Naasón Joaquín García, Mexican megachurch leader jailed for sex abuse, addresses congregation from L.A. prison

Their religious leader is behind bars in California after pleading responsible to sexually abusing minors. Yet legions of followers of Naasón Joaquín García in his residence base in Mexico stay fervently loyal to him, viewing his imprisonment as a problem that can strengthen their church, La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World), relatively than weaken it.

His continued maintain on his flock was evident not too long ago on the Christian church’s fundamental temple in Guadalajara, as 1000’s gathered to hope for their absent leader throughout their Holy Supper, essentially the most sacred festivity for La Luz del Mundo. To gasps of shock, Joaquín García addressed the congregation by phone from his Los Angeles prison, the place he’s serving a 16-year sentence.

“I do not see the bars that separate me from you,” he informed his followers. “I see your beautiful faces … because you are the children of God.”

Even outdoors the temple, the sound of his voice stirred feelings amongst dozens of devotees guarding entries to the sanctuary. Nearly all closed their eyes. Many lifted their fists. Some knelt and wept.

Near the tip of the decision, Joaquín García requested his followers to boost their arms and their voices to God and repeat after him: “I promise you, Lord, that whatever the suffering, I will never abandon you.”

It appears clear that many members of the church, based in Mexico in 1926 and now energetic in lots of nations, aren’t able to abandon Joaquín García as their “apostle” – the time period used for the church’s leader. Many consider he was despatched by God to evangelise to them and are satisfied he’s harmless, regardless of his responsible plea.

“The apostle always shows determination to move forward,” mentioned Phares Ruiz, who traveled from El Salvador to attend the Holy Supper. “He’s firm in his convictions, and the church is firm as well in its purpose of moving forward.”

Ruiz informed The Associated Press that his household has belonged to La Luz del Mundo for three generations.

Joaquín García, 53, was arrested in 2019 in California. He initially confronted greater than 20 costs, however most have been dismissed after a plea take care of prosecutors.

CBS Los Angeles reported the California Department of Justice arrested Joaquín Garcia and two different members of the church, Susana Medina Oaxaca and Alondra Ocampo, in 2019. Prosecutors mentioned that the crimes dated again to at the very least 2015. 

Oaxaca pleaded responsible to at least one rely of assault more likely to trigger nice bodily harm in June. Ocampo pleaded responsible to a few felony counts of contact with a minor for the needs of committing a sexual offense and one rely of forcible sexual penetration two years in the past. 

The church contended that prosecutors withheld or doctored proof, and mentioned Joaquín García pleaded responsible as a result of he did not suppose he might get a good trial.

“The Apostle of Jesus Christ has had no choice but to accept with much pain that the agreement presented is the best way forward to protect the church and his family,” the church mentioned.

The residence base of the church is the Guadalajara neighborhood of Hermosa Provincia, Spanish for “beautiful province.” Jericho, Bethlehem and Nazareth are among the many names of roads converging on the white temple that locals name “the cake,” for its white tiers that diminish in measurement as they rise upward.

Congregation members within the neighborhood name one another “brother” and “sister” and take delight in serving to each other. The church’s media relations workplace claims there isn’t a crime within the space.

The neighborhood has cafeterias, clinics, a recreation heart and a retailer that sells Bibles and religious-themed video games for kids. From the partitions cling images of Joaquín García, smiling and carrying a tuxedo. Spanning the primary avenue is a sculpture spelling “innocent” in Spanish.

Sara Pozos, 49, is amongst many within the neighborhood who consider their leader’s imprisonment has strengthened the church.

“I think it changed for the better in the sense that now we feel more united, and we feel more empowered,” she mentioned.

“It has been a very difficult issue, of course, for him and for us,” she added. “We all suffer something in life, but one learns to know those moments where you see that God is doing something to help you, to get ahead, not to let you fall.”

Another neighborhood resident, Sailem Castillo, additionally mentioned she was upbeat regardless of Joaquín García’s imprisonment.

“For us everything is very nice, everything continues to work,” she mentioned. “Ministers, pastors and deacons have their same duties. They bless the bread, the wine, and do other things as if he were here, although physically he is not.”

