CultNEWS101 Newsletter: 7/17/2026

Culture & Media

New Docuseries

HBO Max premieres its documentary series THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI this fall

HBO Max today announced the fall premiere of its new original documentary series THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI, produced by THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO for HBO Max in Spain, created and directed by Mònica Terribas.

Following the media and social impact of the documentary series THE HEROIC MINUTE, I TOO LEFT OPUS DEI, which was awarded the 2025 Ondas prize - which addressed the labor, spiritual and psychological abuse to which, according to the testimonies of thirteen women, they are subjected within the institution - many men who had left Opus Dei also needed to explain the role they had played within the Work.

According to their own accounts, they were recruited from childhood and destined to become numeraries or priests of Opus Dei. The series analyzes their descriptions of psychological control, recruitment practices, and oppression, as well as their accounts of the alleged underlying dynamics of power, money, influence, and control.

THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI features the testimonies of 14 men of all ages from eleven different countries, who recount their personal experiences within the reality of Opus Dei: Spain, Italy, France, Poland, Germany, England, and across the Atlantic in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, the United States, and Argentina. Many of them held positions of responsibility as directors, secretaries, and members of Local Councils within their centers, as well as officers of Regional Commissions. Others were called to support the institution from the highest levels of their professional careers to expand Opus Dei. Some, as numeraries, associates, or priests, were sent as teenagers to countries from which they never returned.

Their shared experiences shed light on the functioning of the Work, its economic dynamics and influence, through the Regional Commissions, the Local Councils, the educational, university, and research centers, as well as the dynamics of spiritual direction and precepting among adolescents and young university students.

“The men within Opus Dei command, maneuver, administer, mortify themselves, sacrifice themselves, and, like the women, they also break down. It is heartening to hear them speak on behalf of the many who do not yet dare to stand before the camera and who have been part of the research for this series,” declared Mònica Terribas Sala, screenwriter and director of THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI.

To contextualize the protagonists' testimonies, the documentary features the voices of experts, such as Santiago Bueno Salinas, professor of canon law, also judicial vicar and president of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Barcelona; María Esther Fernández Mostaza, professor of sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and author of the book Els fills de l'Opus; Dr. Vega González, clinical psychologist and managing director of Care and Research in Social Addictions (AIS); Gareth Gore, investigative journalist and author of Opus; and Rebecca Griffin, director of The Deep Dive Project.

The series features reenactments of the protagonists' stories, performed by actors Joel Bosqued and Guillem Balart and directed by Pere Sala.

THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI is an HBO Max original documentary series in Spain produced by THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO. Mònica Terribas, Bernat Elías, and Amparo Castellano are the executive producers for THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO. Bibiana González is the Director of Non-Fiction Content for HBO Max. María Rubio and Zaida Serrano-Piedecasas serve as executive producers for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Updates

Legislative & Legal

Punch Up: Leading Scholars Slam Jailing of Orgasm Guru Using Junk Science

Twenty global scholars of religion and human rights signed a memorandum condemning the forced labor conspiracy convictions of OneTaste founder Nicole Daedone and sales chief Rachel Cherwitz. Published via the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), the memo claims the case reintroduces a "brainwashing" theory as psychological coercion under trafficking laws, threatening religious liberty. Furthermore, a watchdog report alleges FBI collusion with a Netflix documentary crew, and prosecutors admitted their star witness's diaries were faked. Attorney Alan Dershowitz plans to seek a presidential pardon for both women.

When Persuasion Becomes a Crime: United States v. Cherwitz and the Second Circuit's Forced Labor Reckoning

Here is a summary of the article's main arguments regarding the Cherwitz case and its broader legal implications:

The article When Persuasion Becomes a Crime examines the constitutional stakes of the upcoming Second Circuit appeal in United States v. Cherwitz. Following the forced labor conspiracy convictions of OneTaste executives Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz, the author argues the government's novel prosecutorial theory dangerously criminalizes psychological persuasion, raising severe First Amendment and void-for-vagueness concerns.

The Evolution of the TVPA

At the heart of the critique is the application of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Originally enacted in 2000 to target severe commercial trafficking involving physical compulsion or legal coercion, a 2008 amendment expanded the definition of "serious harm" to include psychological pressure. In Cherwitz, prosecutors argued the defendants coerced victims by threatening the loss of their belief system, community, and relationships. The author contends that this applies the statute to consenting adults in a voluntary wellness organization—a drastic departure from the TVPA's legislative intent and one that lacks any objective limiting principle.

