Pilgrim House Community: A strange Little Cult
Posted on Saturday, June 28, 2008There was a very peculiar half-page advertisement in the Irish Times during the week, signed by Bridget Anne Ryan, Conleth Finnegan, Claudia Carvajal and Benedict Hogan.
Have a read of this and see what you make of it.
Now. Isn’t that exceedingly strange?
You’ll notice that it refers to damage caused by the signatories’ dishonesty seven years ago, which, though it doesn’t mention this, would be around the same time that a community member, Margaret Foley Smith, committed suicide by hanging.
Margaret Foley Smith had left the community about a month before her death, but was induced by certain phone calls to return, and was discovered dead by one Claudia Carvajal.
After Margaret’s death, members of the Pilgrim House Comunity went to her home town in Meath and handed out leaflets containing untrue allegations of incest in her family.
This is the same organisation which was accused of pressurising members who attempted to leave, and which was described as having cult-like characteristics, with Helena O Leary in the role of a messianic cult leader.
All very strange and perplexing.
What’s even more perplexing is how an organisation like this can still be receiving money from the Health Service Executive to look after mentally handicapped people in Kildare.
How very odd.
__________________
Update
Bridget Anne Ryan has this article in the Irish Times which leaves me even more baffled than I was before reading it.
Stumble it!
June 28th, 2008
I dont know the backstory Bock,could you enlighten please?
June 28th, 2008
OD: I’m a bit stuck for time at the moment. When I have more information, I’ll bring it to you, but in the meanwhile, might I suggest a spot of googling?
June 28th, 2008
The whole thing is fucked on so many levels.
Beyond that, no wisdom, no rationale.
June 29th, 2008
What regulation/ oversight does the state bring to bear on this to help ensure the mentally disabled people are being cared or properly?
June 29th, 2008
Is this the house of prayer crowd???
June 29th, 2008
No, the house of prayer is a different organisation.
Any media outlet who discussed pilgrim house would have a delegation from this cult knocking on their door.
They called to the producer of RTE’s Would You Believe programme in the dead of night and brought a number of the disabled people they care for with them. They also called into the offices of the Sunday Times as well.
AFAIK they are only caring for three individuals at the moment.
June 29th, 2008
Personally it looks like this apology was part of some healing ritual taking place within the cult.
June 30th, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/3mjp7g
and
http://tinyurl.com/5bu7cr
June 30th, 2008
They look like a bunch of lunatics.
June 30th, 2008
WOW!! Mentalists is the word to describe them..
June 30th, 2008
I agree with Squid, its like a cleansing, getting out the bad karma by acknowledging they were wrong. It may also be a legal head off of a coming lawsuit. Smart nut jobs.
June 30th, 2008
That’s not an apology! If what they did is true, if they wrongfully and maliciously accused someone’s family of incest and brought about someone’s suicide, then what they need to say is “We are sorry for wrongfully and maliciously accusing people of incest.”
That much is owed their victims, not some nebulous all-purpose sorry in the Times.
How odd?
How horrific, I’d say.
June 30th, 2008
Sam, it isn’t an apology to the family.
It’s an apology to the cult leader.
July 1st, 2008
It’s not a cult. They had a very different way of doing things. I visited and was really impressed but couldn’t live the way they did because they are so radical. The leaflet thing was wrong but it should not deflect from good work they’ve done. Different doesn’t always mean cult. Radically different religious group yes. Cult no. Problem is that in our society there is no room for radical difference anymore. It’s not always wrong.
July 2nd, 2008
What great work, dragging disabled people around the country late at night in order to “send a message” to TV producers. That is not great work at all, that is plain cruelty. and yes, they do have cultish characteristics.