Cults Inside the Catholic Church
Posted by:
dsm
()
Date: June 15, 2010 03:22PM
Here is a Catholic article that might be overlooked by non-Catholics because the first section asserts doctrine and authority of the Pope that of course is weird to non-Catholics, but the last part is very important for its discussion of all the weird little groups that actually pull people into cult mind-control groups that are not Catholic but that masquerade and take advantage of Catholic tolerance for a lot of peculiar practices.
[www.unitypublishing.com]
I am especially interested in anyone who has been affected by the Call To Action or Sanctuary/Liberation Theology (Refugee) cults. Please private message me if you are not comfortable with public posts. I will honor your privacy. In the article, the word "refuge centers" should be "refugee centers" and they are mainly centers designed for illegals in the USA, especially Hispanics but also Africans, who are recruited into groups that are not integrated into the rest of the Catholic church. They are often given twisted propaganda versions of what they are supposed to do as "new" Americans because they do not have the independent knowledge of American society to see the lies that they are being fed by these "helpful" cultists.
Here is an excerpt:
MIND CONTROL METHODS
To understand how cults end up in total control of their subjects, you must understand how they recruit. First they seek out like-minded people who have similar aspirations and goals. They may spend years developing friendships with them. They may not at first tell them of their involvement in the cult. They will attend Mass everyday and appear very Catholic. They will always be more reverent and holy at Mass. They will be soft spoken, tender, modest, but not shy. They will be listeners to your problems and aspirations. They will always agree with you. When ever possible they will make your problems seem greater than they are, by claiming to be so happy themselves, but never telling you why. They will have no problems themselves. In time you will envy their self-confidence, and peace.
When they think the time is right, they will introduce you to other members. Then comes the "love-bombing". Everyone you meet is "huggy", full of compliments about your looks, your clothes, your eyes, or whatever they can make up. In all these groups flirting or prostitution is involved but most of the members never see it. Most often leaders convince selected people that they have become so united with God, that anything they do is God’s will, even fortification. The majority of the members never see this. But always a form of sexuality is used through intimate friendship or affection. This is greatly seen in the Charismatic Movement where touchy is in. Holding hands, hugging and kissing seems innocent enough, but let us look closer. One of the main tenants of cults is "feeling" rather than logic. It has been proved by an psychological organization that we can communicated by touch greater than by words or vision. When someone simply touches one finger to another there can be a sexual feeling involved. This can be interpreted in the mind as a spiritual high, a feeling of God, a feeling of Heaven, and the deception sets in using ones own sexual appetites as a new spiritualism.
The normal techniques of cults are 1. unconditional surrender to leader or goal, 2. mind control through abusive behavior, 3. modification techniques, 4. isolation, 5. control of the rational thinking process, 6. elimination of outside information and influence (family, friends, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, medical treatment (which might break the spell of involvement and the process of absorption of feelings and attitudes and patterns of behavior, 7. processing away from past lives, by focusing only on: problems of past life, and not successes such as sexual misdeeds, hang-ups, poor social relationships, 8. consciousness - altering methods leading to: cognitive disturbances (intellectual bombardment) using thought stopping clichés, closed system logic, 9. restriction of reflective thinking by keeping constantly busy, 10. never alone, continual exhortation and training, in order to arrive at an exalted spiritual status, 11. altered consciousness, automatic submission, 12. stifling resistance and negativity, 13. bringing fear to its highest peak
But we will show that in the new cults these methods are used in a new and more effective way without being in a group or at a place, in fact, this control can be accomplished with only a few main meetings a year. Yes! There will still be daily readings, phone calls, and prayer meetings, but the large group meetings that use the hypnotic methods are not a daily affair as in the past. We now have conferences. But mind control is the goal. Although everything starts out as personal, the desires and wishes of the individual must in the end be molded to conform to the needs of the "Community" of the cult.
CATHOLIC CULTS THAT DIVIDE
In the Catholic Church there are liberal cults and conservative cults. They both have one thing in common. They divide people from their bishops, the Pope, the Teachings of Vatican II. They divide bishops against bishops; they divide bishops against the Vatican Teachings; they divide Catholic people against Catholic people.
Examples of liberal cults in the Catholic Church (although they are not really Catholics, which we will prove), are "Call To Action", "Charismatics", "We Are Church", "Catholic Woman’s Network", "Woman’s Ordination Conference", and the like. Their publications go across the board from "The National Catholic Reporter" to the "American Catholic". Their bible is "Christ Among Us" by Anthony Wilhelm.
