Naasón Joaquín García, the spiritual leader of the Guadalajara-based Luz del Mundo Church jailed last week for the sexual abuse of three minors, has told his five million followers to “turn the page” and asked for their support.
“The church is firm, the church is strong, the church is united. Support me and take my side with your works,” Joaquín said in a letter addressed to the congregation. “The church does not build its history by destroying or attacking its fellows. We have never done it and we will not start now.”
Joaquín said that “those who want to leave (the church) are free to go, but I do not think this will happen.”
Joaquín admitted that he was “sad” at his sentence of 16 years and eight months in prison, but that he was looking to the future and the next important occasion for Luz del Mundo—the Holy Supper (Santa Cena) in August, when thousands of the Church’s followers descend on Guadalajara from different parts of the world.