In Puerto Rico, the Jehovah’s Witnesses
were the recent focus in a Supreme
Court hearing after their attorneys
filed a lawsuit appealing a federal
judge’s order against a gated
subdivision for not letting the
Witnesses have access to spread their
word throughout the community. The
debates centered on whether or not
there are “private streets”after the
federal authorities favored the group’s
argument of freedom of religion and a
local country club in the affected region
rejected the order.
The leaders of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
decided in March to transfer 152
missionaries in Venezuela to other
countries in South America because of
recent widespread protests and
demonstrations by radicals in Venezuela
that resulted in the deployment of
troops in the Caracas region. In their
communication, the church leaders said
the media was saying the missionaries
were not Venezuelan, and that the
church was doing everything it could to
ensure members’safety.
In Colombia the Church of God
Ministry of Jesus Christ International
group has been the center of a
discussion in which a political party,
the Independent Movement of
Absolute Renovation (MIRA), also is
significant. The Church of Good
Ministry and MIRA were both founded
by the Church’s leader, Maria Luisa
Piraquive. Following a sermon in
which Piraquive discriminated against
handicapped people, the press
brought to light investigations of the
group that are underway regarding
homicide and drug-trafficking charges.
Furthermore, the leaders of the group
have pressured their adepts into
getting votes for their political party.
The newspapers also have reported
the financial decadence of the leaders
and their lifestyles.
In Argentina, the Catholic priest Juan
Castro de Zavilía has appeared in the
press in the province of Santiago del
Estero, saying that he is worried about
the increase in satanic cults in the area
where four crimes were committed
against the Catholic Church in less
than one week. “This group is a
horrible center of satanic activity and
is spreading more each day,” he
declared after the events.
The anthropologist Huberto Miceli has
sounded an alarm regarding various
consecutive crimes committed by so-
called cults in Corrientes, Argentina.
“Some of the crimes have been
committed by cultic groups, others by
self-proclaimed leaders who, after a
religious process, build a personal
esoteric universe in which they can
generate criminal behavior,” Miceli
declares. And he has pointed to
specific crimes: the assassination ritual
of a child in 2006 and the deaths of
other minors.
After various consultations, the official
College of Psychologists of Catalonia
(COPC) in Catalonia, Spain has issued a
press release in which it disassociates
from the Spanish institute
Bioneuroemoción and the treatments
of “biodecodification.” COPC “does not
believe that at this time this model
and practices coming from this model
have sufficient support to be defined
as sufficiently scientific to be
considered professional psychology.”
The COPC adds that “the fact that
some of the supporters of this model
and its derived practices belong to
COPC does not reflect the support of
this institution,” thus completely
distancing itself from such practices
that it considers “outside the
recognized professional methods of
this institution.”
In Zamora, Spain in early March, Jaime
Sanchez, the manager of a rural bed
and breakfast called Siete Chakras—
Retiro Nirvana constructed a billboard
at the entrance to the town in which
he announced, “I am Christ. I am alive.”
The Civil Guard removed Sanchez’s
two daughters and two other children
of adepts of the group from the home
and placed his daughters in temporary
custody with their grandparents. The
billboard caused great worry for the
risk that its presence might cause
during the Easter Holy Week
processions. In the press, some former
followers of the small group accused
the leader of manipulation and the
economic benefits he was reaping
from his group.
We should also note some recent news
on astrology and fortune telling
related to charges of swindling. In
Lugo, two African witches stole
40,000€ from a couple with the
pretext of needing the money for a
ritual. In Barcelona, six seers dedicated
to tarot-card reading have been
arrested for extortion after recording
their clients’ telephone conversations
and acquiring thousands of Euros from
them, threatening otherwise to
disclose information obtained in the
recorded conversations. In Burgos, a
seer stole 29.300€ from a client and
has been sentenced to 2 years in jail.
In Beasain, another seer has been
arrested for stealing 5,000€ from a
woman by coercion and threats of
revealing her personal information.
There have been other esoteric types
of crimes in other Latin American
countries. In Peru, an astrologist stole
$200,000 from a banker “to perform a
ritual against jealousy.” In El Salvador,
another seer charged $11,000 to the
parents of a missing boy to
communicate with the spirits and find
him. The police have arrested the seer.
Two Argentinian social workers,
Salomé Benoit and Santiago Raúl
Cancrini, have published their book
Sectas y sectarios [Sects and Sectarians]
in Spain (published by De Buena
Tinta), in which they explain the
beginning of the cult phenomena
from its psychological origins. ■
VOLUME 5 |NUMBER 2 |2014 27
Correspondents’Reports
were the recent focus in a Supreme
Court hearing after their attorneys
filed a lawsuit appealing a federal
judge’s order against a gated
subdivision for not letting the
Witnesses have access to spread their
word throughout the community. The
debates centered on whether or not
there are “private streets”after the
federal authorities favored the group’s
argument of freedom of religion and a
local country club in the affected region
rejected the order.
The leaders of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
decided in March to transfer 152
missionaries in Venezuela to other
countries in South America because of
recent widespread protests and
demonstrations by radicals in Venezuela
that resulted in the deployment of
troops in the Caracas region. In their
communication, the church leaders said
the media was saying the missionaries
were not Venezuelan, and that the
church was doing everything it could to
ensure members’safety.
In Colombia the Church of God
Ministry of Jesus Christ International
group has been the center of a
discussion in which a political party,
the Independent Movement of
Absolute Renovation (MIRA), also is
significant. The Church of Good
Ministry and MIRA were both founded
by the Church’s leader, Maria Luisa
Piraquive. Following a sermon in
which Piraquive discriminated against
handicapped people, the press
brought to light investigations of the
group that are underway regarding
homicide and drug-trafficking charges.
Furthermore, the leaders of the group
have pressured their adepts into
getting votes for their political party.
The newspapers also have reported
the financial decadence of the leaders
and their lifestyles.
In Argentina, the Catholic priest Juan
Castro de Zavilía has appeared in the
press in the province of Santiago del
Estero, saying that he is worried about
the increase in satanic cults in the area
where four crimes were committed
against the Catholic Church in less
than one week. “This group is a
horrible center of satanic activity and
is spreading more each day,” he
declared after the events.
The anthropologist Huberto Miceli has
sounded an alarm regarding various
consecutive crimes committed by so-
called cults in Corrientes, Argentina.
“Some of the crimes have been
committed by cultic groups, others by
self-proclaimed leaders who, after a
religious process, build a personal
esoteric universe in which they can
generate criminal behavior,” Miceli
declares. And he has pointed to
specific crimes: the assassination ritual
of a child in 2006 and the deaths of
other minors.
After various consultations, the official
College of Psychologists of Catalonia
(COPC) in Catalonia, Spain has issued a
press release in which it disassociates
from the Spanish institute
Bioneuroemoción and the treatments
of “biodecodification.” COPC “does not
believe that at this time this model
and practices coming from this model
have sufficient support to be defined
as sufficiently scientific to be
considered professional psychology.”
The COPC adds that “the fact that
some of the supporters of this model
and its derived practices belong to
COPC does not reflect the support of
this institution,” thus completely
distancing itself from such practices
that it considers “outside the
recognized professional methods of
this institution.”
In Zamora, Spain in early March, Jaime
Sanchez, the manager of a rural bed
and breakfast called Siete Chakras—
Retiro Nirvana constructed a billboard
at the entrance to the town in which
he announced, “I am Christ. I am alive.”
The Civil Guard removed Sanchez’s
two daughters and two other children
of adepts of the group from the home
and placed his daughters in temporary
custody with their grandparents. The
billboard caused great worry for the
risk that its presence might cause
during the Easter Holy Week
processions. In the press, some former
followers of the small group accused
the leader of manipulation and the
economic benefits he was reaping
from his group.
We should also note some recent news
on astrology and fortune telling
related to charges of swindling. In
Lugo, two African witches stole
40,000€ from a couple with the
pretext of needing the money for a
ritual. In Barcelona, six seers dedicated
to tarot-card reading have been
arrested for extortion after recording
their clients’ telephone conversations
and acquiring thousands of Euros from
them, threatening otherwise to
disclose information obtained in the
recorded conversations. In Burgos, a
seer stole 29.300€ from a client and
has been sentenced to 2 years in jail.
In Beasain, another seer has been
arrested for stealing 5,000€ from a
woman by coercion and threats of
revealing her personal information.
There have been other esoteric types
of crimes in other Latin American
countries. In Peru, an astrologist stole
$200,000 from a banker “to perform a
ritual against jealousy.” In El Salvador,
another seer charged $11,000 to the
parents of a missing boy to
communicate with the spirits and find
him. The police have arrested the seer.
Two Argentinian social workers,
Salomé Benoit and Santiago Raúl
Cancrini, have published their book
Sectas y sectarios [Sects and Sectarians]
in Spain (published by De Buena
Tinta), in which they explain the
beginning of the cult phenomena
from its psychological origins. ■
VOLUME 5 |NUMBER 2 |2014 27
Correspondents’Reports
