Question:
The Associated Press State & Local Wire December 12, 2001, Wednesday, BC cycle HEADLINE: Suit accuses group devoted to Virgin Mary of being cult BYLINE: By JAY REEVES, Associated Press Writer DATELINE: STERRETT, Ala. BODY: A multimillion dollar organization that promotes visions of the Virgin Mary is fighting charges of being a destructive cult as religious pilgrims from across the nation arrive at its Alabama compound seeking spiritual renewal. Five former residents of Caritas of Birmingham have filed suit in state court seeking an unspecified amount of money from the group and its founder, Terry Colafrancesco. The suit claims Colafrancesco lures people into Caritas with promises of spiritual enrichment and then drains them of money. Families are made to live in nasty trailers at the group’s compound, and Colafrancesco controls their lives almost totally, the suit claims. The plaintiffs include a one-time lieutenant to Colafrancesco and five parents who sued on behalf of their children, who still live at the mission located about 30 minutes south of Birmingham on about 150 acres of wooded land. The suit claims Caritas has assets of about $5.9 million gained both through legitimate donations, pressure tactics and shady business deals. Colafrancesco "said he was knighted by Mary the mother of Jesus," according to the suit. "It’s just bitterness," Colafrancesco said Tuesday, declining to respond to specific allegations. About 50 people, mostly Roman Catholics, live at Caritas, which includes a huge stone office building that resembles a church. The suit was filed Friday, just days before the arrival at Caritas of Marija Pavlovic Lunetti, who has reported having visions of Christ’s mother for about two decades. Lunetti was one of six young people who claimed Mary appeared to them in 1981 in the town of Medjugorje, located in the country now called Bosnia-Herzegovina. The messages continued and the group developed a worldwide following. Thousands of people came to a rolling pasture when Lunetti first visited Alabama in 1981 to donate a kidney to her ailing brother during a transplant operation in Birmingham. Only a small organization at the time, Caritas has since become one of the largest organizations dedicated to spreading the messages of Medjugorje. Lunetti, who now lives in Italy, was last at Caritas in 1999, when several thousand people a day gathered to hear her report messages she said she received from Mary in apparitions. Few of the people who traveled to Caritas to see Lunetti this time knew of the lawsuit. But sisters Alice Rosemann and Diana Brush said having the chance to hear Lunetti speak made the 12-hour drive from their homes in Missouri worthwhile. The sisters and 24 other relatives piled into five cars for the trip. Rosemann, of Bunker, Mo., said she wanted to cry after seeing Lunetti for the first time. "I was touched. It’s just something about her," she said. The lawsuit claims Colafrancesco persuaded Lunetti to come to Alabama the first time and continues bringing her to the state "to attract individuals to live at Caritas and work for him full time to raise money and do other things." The organization reported $3.8 million in assets and $1.8 million in income in 1999, according to Internal Revenue Service forms. Colafrancesco said the lawsuit was timed to coincide with Lunetti’s visit. "They’re trying to wreck this," he said. Plaintiffs include Pat Flynn, who once was a top aide to Colafrancesco and served as a spokesman for Caritas. Flynn, his wife and their children left Caritas last year and now live in Michigan. The Vatican has not taken a position on whether the visions of Medjugorje are real. The California-based Kronzer Foundation, which claims the Medjugorje visions are fake, filed suit last year accusing Caritas of brainwashing and mismanagement. The suit, which also named other groups, was dismissed.