Examples of conservative cults in the Catholic Church are "The Pius X Society", the "Traditionalists", and the "Latin Mass" organizations.
For any group to be a real cult they need one more ingredient in the pie, they need direct revelation from God that they are right and the mainstream Catholic Church is wrong. That direct revelation outside the Catholic Church is New Age spiritualism, channeling, spirit guides, and meditation. Inside the Catholic Church that direct revelation is from Apparitions, Locutions, Ecstasies, Automatic Writings, Inner Locutions, and Voice Channeling.
The liberals have their apparitions. The conservatives have their apparitions. They all have their networks to control, finance, and divide the Catholic Church.
The conservatives have Bayside, New York; Necedah, Wisconsin; The Portavoz of Mexico; San Damiano; "Sister" Guadalupe of Guatemala; Marvin Kucera, The Army of Mary, the White Army, and the like.
The liberals (or pluralists) have the Charismatics, Medjugorje, St. Joseph’s Hill of Hope, Father Gobbi, Father Gino, The Poem of the Man-God, Vassula Ryden, Estela Ruiz, The Cross of Peace, The Pebble, Garabandal, Theresa Lopez, and The Kingdom of the Divine Will, Luisa Piccarreta. .
What both the conservative and liberal private revelations have in common are: 1) No Church approval, 2) No approval to promote 3) No connection with the local bishop, 4) Some point of infidelity to the Doctrine of the Church, 5) Threat of Chastisement, 6) Special chosen remnant of believers, 7) Blind obedience to messages, 8) Distrust of anyone who does not believe in the messages, 9) Disregarding of contradictions, 10) A trust in feeling instead of logic. 11) Never willing to debate with those who do not agree, 12) Never willing to answer questions, 13) Always putting down the motives of people who do not agree, 14) Signs in the sky, 15) Mass-hypnotism, 16) Faked cures, 17) And threats.
eTh
A NEW TYPE OF CULT
The promoters of these cults are often cults, themselves. They present themselves as Publishing Houses, Foundations, Marian Centers, Book Stores, Retreat Houses, Refuge Centers, and New Religious Congregations. What is common with cults is that they control the thinking process of members. What is new is that they do not need a charismatic leader, a controlled environment, or even a place to meet. They can meet and fellowship once or twice a year, without worrying about loosing members. Why? Because they control their members though "Newsletters - Direct Revelation from Heaven" on a weekly or monthly basis. "God or Mary said!!!!!!" It becomes the Bible of all their actions, their future, their faith, even their family.
In Texe Marrs book of "NEW AGE CULTS & RELIGIONS" he states on page 70,
*********************************************
"In the late 60s and early 70s a number of cult groups were able to successfully separate young people from their family and friends, thereby creating an artificial environment in which cult tactics and techniques could more effectively be used to manipulate new recruits. Today, the cults and religious sects have become more sophisticated and more insidiously devious in their techniques and strategy. Study the list provided here of tactics, and techniques of the cults described and you will find that most can be employed without the need to physically separate the individual for an extended period.
"Nowadays, most New Age cults and religions are able to exert group pressure, accomplish their love-bonding or self-esteem attacks, induce stated of hypnosis, cause the individual to reject old values and take on a new world view, and voluntarily agree to sleep and food deprivation, without complete physical isolation.
"Regular group meetings, visits at home by experienced group members, the constant practice by the person of such techniques as meditation, visualization, and chanting; and the requirement to read a voluminous amount of cult literature at home, all mean that the cults no long need to sequester the individual away from the rest of the world. The desired objectives are now most often achieved without undue physical and mental coercion."
*************************************************
And this is what the new Catholic Cults do. They have conferences at least twice a year. These are orchestrated in the same hypnotic way that Hitler orchestrated his rallies. The next thing they do is form prayer groups so that members can support each other on a daily or weekly basis. Then they have there voluminous amount of cult literature to read at home. In this case "Messages from Heaven".
What they will never do is dialogue. According to Pope John Paul II, the way to unity with our separated Christians is dialogue. Matthew 18:15 says that we must dialogue with those who disagree with us so that we can come to the truth. But you can never get a cult to dialogue with anyone who does not agree with them. The truth is never afraid to meet the test of confrontation. Why are they?
Who are they in the Catholic Church who fall into this test of Cults?