The "Victim-Centered Approach"

The article traces this strategy to the institutionalization of the "Victim-Centered Approach" (VCA) across federal law enforcement over the last 15 years. Under the VCA doctrine, an individual's ongoing consent or voluntary participation is irrelevant. If a witness claims they loved an organization and were happy, prosecutors and judges are trained to view this not as autonomy, but as evidence of "brainwashing" and total psychological control. Because of this framework, the government explicitly told the Cherwitz jury that whether the victims actually suffered physical harm was not the question of the trial.

The Core Constitutional Question

Ultimately, the article frames the Second Circuit's impending review as a foundational test of American legal boundaries. Because all nine alleged victims in Cherwitz eventually left the organization voluntarily and without physical restraint, the appellate court must decide if the state can legally equate the persuasive power of ideas with criminal forced labor.

Courthouse News Service: Former Epoch Times executive pleads guilty to multimillion-dollar fraud scheme that funded newspaper

Weidong "Bill" Guan, the former Chief Financial Officer of The Epoch Times, has pleaded guilty to a charge of roughly $ 15 million to $62 million. Guan, who reached a plea agreement just as jury selection for his trial was underway, acknowledged that he had ignored multiple red flags and warnings from banks about the operation's legality.

The Epoch Times distanced itself from the litigation, noting that Guan was suspended upon his 2024 arrest and maintaining that the charges were unrelated to their journalism.

Guan faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and, as a non-U.S. citizen, potential deportation. His co-defendant, Le Van Hung, previously pleaded guilty to identity theft.

AI Research Disclosure: To bring you the most relevant stories, parts of this newsletter utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools to search the web, source articles, and assist with content curation. This content is for informational purposes only; we recommend verifying critical facts independently.

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HBO Max premieres its documentary series THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI this fall

HBO Max premieres its documentary series THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI this fall

HBO Max today announced the fall premiere of its new original documentary series THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI, produced by THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO for HBO Max in Spain, created and directed by Mònica Terribas.

Following the media and social impact of the documentary series THE HEROIC MINUTE, I TOO LEFT OPUS DEI, which was awarded the 2025 Ondas prize - which addressed the labor, spiritual and psychological abuse to which, according to the testimonies of thirteen women, they are subjected within the institution - many men who had left Opus Dei also needed to explain the role they had played within the Work.

According to their own accounts, they were recruited from childhood and destined to become numeraries or priests of Opus Dei. The series analyzes their descriptions of psychological control, recruitment practices, and oppression, as well as their accounts of the alleged underlying dynamics of power, money, influence, and control.

THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI features the testimonies of 14 men of all ages from eleven different countries, who recount their personal experiences within the reality of Opus Dei: Spain, Italy, France, Poland, Germany, England, and across the Atlantic in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, the United States, and Argentina. Many of them held positions of responsibility as directors, secretaries, and members of Local Councils within their centers, as well as officers of Regional Commissions. Others were called to support the institution from the highest levels of their professional careers to expand Opus Dei. Some, as numeraries, associates, or priests, were sent as teenagers to countries from which they never returned.

Their shared experiences shed light on the functioning of the Work, its economic dynamics and influence , through the Regional Commissions, the Local Councils, the educational, university and research centers, as well as the dynamics of spiritual direction and precepting on adolescents and young university students.

“The men within Opus Dei command, maneuver, administer, mortify themselves, sacrifice themselves, and, like the women, they also break down. It is heartening to hear them speak on behalf of the many who do not yet dare to stand before the camera and who have been part of the research for this series,” declared Mònica Terribas Sala, screenwriter and director of THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI.

To contextualize the protagonists' testimonies, the documentary features the voices of experts, such as Santiago Bueno Salinas, professor of canon law, also judicial vicar and president of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Barcelona; María Esther Fernández Mostaza, professor of sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and author of the book Els fills de l'Opus; Dr. Vega González, clinical psychologist and managing director of Care and Research in Social Addictions (AIS); Gareth Gore, investigative journalist and author of Opus; and Rebecca Griffin, director of The Deep Dive Project.

The series features reenactments that reconstruct the protagonists' stories, played by actors Joel Bosqued and Guillem Balart and directed by Pere Sala.