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The Associated Press State & Local Wire December 12, 2001, Wednesday, BC cycle HEADLINE: Suit accuses group devoted to Virgin Mary of being cult BYLINE: By JAY REEVES, Associated Press Writer DATELINE: STERRETT, Ala. BODY: A multimillion dollar organization that promotes visions of the Virgin Mary is fighting charges of being a destructive cult as religious pilgrims from across the nation arrive at its Alabama compound seeking spiritual renewal. Five former residents of Caritas of Birmingham have filed suit in state court seeking an unspecified amount of money from the group and its founder, Terry Colafrancesco. The suit claims Colafrancesco lures people into Caritas with promises of spiritual enrichment and then drains them of money. Families are made to live in nasty trailers at the group’s compound, and Colafrancesco controls their lives almost totally, the suit claims. The plaintiffs include a one-time lieutenant to Colafrancesco and five parents who sued on behalf of their children, who still live at the mission located about 30 minutes south of Birmingham on about 150 acres of wooded land. The suit claims Caritas has assets of about $5.9 million gained both through legitimate donations, pressure tactics and shady business deals. Colafrancesco "said he was knighted by Mary the mother of Jesus," according to the suit. "It’s just bitterness," Colafrancesco said Tuesday, declining to respond to specific allegations. About 50 people, mostly Roman Catholics, live at Caritas, which includes a huge stone office building that resembles a church. The suit was filed Friday, just days before the arrival at Caritas of Marija Pavlovic Lunetti, who has reported having visions of Christ’s mother for about two decades. Lunetti was one of six young people who claimed Mary appeared to them in 1981 in the town of Medjugorje, located in the country now called Bosnia-Herzegovina. The messages continued and the group developed a worldwide following. Thousands of people came to a rolling pasture when Lunetti first visited Alabama in 1981 to donate a kidney to her ailing brother during a transplant operation in Birmingham. Only a small organization at the time, Caritas has since become one of the largest organizations dedicated to spreading the messages of Medjugorje. Lunetti, who now lives in Italy, was last at Caritas in 1999, when several thousand people a day gathered to hear her report messages she said she received from Mary in apparitions. Few of the people who traveled to Caritas to see Lunetti this time knew of the lawsuit. But sisters Alice Rosemann and Diana Brush said having the chance to hear Lunetti speak made the 12-hour drive from their homes in Missouri worthwhile. The sisters and 24 other relatives piled into five cars for the trip. Rosemann, of Bunker, Mo., said she wanted to cry after seeing Lunetti for the first time. "I was touched. It’s just something about her," she said. The lawsuit claims Colafrancesco persuaded Lunetti to come to Alabama the first time and continues bringing her to the state "to attract individuals to live at Caritas and work for him full time to raise money and do other things." The organization reported $3.8 million in assets and $1.8 million in income in 1999, according to Internal Revenue Service forms. Colafrancesco said the lawsuit was timed to coincide with Lunetti’s visit. "They’re trying to wreck this," he said. Plaintiffs include Pat Flynn, who once was a top aide to Colafrancesco and served as a spokesman for Caritas. Flynn, his wife and their children left Caritas last year and now live in Michigan. The Vatican has not taken a position on whether the visions of Medjugorje are real. The California-based Kronzer Foundation, which claims the Medjugorje visions are fake, filed suit last year accusing Caritas of brainwashing and mismanagement. The suit, which also named other groups, was dismissed.
One shouldn’t take anything seriously that is uttered by someone named Lunetti! RJP
Response:
The Associated Press State & Local Wire December 12, 2001, Wednesday, BC cycle HEADLINE: Suit accuses group devoted to Virgin Mary of being cult BYLINE: By JAY REEVES, Associated Press Writer
I’ve read the Kronzer website. Perhaps they are right, but they lack any spirit of charity. And I don’t believe in Medjugorge either!
Response:
Organization: ticias Newsgroups:
alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic,soc.culture.croatia,tnn.religion.cath o li c – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The Associated Press State & Local Wire December 12, 2001, Wednesday, BC cycle HEADLINE: Suit accuses group devoted to Virgin Mary of being cult BYLINE: By JAY REEVES, Associated Press Writer I’ve read the Kronzer website. Perhaps they are right, but they lack any spirit of charity. And I don’t believe in Medjugorge either!
