Brazilian Spiritualistic Medium Praised by Oprah Winfrey Becomes Police Case as Over 500 Women, So Far, Report They Were Victims of His Sex Abuses
A
celebrity spiritualistic medium who became an international sensation in 2012
when Oprah Winfrey interviewed him for her talk show Super Soul Sunday is under
arrest after over 500 women reported him to the Federal Prosecutors' Office in
Brazil, accusing him of sexual violence. Women, teenagers and even children —
including his own daughter — are among the medium’s alleged victims. Former
patients from across Brazil as well as the U.S., Germany, Netherlands and Australia
have contacted the authorities.
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| John of God and Oprah Winfrey |
Accusations
against Faria surfaced last week when several women appeared on a Globo
Television show claiming that he sexually abused them. Since the show, the
number of female victims has been skyrocketing day by day.
In
the wake of the sexual scandal, federal prosecutors are also investigating how
his bank accounts have amassed extraordinary amounts of millions of dollars.
Faria
had worked as a spiritualistic medium for the last four decades in Brazil under
the nickname “João de Deus” (John of God). He became famous for conducting
“psychic surgeries” that he said could cure diseases, including cancer.
The
accusers include Faria’s adult daughter, Dalva Teixeira, who said that under
the pretense of mystical treatments he abused and raped her between the ages of
10 and 14.
“My
father is a monster,” she said.
Faria
attracted desperate followers from around the world, all looking for spiritual
guidance or cures for afflictions.
After
interviewing him in 2012, Oprah Winfrey had written that she was overwhelmed by
the experience of seeing him cut into the breast of a woman without anesthesia
and that she left feeling “an overwhelming sense of peace.”
At
the time, she told Brazilian media, “It was so strong that I had to sit down
because I felt like I was going to pass out.”
After
the massive scandal of sexual abuse, videos and articles related to Faria have
been deleted from Oprah.com.
Many
of Faria’s accusers say they were molested while children. A court dismissed a
2010 suit involving an alleged sexual molestation of a 16-year-old girl by Faria
after his lawyers argued that there was not enough evidence to prosecute him.
How
have all the cases gone unpunished for so long time? Spiritualistic mediums in
Brazil manage a dark spiritual power that most people do not understand.
Bruce
Douglas, a correspondent in Brazil for Bloomberg, said that when the Brazilian
police interrogated Faria, strange things happened. He said,
“A keyboard with a mind of its own; a short-circuit of an electrical cable and
a mysterious road accident: a series of spooky events interrupts first police
interrogation of John of God.”
It
is understandable then the fear of victims to break their tortured silence to
speak about sexual assaults by a man having so much dark spiritual power.
The
same Brazilian left-wing press that shows no reluctance to denounce consistently
sexual scandals of Catholic priests or Protestant ministers abusing one or two
victims have shown a persistent and extraordinary reluctance to reveal the
sexual scandals of a spiritualistic medium raping over 500 victims. In Brazil, spiritualistic
mediums enjoy not only great spiritual power, but also great political power. Because
many political and social authorities secretly meet them, they are specially
protected.
Traditionally,
even Brazilian Catholic presidents have consulted spiritualistic mediums and
other occultists. The case of Faria is not different. Consulted by Brazilian
presidents and lauded by international celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey,
Faria established himself as Brazil’s pre-eminent “healer,” offering surgery to
the sick guided only by dark spirits. The medium visited President Michel Temer
in hospital last year, while former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sought
his assistance during his treatment for cancer.
How
has a spiritualistic medium become a celebrity in Brazil, the largest Catholic
nation in the world?
The
reality is that religious syncretism is widespread among Brazilian Catholics. According
to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public
Life, more than 60% of the urban population of Brazil claims a Catholic affiliation.
Yet, there is an overlay of Afro-Brazilian religions (like Candomblé, Quimbanda
and Umbanda) with Catholic beliefs and practices, which many Catholic
Brazilians do not find inconsistent with their faith.
Astrologers,
spiritualistic mediums and psychics are immensely popular in Brazil. Paulo
Coelho, a Brazilian esoteric author who is seen as a “mystic Catholic,” has several
books published around the world, including in the United States. Even Bill
Clinton, when he was the U.S. president, had his books as favorite reading. Coelho’s
Facebook fanpage has about 30,000,000 followers.
Paulo Coelho is, by far, the greatest
esoteric writer in Brazil. A small Google search delivers 23 million hits to
his name.
The late Brazilian medium Chico
Xavier delivers almost 6 million.
There are many other known Brazilian
names involved in occultism, including self-proclaimed philosopher Olavo de Carvalho,
who has been a self-exiled immigrant in the U.S. for over 13 years.
In 2017, the name of Carvalho, who was a famous astrologer
in Brazil,
delivered almost 800,000 hits on Google, but with the intense
propaganda that the new president Jair Bolsonaro has been doing for him,
the number shot to 2,800,000.
Today, the Facebook fanpage of
astrologer Olavo has slightly over 500,000 followers, virtually the same number
of fans of Walter Mercado, a Puerto Rican astrologer who became famous on
Brazilian TV in the 1990s. The Facebook fanpage of the Puerto Rican has slightly
over 500,000 followers.
Astrologers, spiritualistic mediums
and psychics in Brazil have a history of meetings with prominent politicians and
artists, who consult them for spiritual solutions.
No
one knows the real number of adherents of spiritualism and occultism in Brazil
and their numbers could be significantly higher than the official census
figure, since many of them traditionally disguise their religion under “Roman
Catholic” syncretism. This is the case of João Teixeira de Faria. He has an
occult religion incompatible with Christianity, but under Catholic syncretism
he is “John of God,” when his activities and beliefs have nothing to do with
God and everything to do with Satan.
Brazilian
Catholics are far more likely to believe in good luck charms, fortune-tellers, spiritualistic
mediums and astrology than converts to Protestantism.
Protestantism,
especially the charismatic variety, has resisted syncretism more than other
Christian churches have in the diverse Brazil and it has established a
significant presence in Brazil. Charismatic evangelicals proclaim the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, heal the sick and expel demons, in the name of Jesus. Their increasing
presence is helping to break the spiritual bondage of spiritualistic mediums
and other occultists, who are consulted and protected by presidents and officials,
in the Brazilian society.
A
large number of former spiritualistic mediums, who were delivered from demons,
testify today that they found peace and salvation only through Jesus Christ, as
proclaimed by charismatic evangelicals.
With information
from the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Globo and Wikipedia.
Portuguese version of this article: Médium
espírita louvado por Oprah Winfrey torna-se caso de polícia enquanto mais de
500 mulheres, até o momento, relatam que foram vítimas de seus abusos sexuais
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