Month: April 2017

4 Danger Signs of Cult-Like Behavior

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A truly good piece from Fr. Dwight Longenecker on 4 Signs of cult-like behavior, complete with some remedies.

4 Danger Signs of Cult-Like Behavior, and 4 Antidotes

One of the creepiest things about religion is the tendency for those involved to drift into cult-like behaviors. When I say “cult-like behavior” I don’t simply mean a crazed, enclosed group who commit mass suicide, set up a 24/7 watch for aliens or who live on berries, granola and meditation.

Those are the wacky extremes. The underlying behaviors can manifest in every sort of religion. A subgroup develops and the members and leaders start behaving in a particularly recognizable way. They may not be extremists outwardly, but their group behavior is still cult-like.

How can you tell if a religious group is operating like a cult? It’s difficult because the people in a religious group can behave like a cult without them becoming a full-blown, identifiable religious cult.

[…] Click here to continue reading.

Interview with Niece of Fátima Seers

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Catholic News Agency has a great interview with the grand niece of (soon to be) Saints Francisco & Jacinta Marto. Her name is Jacinta Pereiro Marto.

Niece of Fatima visionaries reflects on her remarkable family

Fatima, Portugal, Apr 20, 2017 / 06:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The niece of Blessed Franciso and Jacinta Marto has voiced excitement for the coming canonization of her relatives, sharing stories of the time of the Fatima apparitions and personal memories of what it was like growing up in a family that had saints among its members.

“My family, my grandparents, my parents, all of us always accepted it as a gift from God,” Jacinta Pereiro Marto told CNA in an interview.

“God chose my uncle and aunt because this is what he wanted, so much that my grandfather used to say that the Virgin wanted to come to Fatima and she chose his children, but that we didn’t deserve anything,” she said.

[…] Click here to read the rest of the article.