THE GOOD SPIRIT: BEHIND THE DOOR OF OPUS DEI is an HBO Max original documentary series in Spain produced by THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO. Mònica Terribas, Bernat Elías, and Amparo Castellano are the executive producers for THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO. Bibiana González is the Director of Non-Fiction Content for HBO Max. María Rubio and Zaida Serrano-Piedecasas serve as executive producers for Warner Bros. Discovery.

https://press-spain.max.com/post/hbo-max-estrena-en-otono-su-serie-documental-el-buen-espiritu-de

CultNEWS101 Articles: 10/7/2025

Clergy Sexual Abuse, Unification Church, Opus Dei

OVS News: Study into sexual abuse of women religious sheds light on spiritual abuse

"The first research study into the sexual abuse of women religious in German-speaking countries has shown a typical pattern of spiritual abuse with global cases and highlighted that the majority of abuse is perpetrated by men, although some sisters were abused also by women superiors.

The study titled "Sexual Abuse of Catholic Women Religious Victims, Perpetrators and (Non)consensual Relationships" is the culmination of three years' work by Barbara Haslbeck, professor of pastoral theology and homiletics at the University of Regensburg, Germany.

Speaking to OSV News about the new study, published on Sept. 15, Haslbeck explained that 15 women who experienced sexual abuse as religious in German-speaking countries were interviewed for the study.

"Given the sensitive nature of the subject matter, this is a major study," Haslbeck told OSV News.

The aim of this pioneering research project is to gain an understanding of "the systemic conditions of abuse and determine the consequences of the abuse," the researcher said.

It also aimed to shed light on the characteristics of the perpetrators, the grooming, the extent of the abuse, the occasions of the abuse, and identify spiritual manipulation in the abuse process.

The assumption that priests are "harmless" was highlighted as an enabling factor in the communities in which the women lived, the research director said. Other issues included obedience as "a vulnerability factor." At the same time, chastity and the "bridal motif" were identified by the victims as "ambivalent ideals" in the face of abuse, used by perpetrators to lure their potential victims."

Hankyoreh: Following the money: Investigators seek to verify if Unification Church cash reached Yoon

"With the special counsel team investigating the Unification Church's alleged bribery scheme now having arrested its leader, Han Hak-ja, the probe is likely to set its sights on former President Yoon Suk-yeol next by tracing the flow of church funds.

Early on Tuesday, a judge from the Seoul Central District Court's warrant division issued an arrest warrant for Han, citing "concerns over destruction of evidence." Han currently faces suspicions of violating the Political Funds Act and the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, embezzling church funds, and instructing the destruction of evidence.

The key allegation requiring further investigation is that Han delivered 100 million won (US$72,000) in illegal political funds to PPP lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong in January 2022 through Yun Young-ho, the former global operations director of the Unification Church. Yun has been indicted and is currently behind bars.

The special counsel team is considering the possibility that this sum reached the former president himself. During the investigation, it was revealed that Yun, who managed Unification Church finances, placed half of the 100 million won delivered to Kweon in a separate bundle that bore the Chinese character for "king" in embroidery. This suggests Yoon may have received or been aware of a portion of the Unification Church's bribe.

The team will likely turn up additional funds beyond the aforementioned 100 million won that the Unification Church handed Kweon."

NCR: Former Opus Dei numerary's memoir claims abuse, trafficking

"An ex-assistant numerary, Anne Marie Allen held the lowest rank of Opus Dei's hierarchical structure, where she spent almost seven years with the conservative Catholic group in Ireland, starting when she was 15.

"I think it is the voice of the weakest that will bring Opus Dei down," Allen says matter-of-factly.

In Serve: My Lost Years at the Heart of Opus Dei, the 62-year-old documents the domestic servitude that she and other Irish women say they were lured into with the promise of vocational training. Her criticism of Opus Dei, including that the promised training never materialized, echoes that of other ex-numerary assistants around the world, including in Argentina, where a criminal investigation involves 43 former members who say they were trafficked and exploited.

Opus Dei is a conservative and notoriously secretive Catholic group founded in 1928 in Spain by Fr. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás (1902-1975). Dogged by controversy from the beginning, the group's stated aim is to help lay and clerical members sanctify their daily lives. While this mission has resonated with a post-Vatican II church, critics say Opus Dei seeks to influence the powerful and wealthy to increase its own access to the levers of power within both the church and society. This blending of faith and political lobbying has been powerful in the United States and Spain.