It matters not whether you, yourself, believe. I have spoken with people who have made the trip there. Most who go come back ‘changed’ for the much better. So, whatever is ‘up’ over there, the real miracle is the change in those who visit. I credit a healing of a breast lump to ‘whatever’ is going on over there. Don’t discount other people’s miracles, you will lose every time. Paula
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Organization: ticias Newsgroups: alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic,soc.culture.croatia,tnn.religion.cat ho li c The Associated Press State & Local Wire December 12, 2001, Wednesday, BC cycle HEADLINE: Suit accuses group devoted to Virgin Mary of being cult BYLINE: By JAY REEVES, Associated Press Writer I’ve read the Kronzer website. Perhaps they are right, but they lack any spirit of charity. And I don’t believe in Medjugorge either! It matters not whether you, yourself, believe. I have spoken with people who have made the trip there. Most who go come back ‘changed’ for the much better. So, whatever is ‘up’ over there, the real miracle is the change in those who visit. I credit a healing of a breast lump to ‘whatever’ is going on over there. Don’t discount other people’s miracles, you will lose every time.
Have you ever noticed that Jesus did not do a "group" thing, He always was personal. Each individual was treated as such. He never healed a mass of people, He looked as each as one scared/hurt person. Mark 10:51 So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight." Our Lord asked, the man answered, our Lord gave. He did not heal all, but that is His sovereign right to serve His purpose. Ciao, Falcon — # BIBLE: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth # # "Have You Read My #1 Best Seller? There Will Be A Test." – God #
Response:
Hello Falcon. Have you ever noticed that Jesus did not do a "group" thing, He always was personal. Each individual was treated as such. He never healed a mass of people, He looked as each as one scared/hurt person.
Not exactly sure what your point is here, but there was the healing of the ten lepers. — Regards, Phil Murphy
Response:
It matters not whether you, yourself, believe. I have spoken with people who have made the trip there. Most who go come back ‘changed’ for the much better. So, whatever is ‘up’ over there, the real miracle is the change in those who visit.
The ends don’t justify the means. If it’s false and phony, everyone should steer clear of it. One cannot change for the better while believing in fraud. I have never met any of the "believers" who were willing to step back and look at this objectively. They all "wanted" it to be true and could not be dissuaded. Someday, I believe, the truth will come out, and though I won’t feel sorry for myself if it turns out to be true, I will feel sorry for those who were duped if it turns out to be false. BAM
Response:
The ends don’t justify the means. If it’s false and phony, everyone should steer clear of it. One cannot change for the better while believing in fraud.
People live believing in frauds & commonly accepted "beliefs" no one can neither prove nor disprove ( communism, fascism, democracy, liberal capitalism, enviromentalism, conspiracies, scientism, all religions, atheism, ….)
Response:
I have never met any of the "believers" who were willing to step back and look at this objectively. They all "wanted" it to be true and could not be dissuaded.
So what? In almost every country in Europe today it is *punishable* to "not belive" in the Holocaust and death of 6M Jews. The proof for some 6M murdered victims are less than inadequate. Not only that, even proving half that amount has shown to be difficult. And when caught in the bullshit the final argument is always that "numbers don’t matter, a crime is a crime". No shit? In one instance we’re required, even by law, to "believe" and not dare questioning something that, despite an enormous amount of research and money poured into it yet hasn’t been adequately shown to be correct, and in the other we’re supposed to be 100% clinically objective and reject this Medjugorje phenomena even when it’s doing good? Personally I don’t care if a person that got cured from some illness indeed saw Mother of God at that mountain or if he or she got cured from the exposure to the change of air or water or whatever. This Kronzer person has lost his wife and is bitter for that. His sorrow and bitterness is also used by Serbs who hate everything Croatian and Catholic. If the shoe fits, wear it. If not, let it be. R
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Organization: ticias Newsgroups: alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic,soc.culture.croatia,tnn.religion.cat ho li c The Associated Press State & Local Wire December 12, 2001, Wednesday, BC cycle HEADLINE: Suit accuses group devoted to Virgin Mary of being cult BYLINE: By JAY REEVES, Associated Press Writer I’ve read the Kronzer website. Perhaps they are right, but they lack any spirit of charity. And I don’t believe in Medjugorge either! It matters not whether you, yourself, believe. I have spoken with people who have made the trip there. Most who go come back ‘changed’ for the much better. So, whatever is ‘up’ over there, the real miracle is the change in those who visit. I credit a healing of a breast lump to ‘whatever’ is going on over there. Don’t discount other people’s miracles, you will lose every time.