Who have Publishing Houses, Foundations, Marian Centers, Book Stores, Retreat Houses, Refuge Centers, and New Religious Congregations without Church approval.
Who are they that have Marian Conferences without Church approval?
Who are they that have prayer meetings without Church approval?
Who are they that put out millions of dollars of Newsletters and books without Church approval?
Who are they that will never dialogue or debate with those who do not agree with them?
The answer is the new Marian Centers. The 101 Foundation, the Reihle Foundation, Faith Publishing, the Divine Will Center, Queenship Publishing Co., St. Raphael Ministries, and the over 100 Medjugorje Centers that now call themselves, Marian Centers. Not to mention all the new religious orders that do not have Church approval, the retreat houses that are not under any bishop, and of course, the refuge centers.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2010 03:32PM by dsm.
[www.unitypublishing.com]
I am especially interested in anyone who has been affected by the Call To Action or Sanctuary/Liberation Theology (Refugee) cults. Please private message me if you are not comfortable with public posts. I will honor your privacy. In the article, the word "refuge centers" should be "refugee centers" and they are mainly centers designed for illegals in the USA, especially Hispanics but also Africans, who are recruited into groups that are not integrated into the rest of the Catholic church. They are often given twisted propaganda versions of what they are supposed to do as "new" Americans because they do not have the independent knowledge of American society to see the lies that they are being fed by these "helpful" cultists.
Here is an excerpt:
MIND CONTROL METHODS
To understand how cults end up in total control of their subjects, you must understand how they recruit. First they seek out like-minded people who have similar aspirations and goals. They may spend years developing friendships with them. They may not at first tell them of their involvement in the cult. They will attend Mass everyday and appear very Catholic. They will always be more reverent and holy at Mass. They will be soft spoken, tender, modest, but not shy. They will be listeners to your problems and aspirations. They will always agree with you. When ever possible they will make your problems seem greater than they are, by claiming to be so happy themselves, but never telling you why. They will have no problems themselves. In time you will envy their self-confidence, and peace.
When they think the time is right, they will introduce you to other members. Then comes the "love-bombing". Everyone you meet is "huggy", full of compliments about your looks, your clothes, your eyes, or whatever they can make up. In all these groups flirting or prostitution is involved but most of the members never see it. Most often leaders convince selected people that they have become so united with God, that anything they do is God’s will, even fortification. The majority of the members never see this. But always a form of sexuality is used through intimate friendship or affection. This is greatly seen in the Charismatic Movement where touchy is in. Holding hands, hugging and kissing seems innocent enough, but let us look closer. One of the main tenants of cults is "feeling" rather than logic. It has been proved by an psychological organization that we can communicated by touch greater than by words or vision. When someone simply touches one finger to another there can be a sexual feeling involved. This can be interpreted in the mind as a spiritual high, a feeling of God, a feeling of Heaven, and the deception sets in using ones own sexual appetites as a new spiritualism.
The normal techniques of cults are 1. unconditional surrender to leader or goal, 2. mind control through abusive behavior, 3. modification techniques, 4. isolation, 5. control of the rational thinking process, 6. elimination of outside information and influence (family, friends, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, medical treatment (which might break the spell of involvement and the process of absorption of feelings and attitudes and patterns of behavior, 7. processing away from past lives, by focusing only on: problems of past life, and not successes such as sexual misdeeds, hang-ups, poor social relationships, 8. consciousness - altering methods leading to: cognitive disturbances (intellectual bombardment) using thought stopping clichés, closed system logic, 9. restriction of reflective thinking by keeping constantly busy, 10. never alone, continual exhortation and training, in order to arrive at an exalted spiritual status, 11. altered consciousness, automatic submission, 12. stifling resistance and negativity, 13. bringing fear to its highest peak
But we will show that in the new cults these methods are used in a new and more effective way without being in a group or at a place, in fact, this control can be accomplished with only a few main meetings a year. Yes! There will still be daily readings, phone calls, and prayer meetings, but the large group meetings that use the hypnotic methods are not a daily affair as in the past. We now have conferences. But mind control is the goal. Although everything starts out as personal, the desires and wishes of the individual must in the end be molded to conform to the needs of the "Community" of the cult.
CATHOLIC CULTS THAT DIVIDE
In the Catholic Church there are liberal cults and conservative cults. They both have one thing in common. They divide people from their bishops, the Pope, the Teachings of Vatican II. They divide bishops against bishops; they divide bishops against the Vatican Teachings; they divide Catholic people against Catholic people.