Assistant numeraries — Opus Dei's lowest rank — are women who primarily attend to the domestic needs of the organization's centers, including cooking and cleaning. The women live and work under the obedience of Opus Dei and commit to celibacy and to sanctifying their lives.

Opus Dei is believed to have 90,000 members in up to 70 countries, though exact figures are elusive due to the group's discretion — or secrecy, depending on your viewpoint."

The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not imply that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly endorse the content. We provide information from multiple perspectives to foster dialogue.

CultNEWS101 Articles: 10/24/2025

Legal, Charles Manson, Opus Dei, Televangelists, 764

Fox: Charles Manson follower imprisoned in Hollywood killings gets significant ruling from governor

Patricia Krenwinkel, convicted in 1969 of the Manson family murders, has had 17 parole hearings since 1977.

"California Gov. Gavin Newsom has reversed a parole board's decision to release Patricia Krenwinkel, a former follower of cult leader Charles Manson and one of the perpetrators of the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders.

In a decision issued Oct. 13 and obtained by Fox News, Newsom wrote that Krenwinkel, now 77, 'lacks the requisite insight she needs to be safely released."

NEW: Pope Leo Set To Break Up Opus Dei

Pope Leo may approve a plan that effectively dissolves Opus Dei's structure; this would be the most significant internal action of his short pontificate to date.

TCD: Wealthy televangelists face backlash as details about recent behavior come to light: 'Getting by with more lavish lifestyles'

"A religious fraud watchdog group in Texas has been looking into the high-cost use of private jets by wealthy televangelists and faith healers in the state. As reported by Houston-area outlet Chron in August, the Trinity Foundation's "Pastor Planes" project has tracked 66 aircraft, 12 of which are registered in Texas and eight of which are jets. A report from the foundation indicated that several of the jets are owned by well-known religious figures.

Trinity's endeavor has shed light on the unchecked wealth and luxury habits of prominent religious leaders and groups, with many allegedly spending enormous amounts of donated funds on opulent travel while remaining shielded by faith-based tax exceptions.

"Churches, televangelists, and church pastors are getting by with more lavish lifestyles with impunity," Trinity president Pete Evans told Chron this summer."

Washington Post: 'It broke me': Inside the FBI hunt for the online predators who persuaded a 13-year-old to die

" ... The early-morning fog had yet to rise when police found the 13-year-old boy in a parking lot behind a grocery store. His body was illuminated only by the ambient glow from the loading dock lights.

Around the boy's neck was a white extension cord he had used to hang himself from a black chain-link fence.

A few feet away, investigators spotted something else: an iPhone propped up on the ground, its camera pointed at the teen's body.

" ... The case would thrust investigators into the darkest corners of the internet — forums where groups of online predators manipulate vulnerable children, extorting them to share nude photos, mutilate their bodies and, in the worst cases, kill themselves. As the case dragged on, the FBI would come to view these groups as a terrorist threat, estimating that their members had targeted thousands of children. The agency is now investigating almost 300 people suspected of preying on children and other vulnerable people, cases that involve all 55 of its field offices.

Jay's death — one of its earliest cases — illustrates the challenges of investigating this new and growing form of online predation. An examination by The Washington Post and Der Spiegel in Germany found that authorities struggled to identify which laws had been broken. They faced jurisdictional hurdles as they traced suspected predators to countries around the world. And federal agents encountered reluctance from their own colleagues and other law enforcement officials in the United States and abroad, who were just beginning to recognize and respond to this growing genre of abuse.

Early on, local police suspected Jay's death was connected to these emerging groups. One of the most violent and extreme is known as "764" — named for part of the Zip code of a Texas boy who founded it in 2021 at the age of 15. Its members, authorities said, often seek out victims as trophies to gain clout and notoriety. Some members see their mission as weeding out society's weakest, which they deem to include mentally ill, gay, or transgender youths.

On a rainy Friday in spring 2022, the Gig Harbor detective in charge of Jay's case sat two visiting FBI agents down in a conference room at city hall and, for the next hour, projected horrific images onto a large screen.
One captured private chat between Jay's online tormentors, laughing and bragging about the fake empathy they'd used to coerce him into killing himself. Others showed teens who had carved their torturers' names and swastikas into their own skin. Some images showed young people who had been blackmailed into harming themselves sexually.

