The leader of a multinational, Mexico-based Christian church is imprisoned in California after pleading guilty to sexually abusing minors
FILE - Naason Joaquin Garcia, the leader of the La Luz del Mundo, Spanish for The Light of the World, appears in Los Angeles County Superior Court, on June 5, 2019. The leader of the multinational, Mexico-based Christian church is imprisoned in California after pleading guilty to sexually abusing minors. Yet legions of followers in his home city of Guadalajara remain fervently loyal to him.
It seems clear that many members of the church, founded in Mexico in 1926 and now active in many countries, aren’t ready to abandon Joaquín García as their “apostle” — the term used for the church’s leader. Many believe he was sent by God to preach to them and are convinced he is innocent, despite his guilty plea.
The home base of the church is the Guadalajara neighborhood of Hermosa Provincia, Spanish for “beautiful province.” Jericho, Bethlehem and Nazareth are among the names of roads converging on the white temple that locals call “the cake,” for its white tiers that diminish in size as they rise upward. “I think it changed for the better in the sense that now we feel more united, and we feel more empowered,” she said.
The jailed leader is the grandson of La Luz del Mundo’s founder: Eusebio Joaquín González, a member of the military who began preaching in 1926. He's known to church members as Aarón — a result, he said, of God asking him to change his name. Castillo, a recently married woman of 25, told AP the church advises members how “to lead a decent life,” in which women may not drink alcohol or go out on frequent dates. Like other women in Hermosa Provincia, she wears dresses and skirts that are not form-fitting, eschews makeup and earrings and wears her hair long.
“All this goes to show that although you are part of this world, you have accepted a very particular way of life because you are Christian,” Sánchez-Walsh said.
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