Year: 2016

Vatican scraps plans to rid itself of corruption

Pete Evans
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When cardinals elected Pope Francis in 2013, he was given a mandate to eliminate cronyism, inefficiency and corruption in the Vatican.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 7 that Pope Francis has trimmed the powers of Cardinal George Pell, who was charged with cleaning up the city-state’s muddled accounts, in a setback for broader overhaul of Vatican bureaucracy.
Late last year, Pell hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to undertake a comprehensive audit of the Vatican’s finances.
Accounting at the Vatican has never followed unified policies, according to the WSJ article. Annual reports aren’t released, different departments use different accounting principles, data are inconsistent and not comparable. Before Cardinal Pell’s appointment, a panel of cardinals charged with economic oversight met just twice a year. Budgets didn’t exist, and expenditures weren’t itemized.
Already Pell had found about $1.6 billion “tucked away” off the books.
Other officials, led by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State, known as the pope’s prime minister, let Pell know the audit wouldn’t fly. In June, the Vatican announced it had been scrapped, and soon many of Cardinal Pell’s wide-ranging powers were handed to others.
The whole article is available to WSJ subscribers here:

Money for Refugees ’blesses’ Pat Robertson’s Diamond Mining Operation

Pete Evans

New Documentary: Mission Congo

Television is an incredible medium for raising money and one that televangelist Pat Robertson has used to the fullest extent for decades. Graphic images of starving, sick and hungry refugees can open hearts and wallets. For instance, Robertson’s Operation Blessing took in more than $338 million in contributions (and endowments) in 2013.

Five years ago, producers Lara Zizic and David Turner came to Dallas to interview Ole Anthony and gather research for a documentary about Robertson and Operation Blessing.  Now, after years of attempts by lawyers for Robertson’s organization to quash the film, it has finally been released.

It’s one of the most complete exposures of the business of televangelism we’ve seen.  Visit the Mission Congo website (here) and rent or purchase Mission Congo to see how millions of dollars were donated to help Rwandan genocide refugees in the mid-’90s, yet were diverted to Pat Robertson’s diamond mining company.  Toward the end of the film, Ole suggests a simple way to curb this kind of fraud.

Don’t be Conned by the Pay for Prayer Scam… Want your money back?

Pete Evans

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Hey YOU,  If you are one of the close to 125,000 people who PAID for the “Christian Prayer Center” to pray for you between 2011 and 2015, PLEASE READ ON.  This fraudulent organization has been directed by the Washington State attorney general to give you your money back! However, you have less than 3 months to apply to get your money back.

The trusted magazine, Christianity Today, reported that their whole website and Facebook page was a big fat FAKE, it was a LIE…  The sites creator, Benjamon Rogovy pocketed over $7 million dollars.   Rogovy also targeted the entire Spanish Speaking world as well with his pay for prayer scam website, Oracion Cristiana.

The testimonials of healings were fake.   The impression that they had several pastors on staff to pray for you was a lie.  They had none.  Please read the Christianity Today article here.
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Yonggi Cho Church to be Audited

Pete Evans

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On February 21st, 2014, Pastor Yonggi Cho was convicted of embezzling over $12M from his large Korean mega-church over a period of years. Now, the Korean authorities are set to audit the world’s largest church, the Yoido Full Gospel Church, based on suspicion that over $60 million dollars were embezzled by Pastor Cho and his associates. General account funds and money given for overseas missions were diverted as severance pay without approval from the church.  Read more about this from the Korea Times, here.

When Cho was convicted 2 and 1/2 year ago, journalist Lee Grady offered these important suggestions for church members and church leadership:

    1. 1. Never build a cult of personality.
    2. 2. Develop a culture of openness.
    3. 3. Insist on financial transparency.
    4. 4. Don’t build a family dynasty.
    5. 5. Beware of creating a greed monster.
    6. 6. Never tolerate a spirit of entitlement.”

Ole Anthony Explains Why Televangelists Hop Aboard the Trump Shuttle

Pete Evans

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Christian Post reporter Michael Gryboski recently asked Ole Anthony here at the Trinity Foundation what he thought about televangelist Mike Murdock’s endorsement of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Anthony told CP that “it’s not surprising that Murdock is drawn to Donald Trump, because both of them like making outrageous statements.”  Ole also said, “Mike Murdock’s endorsement of Trump – along with the whole spate of pastoral political endorsements – is an attempt to get credibility and to be ‘next to power.’ Spiritually, it’s the worst kind of heresy.”   Read the article here.

Forgive our tongue-in-cheek headline … Trump’s company, the “Trump Shuttle” went broke.   “The Trump Shuttle never turned a profit and collapsed within a year. Because he had taken out so much debt to finance the project, Trump was forced to default on his loans and lost the company to his creditors,” according to the National Review, which also reported that Trump praised China’s government for its handling of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1990.