One of the FBI agents, Pat McMonigle, recoiled at the cruelty. "The lack of any kind of mercy for this kid, the manipulation they used, was shocking," McMonigle recalled.

 

By the end of the slideshow, McMonigle felt sick. He and his FBI partner walked out of the police department in a daze. Both had young children and lived in Gig Harbor. McMonigle and his four kids often shopped at the grocery store where Jay hanged himself.

The two agents had planned to grab beers afterward at a bar across the street. Instead, they sat in their unmarked car to regroup.

It is evident to them that a horrible predatory act had taken place, but they questioned whether they could investigate it. McMonigle and his partner worked for the FBI's joint terrorism task forces, which focus on domestic threats like the Boston Marathon bombers or foreign ones like al-Qaeda terrorists. With Jay's death, it wasn't clear where the predators were located or whether they were driven by terrorist ideology.
McMonigle, 45, would later encounter brutality and bureaucratic hurdles in the case that challenged him in ways he'd never faced in his 16 years at the agency. 

The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not imply that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly endorse the content. We provide information from multiple perspectives to foster dialogue.

CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/23/2025

Focus on the Family, Opus Dei, Santa Muerte

RNS: For some Dobson kids, focusing on the family led to estrangement

"Growing up as a child of a Focus on the Family executive in the 1990s, Amber Cantorna-Wylde belonged to a seemingly idyllic family at the epicenter of American evangelicalism.

Her household was infused with the teachings of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, who endorsed strong marriages, clear family hierarchy, and strict discipline for children as antidotes to rising divorce rates, second-wave feminism, and the sexual revolution. At age 13, Cantorna-Wylde was surrounded by family and friends as her father placed a silver purity ring on her finger, symbolizing her commitment to virginity until marriage.

"There was an expectation that was put on us, because of who my father was and the reputation that we had in the community, that we were supposed to behave a certain way," said Cantorna-Wylde, whose father, Dave Arnold, was the executive producer of the smash hit children's Christian radio program "Adventures in Odyssey."

Cantorna-Wylde, now 40, claims it was Dobson's teachings on family that tore her own apart. After she came out as gay, her parents stopped speaking with her — a decision she says resulted from Dobson-approved parenting advice.

When Dobson died last month at age 89, Cantorna-Wylde was among hundreds of evangelicals raised on Dobson's precepts who took to social media to question his legacy. Many of these former "Focus on the Family kids" say their families were ruptured by parents who closely followed Dobson's teaching. For them, the parenting methods that promised stability instead fragmented the very relationships they were intended to uplift.  

A University of Southern California child psychologist, Dobson burst onto the parenting advice scene in 1970 with the publication of "Dare to Discipline." An answer to the popular Dr. Benjamin Spock, whom Dobson called too permissive, "Dare to Discipline" framed parent-child interactions as a power struggle and instructed parents to discipline children decisively and early. Dobson argued that physical discipline as young as 15 months would stave off teenage rebellion and the threat to the American family posed by the upheavals of the 1960s."

The Telegraph: The Catholic 'cult' being rehabilitated by Pope Leo

Opus Dei – the secretive, scandal-ridden organisation made famous by The Da Vinci Code – appears to be back in favour with the Vatican.

"It was about 20 years ago that Jack Valero, who runs the communications office of the Catholic organisation Opus Dei, started to notice that he was getting more people contacting him about it. Some were journalists, some were documentary filmmakers, and plenty were ordinary members of the public. What they had in common was that they had read – and later watched – The Da Vinci Code, the blockbuster novel by Dan Brown, which was later made into a movie starring Tom Hanks. It depicted Opus Dei as a secretive religious organisation, wielding power within the Roman Catholic Church, and whose members apparently liked to indulge in mortification of the flesh, usually with a bit of flagellation.

But, as Valero says, "All publicity is good publicity", for The Da Vinci Code meant that millions around the world heard about Opus Dei for the first time. Valero admits that, before Brown's novel, Opus had been loath to talk much about what went on inside it: "The publicity forced us to be more open," he says. The Opus Dei organisation began to speak more about itself; members more readily said they belonged to it and that it shaped their lives.

But the controversies didn't completely go away, with the word "cult" often attached to it, and many Catholics still think it is too powerful and secretive. Then, three years ago, Pope Francis intervened, ordering Opus to rewrite its statutes, demanding that its prelate (or superior) no longer be a bishop, stripping it of the power to operate separately from local dioceses while giving the Vatican the power to intervene.