Examples of liberal cults in the Catholic Church (although they are not really Catholics, which we will prove), are "Call To Action", "Charismatics", "We Are Church", "Catholic Woman’s Network", "Woman’s Ordination Conference", and the like. Their publications go across the board from "The National Catholic Reporter" to the "American Catholic". Their bible is "Christ Among Us" by Anthony Wilhelm.
Examples of conservative cults in the Catholic Church are "The Pius X Society", the "Traditionalists", and the "Latin Mass" organizations.
For any group to be a real cult they need one more ingredient in the pie, they need direct revelation from God that they are right and the mainstream Catholic Church is wrong. That direct revelation outside the Catholic Church is New Age spiritualism, channeling, spirit guides, and meditation. Inside the Catholic Church that direct revelation is from Apparitions, Locutions, Ecstasies, Automatic Writings, Inner Locutions, and Voice Channeling.
The liberals have their apparitions. The conservatives have their apparitions. They all have their networks to control, finance, and divide the Catholic Church.
The conservatives have Bayside, New York; Necedah, Wisconsin; The Portavoz of Mexico; San Damiano; "Sister" Guadalupe of Guatemala; Marvin Kucera, The Army of Mary, the White Army, and the like.
The liberals (or pluralists) have the Charismatics, Medjugorje, St. Joseph’s Hill of Hope, Father Gobbi, Father Gino, The Poem of the Man-God, Vassula Ryden, Estela Ruiz, The Cross of Peace, The Pebble, Garabandal, Theresa Lopez, and The Kingdom of the Divine Will, Luisa Piccarreta. .
What both the conservative and liberal private revelations have in common are: 1) No Church approval, 2) No approval to promote 3) No connection with the local bishop, 4) Some point of infidelity to the Doctrine of the Church, 5) Threat of Chastisement, 6) Special chosen remnant of believers, 7) Blind obedience to messages, 8) Distrust of anyone who does not believe in the messages, 9) Disregarding of contradictions, 10) A trust in feeling instead of logic. 11) Never willing to debate with those who do not agree, 12) Never willing to answer questions, 13) Always putting down the motives of people who do not agree, 14) Signs in the sky, 15) Mass-hypnotism, 16) Faked cures, 17) And threats.
eTh
A NEW TYPE OF CULT
The promoters of these cults are often cults, themselves. They present themselves as Publishing Houses, Foundations, Marian Centers, Book Stores, Retreat Houses, Refuge Centers, and New Religious Congregations. What is common with cults is that they control the thinking process of members. What is new is that they do not need a charismatic leader, a controlled environment, or even a place to meet. They can meet and fellowship once or twice a year, without worrying about loosing members. Why? Because they control their members though "Newsletters - Direct Revelation from Heaven" on a weekly or monthly basis. "God or Mary said!!!!!!" It becomes the Bible of all their actions, their future, their faith, even their family.
In Texe Marrs book of "NEW AGE CULTS & RELIGIONS" he states on page 70,
*********************************************
"In the late 60s and early 70s a number of cult groups were able to successfully separate young people from their family and friends, thereby creating an artificial environment in which cult tactics and techniques could more effectively be used to manipulate new recruits. Today, the cults and religious sects have become more sophisticated and more insidiously devious in their techniques and strategy. Study the list provided here of tactics, and techniques of the cults described and you will find that most can be employed without the need to physically separate the individual for an extended period.
"Nowadays, most New Age cults and religions are able to exert group pressure, accomplish their love-bonding or self-esteem attacks, induce stated of hypnosis, cause the individual to reject old values and take on a new world view, and voluntarily agree to sleep and food deprivation, without complete physical isolation.
"Regular group meetings, visits at home by experienced group members, the constant practice by the person of such techniques as meditation, visualization, and chanting; and the requirement to read a voluminous amount of cult literature at home, all mean that the cults no long need to sequester the individual away from the rest of the world. The desired objectives are now most often achieved without undue physical and mental coercion."
*************************************************
And this is what the new Catholic Cults do. They have conferences at least twice a year. These are orchestrated in the same hypnotic way that Hitler orchestrated his rallies. The next thing they do is form prayer groups so that members can support each other on a daily or weekly basis. Then they have there voluminous amount of cult literature to read at home. In this case "Messages from Heaven".