The jailed leader is the grandson of La Luz del Mundo’s founder: Eusebio Joaquín González, a member of the navy who started preaching in 1926. He’s identified to church members as Aarón – a consequence, he mentioned, of God asking him to vary his identify.

Aarón’s spouse was the church’s first member. Today it claims a membership of greater than 5 million in some 50 nations.

La Luz del Mundo is usually described as evangelical, however its members don’t embrace this time period. The church’s doctrine is realized from the cradle. Parents give biblical names to their kids and take them to the temple at 40 days previous to vow they’ll information them to observe their path.

Most teachings translate into one thing quotidian. During providers, the ladies sit to the fitting and males to the left. In some cities, individuals tithe greater than 10% of their month-to-month earnings to the church. Biblical verses are cited to clarify conduct.

Castillo, a not too long ago married girl of 25, informed AP the church advises members how “to lead a decent life,” wherein girls could not drink alcohol or exit on frequent dates. Like different girls in Hermosa Provincia, she wears attire and skirts that aren’t form-fitting, eschews make-up and earrings and wears her hair lengthy.

The faith is “very demanding,” mentioned Arlene M. Sánchez-Walsh, a professor of non secular research at Azusa Pacific University, a Christian establishment close to Los Angeles.

“It is not sufficient to say ‘I have converted’ or “I’ve baptized'” she said. “You must observe sure steps to show your loyalty.”

For some young people, these steps include memorizing songs honoring the apostle, reading the Bible before bed and not marrying someone from outside the church.

“All this goes to indicate that though you’re a part of this world, you have got accepted a really explicit lifestyle since you are Christian,” Sánchez-Walsh mentioned.

Those born in the neighborhood are baptized at 14 as a result of, in keeping with the church, that lets them resolve whether or not to reaffirm or depart the religion. Nevertheless, there are former members who say their ceremony was not elective.

Ahead of the baptism, in a ritual referred to as “the revivals,” kids endure days of prayer and fasting inside a temple. The revival consists of repeating “Glory to Christ” nonstop till the youths are heard talking in tongues to testify that the Holy Spirit has entered them.

For Raquel Haifa, 43, fulfilling the revivals was a traumatizing expertise that she considers abusive, as a result of minors should not capable of decline to participate.

“I did cry, because I was saying, ‘God, deliver me from this, make this time pass quickly,'” Haifa mentioned from Texas.

Currently, journalists should not allowed to attend providers or take images contained in the church’s temples. Since Joaquín García’s arrest, La Luz del Mundo’s media relations crew says it can not make official statements on his case as a result of litigation is ongoing.

On Sept. 8 a lawsuit was filed in California towards Joaquín García and 4 church members alleged to be complicit within the sex abuse. The swimsuit was filed by 5 girls who – underneath the pseudonym Jane Doe – have been recognized as victims within the authentic legal costs towards him.

It accuses Joaquín García of conditioning victims, underneath the guise of faith, to serve him above all else, in the end ensuing within the sexual abuse over the course of a number of years.

The lawsuit consists of detailed accounts from the 5 plaintiffs alleging that they have been pressured by Joaquín García and his associates into performing for pornographic picture shoots, and have been compelled to interact in sex acts with him.

“The church weaponized the faith of their most vulnerable members,” mentioned Jonati Joey Yedidsion, one of many legal professionals dealing with the lawsuit. “Instead of protecting those innocent women, Naasón and the church fostered and then brutally preyed on their blind trust and allegiance in the ‘Apostle'”.

The case has been troublesome for some former members who’ve distanced themselves from the church.

Speaking on a podcast referred to as “I Left a Sect,” Lo-ami Salazar mentioned Hermosa Provincia was her “happy place.”

“Knowing that these abuses took place there, in my happy place, in my safe place, is horrible,” she mentioned.

Joaquín García’s prison sentence in June got here after almost three hours of emotional statements by 5 younger girls he was charged with sexually abusing. They had as soon as been his most devoted servants. But in court docket they referred to as him “evil” and a “monster,” “disgusting human waste” and the “antichrist.”

“I worshipped my abuser,” mentioned a lady recognized as Jane Doe 4 and mentioned she was his niece. “He used me over and over again like a sacrificial lamb taken to slaughter.”