Now, with another pope at the helm – Pope Leo XIV, elected in May – there seems to be a shift in the Catholic Church, not least regarding the future of Opus Dei. Leo has been spending his first months as Pope meeting people from across the Church, among them the prelate (leader) of Opus Dei. Now, it looks as if the organisation's revised statutes are on the brink of being finalised, with revisions to how its authority is exercised.

As the first American pope and a former bishop in Peru, Leo (formerly Robert Prevost) will be well aware of the power and influence of Opus Dei. Austen Ivereigh, a Vatican expert and biographer of Pope Francis, says: "When Pope Francis chose Robert Prevost as bishop of Chiclayo [in Peru], it had previously been run for 30 years by bishops who were members of Opus Dei. It had many priests formed by Opus Dei. He was on the front line of Opus influence". It later turned out that these years of dealing with Opus Dei on the ground as Bishop Prevost of Chiclayo – encouraging members to be less exclusive and more involved in the life of the whole Catholic community – would be helpful to the future Pope Leo's understanding of the organisation."

Patheos: First Santa Muerte Temple in Guatemala Razed in Arson Attack

"In the predawn hours of September 13, yet another assault was carried out against the Centro Encanto de Keme in Cantel, Quetzaltenango. Unknown assailants forced their way into the sanctuary and torched religious images, reducing the temple to ashes and leaving its owners reeling. "They knocked everything down and burned it—absolutely everything," one of them told the local press. This was not random vandalism. It was deliberate, premeditated, and aimed at extinguishing the heart of Guatemala's first Santa Muerte temple.

As I've documented in my reporting for Skeleton Saint and Patheos, this temple has been a lightning rod for controversy since construction began in 2024. At its center looms a massive effigy of Santa Muerte, measuring between 33 and 36 feet tall. When I first saw images of her skeletal frame towering over Llanos de Urbina, I knew this temple marked a watershed moment in the spread of Santa Muerte devotion beyond Mexico. No longer relegated to hidden household altars or tucked-away street shrines, here was a monumental temple proclaiming devotion to Holy Death in the heartland of Guatemala's western highlands.

From the beginning, municipal authorities seized on the lack of proper building permits to sanction the project. The owners were slapped with a Q500,000 fine, and the council approved a neighborhood petition calling for the temple's demolition within 20 days. The site's proximity to the Cantel Penal Farm only deepened fears, with critics linking Santa Muerte devotion to prisoners, gangs, and organized crime.

But in March 2025, a civil court in Quetzaltenango issued a powerful injunction: halting construction would violate the constitutional right to freedom of worship. That ruling set up a classic clash between local authorities eager to tear down the temple and a judiciary affirming the rights of devotees to practice their faith."

CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/23/2025 (Jehovah's Witnesses, Shunning, Video, Opus Dei, Podcast, Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, LDS)

Jehovah's Witnesses, Shunning, Video, Opus Dei, Podcast, Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, LDS

Stop The Shunning: I REFUSED to Raise My Kids as Jehovah's Witnesses ft. Alissa Watson

"Alissa Watson was one of Jehovah's Witnesses for 35 years. But, once she became a mother, her mounting doubts over her religious upbringing eventually motivated her to break the cycle and protect her children."

The Deep Dive Project: EXPOSING Opus Dei's fascist plan for theocratic domination

The Guru: They Infiltrated Cults; Now they Run One

"Who are the two men behind the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light? Their past reveals an explosive secret to their cult-building success. It began in the late 1990s in Mooresville, Indiana, a small town suburb of Indianapolis. Hashem and McGowen attended the local high school and bonded over filmmaking, comedy, and esoteric ideas. They soon became best friends. Hashem then went to Indiana University for comparative religions, and McGowen attended nearby Ivy Tech, studying sociology. The young men would share a strange destiny.

In 2003 Hashem wrote and directed a 50-minute comedy movie called "Apache Tears," and it played at the local Regal Cinemas. One of the stars was a 22 year-old Abbi Crutchfield, who would go on to be a well-known comedian and TV personality, appearing on Hulu and NBC, among others. She told a local reporter the film 'has a lot of twists and turns...and deals with dark matters in a light way.'"

What percentage of Mormon converts leave the faith

Research indicates that **about 50% or more of Mormon converts leave the faith within a year of their baptism**[7][8]. This high rate of attrition is acknowledged by both church leaders and independent studies, with the sharpest dropout occurring in the first months after conversion[3][8].