What they will never do is dialogue. According to Pope John Paul II, the way to unity with our separated Christians is dialogue. Matthew 18:15 says that we must dialogue with those who disagree with us so that we can come to the truth. But you can never get a cult to dialogue with anyone who does not agree with them. The truth is never afraid to meet the test of confrontation. Why are they?
Who are they in the Catholic Church who fall into this test of Cults?
Who have Publishing Houses, Foundations, Marian Centers, Book Stores, Retreat Houses, Refuge Centers, and New Religious Congregations without Church approval.
Who are they that have Marian Conferences without Church approval?
Who are they that have prayer meetings without Church approval?
Who are they that put out millions of dollars of Newsletters and books without Church approval?
Who are they that will never dialogue or debate with those who do not agree with them?
The answer is the new Marian Centers. The 101 Foundation, the Reihle Foundation, Faith Publishing, the Divine Will Center, Queenship Publishing Co., St. Raphael Ministries, and the over 100 Medjugorje Centers that now call themselves, Marian Centers. Not to mention all the new religious orders that do not have Church approval, the retreat houses that are not under any bishop, and of course, the refuge centers.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2010 03:32PM by dsm.
Re: Cults Inside the Catholic Church
Posted by:
dsm
()
Date: June 15, 2010 11:54PM
That is the first time I see that one but I did know there are a lot of political/religious mix groups in South America.
That does not look like a destructive cult because it has all the necessary information for anyone to make an informed choice about joining and it has the legal financial tracking stuff. Of course it is a cult in the "positive" sense of having some unusual beliefs, since most non-Catholics do not subscribe to the Marian apparition of Fatima.
I am trying to be careful to stick to the principle that a "cult" is such only be virtue of coercive/deceptive recruitment, serious social control and pressure, damaging mind-control tactics, and serious economic exploitation, regardless of religious or political ideas.
That does not look like a destructive cult because it has all the necessary information for anyone to make an informed choice about joining and it has the legal financial tracking stuff. Of course it is a cult in the "positive" sense of having some unusual beliefs, since most non-Catholics do not subscribe to the Marian apparition of Fatima.
I am trying to be careful to stick to the principle that a "cult" is such only be virtue of coercive/deceptive recruitment, serious social control and pressure, damaging mind-control tactics, and serious economic exploitation, regardless of religious or political ideas.
Re: Cults Inside the Catholic Church
Posted by:
Oerlikon
()
Date: June 16, 2010 01:03AM
Massimo Introvigne is a member of T.F.P., and also is founder and director of Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR). CESNUR is essentially a T.F.P. front organization. I have heard T.F.P. described as the "Catholic Al-Queda." T.F.P. would very much be worth your looking into, in my opinion.
Re: Cults Inside the Catholic Church
Posted by:
dsm
()
Date: June 16, 2010 03:09AM
It is a strong political movement that certainly has its enemies, but in a free society strong political movements are not considered cults. The history that TFP posts in its website makes the political activism very clear. No one could claim they were fooled into thinking they were attending a simple prayer group if they join TFP after seeing its own literature. It only took me a few minutes to see the full political profile of the organization.
I am not very familiar with CESNUR, either, but do please post any evidence of destructive cult behavior, Oerlikon.
I am looking at the CESNUR site now and it does not look like a "TFP Front" but simply a scholarly organization of people with a similar viewpoint about society and religion. It has a very large list of books but the search method is hard to use and it looks like the books are not online, but nevertheless it is a very valuable resource. It categorizes material as "apologetic" as well as "counter" or "anti" among other categories and so it provides scholars with a full view of whatever religion they are studying. It lists over 60,000 books in its collection.
[es4.espero.it]
I don't actually see any connection between CESNUR and TFP.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2010 03:11AM by dsm.
I am not very familiar with CESNUR, either, but do please post any evidence of destructive cult behavior, Oerlikon.
I am looking at the CESNUR site now and it does not look like a "TFP Front" but simply a scholarly organization of people with a similar viewpoint about society and religion. It has a very large list of books but the search method is hard to use and it looks like the books are not online, but nevertheless it is a very valuable resource. It categorizes material as "apologetic" as well as "counter" or "anti" among other categories and so it provides scholars with a full view of whatever religion they are studying. It lists over 60,000 books in its collection.
[es4.espero.it]
I don't actually see any connection between CESNUR and TFP.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2010 03:11AM by dsm.
Re: Cults Inside the Catholic Church
Posted by:
Oerlikon
()
Date: June 16, 2010 05:07AM
TFP and the CIA:
[www.thirdworldtraveler.com]
More connections:
[www.kelebekler.com]
[www.kelebekler.com]
[www.kelebekler.com]
[www.thirdworldtraveler.com]
More connections:
[www.kelebekler.com]
[www.kelebekler.com]
[www.kelebekler.com]
Re: Cults Inside the Catholic Church
Posted by:
dsm
()
Date: June 16, 2010 05:40AM
What you are presenting, Oerlikon, is strong criticism of TFP's political view and their philosophical activities and intellectual alliances. Only a financial investigation could show if one organization is a "front" for another. There is nothing wrong with numerous organizations promoting similar ideas, that is just human nature.
You are using biased sources, especially the thirdworldtraveler one, and I am not defending TFP or CESNUR in that regard because they are equally biased. These are two sides of a political dispute.
None of this is "cult related" except for the parts about CESNUR apparently supporting Scientology in the German cases. CESNUR does openly state that it does not support most anti-cult organizations because it prefers a more "scholarly" approach.
Failure to support anti-cult organizations does not make an organization itself a cult. Even being an apologist for a notorious cult like Scientology does not make another organization itself a cult. Apparently, the founder of CESNUR has very questionable integrity, but being founded by someone who exagerates his credentials does not mean an organization is a cult.
A lot of this material is related to events outside the USA that are unfamiliar to me and I don't know of anyone who has faced recruitment pressure or anything like that from these groups. CESNUR criticises anti-cult activists like us here in the RR forum for relying on anecdotal (direct-experience) evidence, but so what? That is exactly true, anti-cult activists like us do rely on first-person membership narratives to judge whether or not a group is a cult and other people are free to criticize that if they want. Being a critic does not mean a group is a cult even if the criticism is wrong.
Some of what you have provided raises important flags, Oerlikon, but I think it veers more into the conspiracy kind of issues than the cult issues. Conspiracies are not cults unless they prevent their participants from leaving.
I am more interested in hearing about groups that upset mainstream parish life, that break up families and that impact private lives and careers of "regular folks" with their cult activity than in hearing about groups that publish controversial political opinions.
You are using biased sources, especially the thirdworldtraveler one, and I am not defending TFP or CESNUR in that regard because they are equally biased. These are two sides of a political dispute.
None of this is "cult related" except for the parts about CESNUR apparently supporting Scientology in the German cases. CESNUR does openly state that it does not support most anti-cult organizations because it prefers a more "scholarly" approach.
Failure to support anti-cult organizations does not make an organization itself a cult. Even being an apologist for a notorious cult like Scientology does not make another organization itself a cult. Apparently, the founder of CESNUR has very questionable integrity, but being founded by someone who exagerates his credentials does not mean an organization is a cult.
A lot of this material is related to events outside the USA that are unfamiliar to me and I don't know of anyone who has faced recruitment pressure or anything like that from these groups. CESNUR criticises anti-cult activists like us here in the RR forum for relying on anecdotal (direct-experience) evidence, but so what? That is exactly true, anti-cult activists like us do rely on first-person membership narratives to judge whether or not a group is a cult and other people are free to criticize that if they want. Being a critic does not mean a group is a cult even if the criticism is wrong.
Some of what you have provided raises important flags, Oerlikon, but I think it veers more into the conspiracy kind of issues than the cult issues. Conspiracies are not cults unless they prevent their participants from leaving.
I am more interested in hearing about groups that upset mainstream parish life, that break up families and that impact private lives and careers of "regular folks" with their cult activity than in hearing about groups that publish controversial political opinions.
Re: Cults Inside the Catholic Church
Posted by:
Oerlikon
()
Date: June 16, 2010 07:46AM
Catholic sites on cult-related controversies:
[www.unitypublishing.com]
www.unitypublishing.com/NewReligiousMovements/
For the record, Unity Publishing is not a mainstream Catholic apologetics ministry.
Almost all bishops, and the vast majority of priests, would not support some of these perspectives.
On another note...
[www.washingtonpost.com]
Former priest John Paul Lennon says the Legion of Christ is a dangerous and ultra-secretive cult that still idolizes its founder even though the spiritual leader was sanctioned by the Vatican after years of sexual abuse allegations.
The Legion accuses the Alexandria man of distributing stolen property and "malicious disinformation" about a fast-growing Roman Catholic Church order with tens of thousands of followers worldwide.
The argument is unfolding in Alexandria Circuit Court in a lawsuit the Legion filed last month that seeks to block Lennon, a Legion member for 23 years, from disseminating on a Web site letters and documents it says are the order's private property and intended only for internal use.
Some internal documents chronicle the conservative group's strict rules of conduct, including directives on how a legionary, as the order's members are known, must butter his bread, part his hair or sit in a chair. The documents also include the group's "private vows," which say that members must never criticize the order and must report anyone who does.
Under a recent court order, Lennon must turn over any Legion property by Sept. 14, including documents, computer disks and CDs.
Besides Lennon, the Legion is suing Regain Inc., the corporation that owns [www.regainnetwork.org], a Web site critical of the Legion. Lennon is its president. Other former Legion members and relatives and friends of former Legion members are involved in the corporation and the Web site, Lennon said.
Lennon, 63, a child and family therapist in Arlington, recently found a lawyer to represent him in the suit, which he said came out of the blue. He said the deep-pocketed order, which he left more than 20 years ago because he had grown disillusioned, is trying to silence former members and teach him a lesson.
"They're also trying to scare anybody else who would dare to share these documents with the public," he said. "It's the Alexandria witch hunt instead of the Salem witch hunt. It's like a 21st-century Inquisition."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2010 07:46AM by Oerlikon.
[www.unitypublishing.com]
www.unitypublishing.com/NewReligiousMovements/
For the record, Unity Publishing is not a mainstream Catholic apologetics ministry.
Almost all bishops, and the vast majority of priests, would not support some of these perspectives.
On another note...
[www.washingtonpost.com]
Former priest John Paul Lennon says the Legion of Christ is a dangerous and ultra-secretive cult that still idolizes its founder even though the spiritual leader was sanctioned by the Vatican after years of sexual abuse allegations.
The Legion accuses the Alexandria man of distributing stolen property and "malicious disinformation" about a fast-growing Roman Catholic Church order with tens of thousands of followers worldwide.
The argument is unfolding in Alexandria Circuit Court in a lawsuit the Legion filed last month that seeks to block Lennon, a Legion member for 23 years, from disseminating on a Web site letters and documents it says are the order's private property and intended only for internal use.
Some internal documents chronicle the conservative group's strict rules of conduct, including directives on how a legionary, as the order's members are known, must butter his bread, part his hair or sit in a chair. The documents also include the group's "private vows," which say that members must never criticize the order and must report anyone who does.
Under a recent court order, Lennon must turn over any Legion property by Sept. 14, including documents, computer disks and CDs.
Besides Lennon, the Legion is suing Regain Inc., the corporation that owns [www.regainnetwork.org], a Web site critical of the Legion. Lennon is its president. Other former Legion members and relatives and friends of former Legion members are involved in the corporation and the Web site, Lennon said.
Lennon, 63, a child and family therapist in Arlington, recently found a lawyer to represent him in the suit, which he said came out of the blue. He said the deep-pocketed order, which he left more than 20 years ago because he had grown disillusioned, is trying to silence former members and teach him a lesson.
"They're also trying to scare anybody else who would dare to share these documents with the public," he said. "It's the Alexandria witch hunt instead of the Salem witch hunt. It's like a 21st-century Inquisition."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2010 07:46AM by Oerlikon.
Re: Cults Inside the Catholic Church
Posted by:
dsm
()
Date: June 16, 2010 08:30AM
I posted a link from Unity in another thread... very interesting site.
The manner in which the Church deals with things like the Legion of Christ can be confusing and it is good to remember that the Catholic Church is older than most of the countries within which these groups operate, and so there is a lot of local discretion left up to bishops. Some groups themselves are more monolithic than others, too.
Here is an individual catholic's blog that gives a good explanation of the excommunication of the Legion of Christ founder:
[www.thecathoholic.com]
And more in-depth :
[www.catholic.org]
The manner in which the Church deals with things like the Legion of Christ can be confusing and it is good to remember that the Catholic Church is older than most of the countries within which these groups operate, and so there is a lot of local discretion left up to bishops. Some groups themselves are more monolithic than others, too.
Here is an individual catholic's blog that gives a good explanation of the excommunication of the Legion of Christ founder:
[www.thecathoholic.com]
And more in-depth :
[www.catholic.org]
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