other organizations that are
engaged in countering left- and right-wing
extremism, jihad, and the like—what we
would call political cults.
The Italian Society of Psychology of
Religion (SIPR) and L’Istituto Superiore di
Scienze Religiose [the Higher Institute of
Religious Sciences] (ISSR) of the Ecclesia
Mater organized a conference in Rome
on March 26, 2014. The conference was
entitled The Psychology of Religion:
Backgrounds and Prospects for
Intervention. The goal of the Pontifical
Lateran University (associated with ISSR)
was to consider the psychology of religion,
a discipline still little known in academic
circles, by highlighting the epistemological
and methodological perspectives, the
current state of research, employment
opportunities in professional contexts, and
new fields of study.
Legal Proceedings
Danilo Speranza, founder of R. E. Maya,
renamed Science for Love, was sentenced
by the Tribunal of Tivoli to 10 years in prison
for first-degree sexual abuse of minors.
March 28, 2014, ended the judicial matter
of Tersilia Tanghetti, charismatic figure of
the Sergio Minelli group, with a decision
by the Supreme Court not to prosecute
her for enslavement. The woman, who
was accused along with 15 others, was
also acquitted of the charge of kidnapping
and mistreatment of several guests at the
organization’s accommodation facilities.
Report From Ukraine
Piotr T. Nowakowski
Alexander Dvorkin, who chairs the Russian
Association of Centres for the Study of
Religions and Sects, was invited by the
Archbishop Mitrofan of Lugansk and
Alchevsk (Ukrainian Orthodox Church
under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the
Moscow Patriarchate) to give lectures
about cults on April 9–10, 2014, in Lugansk
(Eastern Ukraine). However, Dvorkin was
denied entry in Ukraine at the airport of
Donetsk. The official reason given was that
he had been seen with Ekaterina Gubareva,
the wife of Pavel Gubarev, the self-
proclaimed governor of Donetsk (Ekaterina
Gubareva has recently been declared as
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Donetsk
People’s Republic, a pro-Russian separatist
state in Eastern Ukraine). Dvorkin denied
any link with Gubarev and accused then
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseni Yatseniuk
of contacts with Scientology, which means
that “he could be controlled by the CIA.”
Report From Poland
Piotr T. Nowakowski
On May 15–16, 2014, the Department
of Theories of Religion and Alternative
Religious Movements at John Paul II
Catholic University of Lublin organized a
2-day conference titled Alternative Visions
of Spirit World: Old-Time and Present-Day
Conceptualizations. The event was divided
into several sessions: “Christian Vision
of Life After Death and the Spirit World,”
“Visions of Spirit World in Non-Christian
Religions,” “Alternative Visions of Spirit
World,” “Methods of Research Into Spirit
World,” “Descriptions and Interpretations of
Spirit World,” and “Spirit World in Culture.”
More than twenty speakers from nine
academic institutions presented their
papers at the conference.
The Department of Theories of Religion
and Alternative Religious Movements
examines phenomena generally
referred to as cults, sects, or new religious
movements. The head of the Department is
Prof. Robert T. Ptaszek. n
Correspondents
,
Reports
In May 2014, SOS Abusi Psicologici,
together with the Association of Victims
of Terrorism (AVITER), was a guest of SOS
Antiplagio Novara at a news conference,
where the theme of “comparison of
sectarianism and terrorism” was discussed.
The collaboration continues with EXIT S.C.S.
onlus, partner of SOS Abusi Psicologici,
in the context of addressing, with the
working groups that are promoted by
various European associations, extremism
and radicalization as security threats at the
local level. Of particular note have been
meetings earlier this year with the Institute
for Strategic Dialogue (Brussels, March
21, and London, May 8–9) the European
Network of Deradicalisation (ENoD) (Berlin,
October 31 and November 1, 2013) and
the Radicalisation Awareness Network
Deradicalisation (RAN-DERAD) (Berlin, May
25, and Brussels, June 16–17). EXIT S.C.S.
onlus has been mentioned among the
promising practices in the RAN document
Preventing Radicalisation to Terrorism and
Violent Extremism: Strengthening the EU’s
Response (p. 35). The organization also
was mentioned among the best practices
with several other organizations that are
engaged in countering left- and right-wing
extremism, jihad, and the like—what we
would call political cults.
The Italian Society of Psychology of
Religion (SIPR) and L’Istituto Superiore di
Scienze Religiose [the Higher Institute of
Religious Sciences] (ISSR) of the Ecclesia
Mater organized a conference in Rome
on March 26, 2014. The conference was
entitled The Psychology of Religion:
Backgrounds and Prospects for
Intervention. The goal of the Pontifical
Lateran University (associated with ISSR)
was to consider the psychology of religion,
a discipline still little known in academic
circles, by highlighting the epistemological
and methodological perspectives, the
current state of research, employment
opportunities in professional contexts, and
new fields of study.
Legal Proceedings
Danilo Speranza, founder of R. E. Maya,
renamed Science for Love, was sentenced
by the Tribunal of Tivoli to 10 years in prison
for first-degree sexual abuse of minors.
March 28, 2014, ended the judicial matter
of Tersilia Tanghetti, charismatic figure of
the Sergio Minelli group, with a decision
by the Supreme Court not to prosecute
her for enslavement. The woman, who
was accused along with 15 others, was
also acquitted of the charge of kidnapping
and mistreatment of several guests at the
organization’s accommodation facilities.
Report From Ukraine
Piotr T. Nowakowski
Alexander Dvorkin, who chairs the Russian
Association of Centres for the Study of
Religions and Sects, was invited by the
Archbishop Mitrofan of Lugansk and
Alchevsk (Ukrainian Orthodox Church
under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the
Moscow Patriarchate) to give lectures
about cults on April 9–10, 2014, in Lugansk
(Eastern Ukraine). However, Dvorkin was
denied entry in Ukraine at the airport of
Donetsk. The official reason given was that
he had been seen with Ekaterina Gubareva,
the wife of Pavel Gubarev, the self-
proclaimed governor of Donetsk (Ekaterina
Gubareva has recently been declared as
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Donetsk
People’s Republic, a pro-Russian separatist
state in Eastern Ukraine). Dvorkin denied
any link with Gubarev and accused then
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseni Yatseniuk
of contacts with Scientology, which means
that “he could be controlled by the CIA.”
Report From Poland
Piotr T. Nowakowski
On May 15–16, 2014, the Department
of Theories of Religion and Alternative
Religious Movements at John Paul II
Catholic University of Lublin organized a
2-day conference titled Alternative Visions
of Spirit World: Old-Time and Present-Day
Conceptualizations. The event was divided
into several sessions: “Christian Vision
of Life After Death and the Spirit World,”
“Visions of Spirit World in Non-Christian
Religions,” “Alternative Visions of Spirit
World,” “Methods of Research Into Spirit
World,” “Descriptions and Interpretations of
Spirit World,” and “Spirit World in Culture.”
More than twenty speakers from nine
academic institutions presented their
papers at the conference.
The Department of Theories of Religion
and Alternative Religious Movements
examines phenomena generally
referred to as cults, sects, or new religious
movements. The head of the Department is
Prof. Robert T. Ptaszek. n
Correspondents
,
Reports