Longer-term retention rates remain low, with multiple sources confirming that only about **25–30% of converts remain active in the church over time**[3]. This means that **70–75% of converts eventually become inactive or leave**.

These figures reflect a significant challenge for the LDS Church in retaining new members, despite ongoing efforts to improve integration and support for converts[3][8].

Citations:

[1] Ex-Mormon - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-Mormon

[2] Percent of Mormons who leave the LDS Church later? - Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/11ncq31/percent_of_mormons_who_leave_the_lds_church_later/

[3] Why Some Dropped Out | Religious Studies Center https://rsc.byu.edu/mormons-piazza/why-some-dropped-out

[4] A Portrait of Mormons in the U.S. - Pew Research Center https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2009/07/24/a-portrait-of-mormons-in-the-us/

[5] Are More People Leaving the LDS Church? - Leading Saints https://leadingsaints.org/are-more-people-leaving-the-church/

[6] Who Is Leaving the Church? - BYU Studies https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/who-is-leaving-the-church-demographic-predictors-of-exlatter-day-saint-status-in-the-pew-religious-landscape-survey/

[7] Number of LDS converts, missionaries increasing; conversion rate ... https://www.deseret.com/2015/4/19/20562924/number-of-lds-converts-missionaries-increasing-conversion-rate-declines/

[8] Trends in LDS Member Activity and Convert Retention - Cumorah.com https://www.cumorah.com/articles/lawOfTheHarvest/7

[9] converts leaving the church - Third Hour https://thirdhour.org/forums/topic/31170-converts-leaving-the-church/

News, Education, Intervention, Recover

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Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

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The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not imply that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly endorse the content. We provide information from multiple perspectives to foster dialogue.

EXPOSING Opus Dei's fascist plan for theocratic domination

The Deep Dive Project
July 12, 2025

https://youtu.be/nWupXlhdPUA?si=NFU6RXRXIb-I9m-u 

CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/15/2025

Opus Dei, Troubled Teen Industry, Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, China

Public Catholic: Auxiliary vicar of Opus Dei charged with human trafficking.

"Msgr. Mariano Fazio, the second-ranking official in Opus Dei, has been named as a defendant in a human-trafficking complaint in Argentina. Four priests who served as authorities in Opus Dei in Argentina between 1991 and 2015 were also charged. They are: Fr Carlos Nannei, Vicar General from 1990-2000, Fr Patricio Olmos regional vicar general from 2000-2010, Fr Víctor Urrestarazu, regional vicar, 2014, and Fr Gabriel Dondo,  former director of the women's branch.

The case involves allegations of human trafficking and the reduction of 43 women to servitude in Opus Dei residences in Argentina. The accusations include:
• Recruiting women, many while still minors, with false promises of education and a better life.
• Subjecting them to a regime of semi-slavery, including grueling workdays without pay.
• Exploiting their vulnerability and isolating them from their families and the outside world.
• Psychological manipulation and indoctrination.

Msgr Fazio is charged specifically with using a woman to serve him on an involuntary basis. Opus Dei denies the charges, saying they are a "complete decontextualization of the freely chosen vocation of the assistant numeraries." The Vatican reviewed a complaint filed by the women in 2021 and ordered reforms in Opus Dei. I don't know the particulars, but that would seem to imply that even the Vatican sided against Opus Dei and with the women."

Adam Arnold: Upcoming training on the "Troubled Teen Industry"

"Healing for Survivors of the Troubled Teen Industry: How to not make things worse" led by Adam Arnold, MA, LMFT, LADC When: Tuesday, August 5, 2025 from 10am to 12pm CST Where: Fully online, via Zoom What: A workshop for adults on how to support and engage therapeutically with survivors of the Troubled Teen Industry.

ABC 4: Chinese government officials ban LDS Church activities in Beijing

"Government officials in Beijing released an announcement last week banning activities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On Sunday, June 22, the Civil Affairs Bureau of Chaoyang District of Beijing announced it was banning the 'Mormon Beijing Branch.'"

" ... The ban comes amid recent crackdowns by the Chinese Government on foreign religious groups.

In March 2025, China's National Religious Affairs Administration issued an order implementing tighter restrictions on many religious groups, according to Chinese State Media.

The order requires foreign religious organizers to 'have no hostile words or deeds against China, have no negative records.'"

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery