Kultgefahren (GSK) [the Association
Against the Dangers of Sects and Cults]
in Vienna has received complaints
about the Free Christian Community/
Pentecostal Community, one of the five
groups recently recognized together as
“free churches.”The complaints are
related to extremist Pentecostal
behavior.
The Austrian Cultural Office, called the
Kultusamt, which is in charge of
recognizing religious associations, until
recently was subordinate to the
Ministry for Education. However, the
Kultusamt is now subordinate to the
Bundeskanzleramt (office of the Prime
Minister).
REPORT FROM Italy
Raffaella Di Marzio
The July 2013 preliminary police
investigation of Danilo Speranza,
named “the guru of the cult Re Maya,”
and 16 members of the association
Scienza per l’Amore has concluded,
and police have closed all websites
owned by the association. Initial
investigations of Speranza on other
charges began in 2010 following
accusations by two minors that he had
abused them. He was arrested on
March 16 of that year. In October, 2012
the procedures against Speranza for
the accusations of pedophilia were
postponed to March, 2013 because of
the lack of a witness to confirm a
report that claimed impotence of the
accused.
The Speranza trial for the charges of
sexual abuse following the preliminary
investigation has begun and is
proceeding very slowly. A separate trial
for fraud associated with the Scienza
per l’Amore activities is expected to
start soon.
Early in 2014, the Board of the Società
Italiana di Psicologia della Religione
[Italian Society for the Psychology of
Religion] (SIPR) announced the birth of
the journal Psicologia della Religione
rivista on-line, an online journal about
the psychology of religion. The goal of
the new journal is to promote the
exchange of ideas and the production
of knowledge about the psychology of
religion in Italy and abroad. The journal
will be published bimonthly and will
be sent automatically to members of
SIPR and to subscribers. The peer-
reviewed journal will allow members of
the Society to communicate their
clinical experience and research with
other subscribers and with all Italian
and foreign scholars of psychology of
religion. The publication, whose official
languages are Italian and English, will
include theoretical (reviews, studies,
reflections), empirical, observational,
and clinical (research, methods and
tools, case studies) studies. A list of
members of the Scientific and Editorial
Board of Psicologia della Religione is
available at http://www.
psicologiadellareligione.it/images/
varie/L_rivista_2014_SIPR.pdf
Appearances of Mary, who defines
herself the “Queen of Peace,” began to
appear on June 24, 1981, in a parish
run by Franciscan friars in the village of
Medjugorje. These appearances have
VOLUME 5 |NUMBER 2 |2014 25
Correspondents’Reports
Against the Dangers of Sects and Cults]
in Vienna has received complaints
about the Free Christian Community/
Pentecostal Community, one of the five
groups recently recognized together as
“free churches.”The complaints are
related to extremist Pentecostal
behavior.
The Austrian Cultural Office, called the
Kultusamt, which is in charge of
recognizing religious associations, until
recently was subordinate to the
Ministry for Education. However, the
Kultusamt is now subordinate to the
Bundeskanzleramt (office of the Prime
Minister).
REPORT FROM Italy
Raffaella Di Marzio
The July 2013 preliminary police
investigation of Danilo Speranza,
named “the guru of the cult Re Maya,”
and 16 members of the association
Scienza per l’Amore has concluded,
and police have closed all websites
owned by the association. Initial
investigations of Speranza on other
charges began in 2010 following
accusations by two minors that he had
abused them. He was arrested on
March 16 of that year. In October, 2012
the procedures against Speranza for
the accusations of pedophilia were
postponed to March, 2013 because of
the lack of a witness to confirm a
report that claimed impotence of the
accused.
The Speranza trial for the charges of
sexual abuse following the preliminary
investigation has begun and is
proceeding very slowly. A separate trial
for fraud associated with the Scienza
per l’Amore activities is expected to
start soon.
Early in 2014, the Board of the Società
Italiana di Psicologia della Religione
[Italian Society for the Psychology of
Religion] (SIPR) announced the birth of
the journal Psicologia della Religione
rivista on-line, an online journal about
the psychology of religion. The goal of
the new journal is to promote the
exchange of ideas and the production
of knowledge about the psychology of
religion in Italy and abroad. The journal
will be published bimonthly and will
be sent automatically to members of
SIPR and to subscribers. The peer-
reviewed journal will allow members of
the Society to communicate their
clinical experience and research with
other subscribers and with all Italian
and foreign scholars of psychology of
religion. The publication, whose official
languages are Italian and English, will
include theoretical (reviews, studies,
reflections), empirical, observational,
and clinical (research, methods and
tools, case studies) studies. A list of
members of the Scientific and Editorial
Board of Psicologia della Religione is
available at http://www.
psicologiadellareligione.it/images/
varie/L_rivista_2014_SIPR.pdf
Appearances of Mary, who defines
herself the “Queen of Peace,” began to
appear on June 24, 1981, in a parish
run by Franciscan friars in the village of
Medjugorje. These appearances have
VOLUME 5 |NUMBER 2 |2014 25
Correspondents’Reports
