Vatican could learn from Israel to Rehab Children and Women Cult Victims

Authorities handling fallout of breaking up polygamist cult


Jerusalem Post

By RUTH EGLASH

01/12/2011

A year after police raided TA headquarters of suspected cult that involved some 40 children 20 women, welfare authorities say they are still dealing with rehabilitation process of cult members .

One year after police raided the Tel Aviv headquarters of a suspected polygamist cult that involved some 40 children and 20 women, welfare authorities say they are still dealing intensely with the fallout and rehabilitation process of the cult members as they return to live a normative life.

According to information published Tuesday by the Welfare and Social Services Ministry, the 20 wives and 40 children of the yet-to-be convicted cult leader Goel Ratzon continue to receive a wide range of welfare services, including constant psychological monitoring.
“The Goel Ratzon affair is a clear sign that we have a policy of zero tolerance to cults and other groups that prey on vulnerable women and children,” Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog said in a statement Tuesday.

“It also raises awareness to the dangers of belonging to such cults.”
The minister said that in the coming months a specially formed committee to look into the phenomenon of cults and their long-term effects on members would present its findings and hopefully improve the rehabilitation process for those involved.

A spokeswoman for the ministry told The Jerusalem Post that the prosecution is still gathering evidence on Ratzon, who could be convicted of sexual abuse and rape of a minor.

The information released Tuesday regarding the fallout of this unique case showed that in addition to standard social welfare assistance, the women and their children are being given help in finding public housing and employment, access to legal aid and intensive therapy to reconnect with their extended families.
Former cult members have also received financial support to repay debts accrued while in the cult and funds to pay for the removal of the cult’s signature tattoo, which depicts their grey-haired leader and was inked in very visible places on most of the women’s bodies.
Social workers have also helped the children to acclimatize to the mainstream education system and financed psychological treatments for them.
“The role of the social services did not end with the rescue operation last year, but rather, that is when the hard work began,” stated the information published by the ministry, which described the work of a special team of social workers who have been continually examining the needs of each woman and following their progress in order to provide them with proper treatment and solutions for their complicated situation.


“We will continue to assist and rehabilitate the women and children for as long as they need and provide financial and professional resources for them,” said ministry director-general Nahum Itzkowitz.

In an interview last year with the Post, the ministry’s deputy director-general Menachem Wagshal, who worked for six months before the raid to make sure that breaking up the cult would not have an adverse effect on those involved, said that nothing like this had ever happened before in Israel.

“We looked at other similar cases from around the world,” said Wagshal in that interview. “We prepared for all the possible outcomes because there was a fear that the mothers could hurt their children the minute we entered their homes.”

At the time, there was also a concern that Ratzon had dictated a suicide pact to the women. The ministry assembled a team of 150 professionals to deal with the immediate fallout.
In Tuesday’s statement, the ministry said that most of the women and children had started to re-integrate into the community and had improved relations with their families.
“Most of the women have already left battered women’s shelters and are in various stages of integration in the community; some women have received grants for permanent housing and others have already purchased apartments,” said the ministry’s spokeswoman. “All women and children who need psychological treatment continue to receive it.”

http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=203191

A Year New in Deep Peace of Soul

is what I wish for all my family and friends -and even for a few who migh consider me their enemy...
For my part I will continue to seek truth and justice. May the Holy Spirit help me to see myself as I am and not how I would like to see myself.

Peace and Wellbeing!,  Pace e Bene, Paz y Bien. Paix et ...

as St. Francis would say

2nd Sunday of Advent

at St Peter's Rome July 2009

Aura is more of a Mass goer than me, I admit to my shame -not really!. We live in a very conservative Catholic Diocese, Arlington, northern Virginia, USA. The gospel today was on John the Baptist, whom the homilist insisted on calling "Saint John the Baptist", in case we did not know or had missed the point. "Brood of vipers" was the leitmotif of the homily, and this was applied to all of us who do not obey the laws of the Church and God...in any way
My own interpretation of that passage was that John reserved that juicy comparison for the Scribes and Pharisees, who, according to Jesus, "thought themselves better than others"...My biblical studies tell me that the Pharisees were actually very observant of the law and commandments. Behavior was not their problem; it was the thinking themselves above others. They rejected Jesus as a friend of sinners....
I prefer to be one of the latter.
How I would like to be able to preach the word of God!
But no, with my dispensation from priestly celibacy and "reduction to the lay state" come the conditions and the loss of such "privileges and rights", I am forbidden from using my priestly "faculties"...
Still think I could do a better job than many others!
Ah, that pride of mine!

Update!

Hello, faithful followers,
Life has been happenning:
Thanksgiving with Aura and some friends at our new home: invited friends and my old young friend, Marita LaPalm...

10 days ago down in Williamsburg, VA, where the first pilgrims arrived in the early 1600, looking for religious freedom and prosperity; at that time those white folks did not consider the Indians of much importance save to hand over their lands, and those black people were brought in to cultivate tobacco...Catholics were hardly welcome as they could be seditious...It was our old original sin, love and peace but not towards all...
Maciel did get it right when he taught "Delicate and Universal Charity...-but then kind of screwed up when he added - towards members and outsiders"...
We keep discriminating, being biased and prejudiced, something in the name of the God who created us all.. equal...
The place that gives a more balanced view of how it was back in the day is the Virginia State park at Jamestown which describes the plight of the Indians and the Blacks, the two non entities of the day...the story also says that Catholics were frowned upon and seen with suspicion...