That’s nice. Was it their faith, or the place itself? If you attribute it to the place itself, you’re coming dangerously close (if not over the line with) idolatry.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have never met any of the "believers" who were willing to step back and look at this objectively. They all "wanted" it to be true and could not be dissuaded. So what? In almost every country in Europe today it is *punishable* to "not belive" in the Holocaust and death of 6M Jews. The proof for some 6M murdered victims are less than inadequate. Not only that, even proving half that amount has shown to be difficult. And when caught in the bullshit the final argument is always that "numbers don’t matter, a crime is a crime". No shit?
There is a bewildering variety of figures re this particular genocide:http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm Extermination of the Jews: Reitlinger, Gerald, The Final Solution (1953): between 4,194,200 and 4,851,200 (this number is accepted by Kinder, The Anchor Atlas of World History (1978)) Brzezinski: 5,000,000 Chirot: 5,100,000 3,000,000 in death camps. 1,300,000 massacred. 800,000 by dis./maln. in ghettos Rummel: 5,291,000 Grenville: 5-6M Davies, Europe A History (1998): 5,571,300 (puts the minimum at 4,871,000 and the maximum at 6,271,500.) Nuremberg indictment: 5,700,000 (accepted by Britannica) Gutman, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust (1990): 5,596,029 to 5,860,129 P. Johnson: 5,800,000 Wallechinsky: "nearly" 6,000,000 Urlanis: 6M In one instance we’re required, even by law, to "believe" and not dare questioning something that, despite an enormous amount of research and money poured into it yet hasn’t been adequately shown to be correct, and in the other we’re supposed to be 100% clinically objective and reject this Medjugorje phenomena even when it’s doing good? Personally I don’t care if a person that got cured from some illness indeed saw Mother of God at that mountain or if he or she got cured from the exposure to the change of air or water or whatever. This Kronzer person has lost his wife and is bitter for that. His sorrow and bitterness is also used by Serbs who hate everything Croatian and Catholic.
Anyway- this is kind of jabber one can find on, say, http://www.emperors-clothes.com/ or www.reformation.org/ . Goodbye to all that pathology. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -If the shoe fits, wear it. If not, let it be. R
Response:
The Associated Press State & Local Wire December 12, 2001, Wednesday, BC cycle HEADLINE: Suit accuses group devoted to Virgin Mary of being cult
Aha. Well- now this is politics: http://www.kronzer.org/corruption_intro_page.html Well- audiatur et altera pars http://www.hercegbosna.org/engleski/inter.html http://www.hercegbosna.org/engleski/currlinks.html
Response:
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Newsgroups:
alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic,soc.culture.croatia,tnn.religion.cath o li c – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It matters not whether you, yourself, believe. I have spoken with people who have made the trip there. Most who go come back ‘changed’ for the much better. So, whatever is ‘up’ over there, the real miracle is the change in those who visit. The ends don’t justify the means. If it’s false and phony, everyone should steer clear of it. One cannot change for the better while believing in fraud. I have never met any of the "believers" who were willing to step back and look at this objectively. They all "wanted" it to be true and could not be dissuaded. Someday, I believe, the truth will come out, and though I won’t feel sorry for myself if it turns out to be true, I will feel sorry for those who were duped if it turns out to be false. BAM
There is no way for you to know whether or not it is or is not ‘real’. I have met several ’skeptics’ and non-believers who also went and came back and totally changed their lives. But, to shed light on this topic, remember: "And for my clothes, they cast lots". It is not ‘odd’ that there are those who exploit. Paula
Response:
Hello Falcon. Have you ever noticed that Jesus did not do a "group" thing, He always was personal. Each individual was treated as such. He never healed a mass of people, He looked as each as one scared/hurt person. Not exactly sure what your point is here, but there was the healing of the ten lepers.
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