Relatives call for action over Virgin Mary Cult
Pastor Dale Morgan
Relatives call for action over Virgin Mary Cult*
By Fiona Govan in Madrid
Last Updated: 1:40am GMT 20/11/2006
Thousands of superstitious people gather on the first Saturday of the
month to pray at an ash tree on the outskirts of El Escorial, 30 miles
northwest of Madrid, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a
cleaning lady 25 years ago. Many are members of the Foundation of the
Virgin and come to hear Luz Amparo Cuevas deliver the message she claims
to receive every month.
In recent months, another group has been present, bearing photographs of
relatives who have "disappeared" since joining the cultic sect.
The Association of Victims of the Appearance of the Virgin of Dolores
has lobbied the Catholic Church to stop the cult and claims that 26
people, some with a history of mental illness, have vanished since
joining the foundation.
However, Antonio Rouco Varela, the archbishop of Madrid, has assigned it
two chaplains and Juan Carlos Bueno Suescun, 46, the president of the
victims' association, said: "By doing this they are tacitly approving
Mrs Ceuvas' activities."