Halloween, Samhain, New Year for the Ancient Celts

a bit of the auld leprechaun in me!

[from Irish Abroad]

Samhain - Happy New Year!


By Solange Ni Morain

Seems a bit odd this time of year, as we gather together costumes, carve pumpkins, collect tinder for bonfires, and hang images of goblins, ghouls and witches about our surroundings, doesn’t it? Yet if you had lived in Ireland many centuries ago, this would have been your New Year celebration!

The Celts considered time to be cyclical or circular rather than linear, with eight ‘stations’ of the year marking the passing seasons. These important dates were marked with specific rituals and customs, among them fire-festivals. The two most important fire festivals were Beltane, on May 1st, marking the beginning of summer, and Samhain, on Novermber 1st, signifying the arrival of winter. Several lesser festivals marked the passage of time in between these two calendrical polarities.

Like many autumn festivals around the world, Samhain has its origins in the harvest season. To the Celts, an agricultural people, paying homage to the cycles of the earth and the spirits they believed inhabited the land was particularly important. With the harvest completed and the days shortening into winter, this ritual marked the beginning of a ‘still’ time, when warfare, crop cultivation, and the bustle of summer activity came to a halt. It was logical to associate this transition with symbolic ‘death’ – the death of the land’s fertility, the usual busy activity of the clan, and most importantly, the ‘death’ of the sun. It is important to consider that in the context of the Celt’s belief in time as a cyclical entity, death was not an ending to be feared; rather, it was the pathway to regeneration. Unlike many other cultures, to the Celts the origin of life was to be found in darkness, the moon, and night.
At this time of year, the crops would have been harvested and provisions made for the long, dark winter months ahead. Once Samhain came, all fruit still left upon the trees was considered taboo for humans, as it now belonged to the spirit world. Animals not kept as breeding stock were slaughtered as sacrifices and then made into food to sustain the clans through the dark period of the year. It was a time for taking stock of the past year, honoring the great cycle of life that sustained the race, and welcoming in the New Year. Tara, the seat of Irish kingship, was the site of great celebrations, markets, and fairs on Samhain.


On these significant days – Beltane and in – it was believed that the forces of chaos reigned and the barriers between the spirit world and human world were considerably thinned and navigable, allowing for intermingling between the living and the dead. The Celts prepared for the return of the dead, often setting out food and wine to greet the spirits that might come to visit.

They also thought this the most advantageous time to practice divination of their own, since the world of the unseen was exceptionally more ‘open’ to their communications. The Celts did not fear or abhor death the way the modern world does, and so the presence of the dead was welcomed rather than dreaded. However, along with the spirits of the ancestors, it was also thought that mischievous or malevolent ghosts were present as well, so caution was to be taken. It was for these forces that food and wine was also set out, though the intent was placatory rather than hospitable. Bonfires were also lit at this time to appease the spirits of the dead, make offerings and sacrifices, and cast spells, giving rise to the modern Irish practice of lighting large bonfires on Halloween night.

As the influence of Christianity came to Ireland and blended with Celtic culture, familiar Samhain imagery and tradition blended with Christian influence to create a hybrid holiday. Centuries later, Irish emigrants to the New World brought many of these customs with them, creating the widely-known secular holiday, Halloween, that we know so well!

Got Counselor License, Will Travel!

I have learned to be a person of Deep Faith; I hope some of that appears in my memoir and in the pages of REGAIN -especially a couple of travel notes regarding our conferences- I have accepted God's plan over me, after all the twists and turns, crises and unexpected happenings. I have accepted that my life is backwards compared to others, who often begin in the world, getting a job, finding love, getting married,  having children, and building a career.
I have all of the above -except children- but almost in reverse order, or late in life.

Case in question, just got my professional counselor's license at the age of 66, more as a confirmation and badge of honor than as a door opener.

I accept that back to front ness and that upside down-ness in my life; and maybe I would not have chosen otherwise; because I am a stubborn and individualistic kind of person, and love to do things my way. It's weird, drole, that my stubbornness and God's plan kind of coincided. But the bottom line was that I had to learn to trust Him.

Now, its very simple: What do You want me to do with this license, Lord?

Pray for Leroy

surviving the Legion of Christ, getting a life, holding a job, and having a wife can be a pretty tall order. So we must be mindful of prayer, and keep at it. A friend sent me this edifying story.

Pray for Leroy

A preacher said, "Anyone with  'special needs' who wants to be  prayed over, please come forward  to the front by the altar."  With that, Leroy got in line, and  when it was his turn, the Preacher  asked, "Leroy, what do you want  me to pray about for you?"  Leroy replied, "Preacher, I need  you to pray for help with my hearing."  The preacher put one finger of one  hand in Leroy's ear, placed his other  hand on top of Leroy's head, and then  prayed and prayed and prayed.  He  prayed a "blue streak" for Leroy,  and the whole congregation joined in  with great enthusiasm.      After a few minutes, the preacher  removed his hands, stood back and asked,  "Leroy, how is your hearing now?"  Leroy answered, "I don't know.  It ain't  'til next week."