Sacred Scandal
SEASON 2: La Luz del Mundo Sacred Scandal, named one of Podtrac’s Best New Podcasts of 2022, embarks on its second season, focusing on Mexico-based megachurch La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World). It tells the story of Naasón Joaquín García, a self-proclaimed apostle, who is currently behind bars after pleading guilty in June 2022 of sexually abusing girls from his congregation. Naasón is currently serving a nearly 17-year sentence, but maintains his innocence. Host and investigative journalist Roberta Garza explores Naasón's control over a multitude of devotees, some of whom now describe their experiences in the church as "pure evil." In this true-crime series, survivors share stories about this powerful religious leader and the alleged sexual abuse that followed, many relating to minors. SEASON 1: Two decades ago on a calm, dark Miami night, a nun was stabbed nearly 100 times on the grounds of a prestigious private academy and monastery, by student Mykhaylo Kofel. As investigators started asking questions around this Byzantine Catholic School and the gruesome murder, they found more than just her killer. In a search for answers that stretches into some of the most remote villages of Eastern Europe, they uncovered allegations of sexual abuse, secret letters to the Vatican and other mysteries of faith. Sacred Scandal unravels the fuller picture that came to light in the wake of this crime. Led by a former student, told by those who lived through the aftermath, and Kofel himself, the show pieces together a complicated narrative that, twenty years later, still has those closest to it questioning what they truly believe… including a man who’s spent half his life in prison for the crime: “It’s so unbelievable. It definitely wasn’t me. I’m not a killer. No way. That’s not me.” — Mykhaylo Kofel, 2021
Episodes
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At a monastery in Miami, a nun is found dead in her room just before Sunday Mass. With more than 90 stab wounds, the search for her brutal killer begins.
Hosted by Paula Barros and Melanie Bartley
A Production of EXILE Content Studio
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Twenty years before the murder at Holy Cross Academy, two struggling priests find one another in South Florida. As they build out their utopia, some are awed by their vision, while others start to question their methods.
Hosted by Paula Barros and Melanie Bartley
A Production of EXILE Content Studio
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As detectives start to narrow in on the murder suspect, an unexpected guest arrives at the homicide office. And startling allegations against the monastery change the course of the investigation.
Hosted by Paula Barros and Melanie Bartley
A Production of EXILE Content Studio
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In the mid-1990s, a devoutly religious Ukrainian teenager is offered the chance to escape a violent household, for a life-changing opportunity at a Florida monastery. But swapping the hardships of his rural mountain village, for the promise of a better future in America, ends up far worse than his expectations.
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Hosted by P...
Now in Miami, the monastic candidates of Holy Cross Academy start to realise that life there isn’t exactly what the priests promised. And one of those monks reveals how a dark secret kept inside the monastery put him on a path to prison.
Wanna get in touch? Email us at hello@sacredscandalpodcast.com or follow us on Instagram @SacredScandal.
Hosted by Paula Barros and Melanie Bartley
A Production of EXILE Content Studio
Learn...
Mykhaylo Kofel’s accusations against the priests of Holy Cross Academy turned what appeared to be an open-and-shut murder case on it’s head. Those allegations would send both the prosecution and defence teams halfway around the world looking for the truth, and put the monastery on high alert.
Hosted by Paula Barros and Melanie Bartley
A Production of EXILE Content Studio
Wanna get in touch? Email us at hello@sacredscandalpodcast....
After the priests of Holy Cross Academy refused to cooperate with the murder and sexual abuse investigations, lawyers started to dig into the school’s past on their own. What they found was that years before Sister Michelle’s death, another investigation into Holy Cross already started — and it stretched all the way to the very top of the Catholic Church.
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Nearly four years after the murder of Sister Michelle Lewis, Mykhaylo Kofel’s fate is finally decided. And all of the investigations take their toll on Holy Cross Academy, but not before the priests find a new place to call home.
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Determined to speak to the priests from Holy Cross, Paula and Melanie go on a 5,000-mile mission to find them.
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With a Russian invasion looming over Ukraine, Melanie and Paula drive to a monastery in the Carpathian Mountains to speak with a priest whose silence has echoed for more than twenty years.
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Melanie and Paula look back on their conversation at the monastery and, as new theories emerge, they try to piece together the truth about what happened at Holy Cross.
If you want to get in touch, email us on hello@sacredscandalpodcast.com. And for behind-the-scenes photos and videos follow us on Instagram @SacredScandal
To help support the people of Ukraine at this time, visit https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/ukraine-cr...
Melanie and Paula answer questions from listeners, review updates from the war in Ukraine, and discuss stories and interviews that didn't make it to the series.
If you want to get in touch, email us on hello@sacredscandalpodcast.com. And for behind-the-scenes photos and videos follow us on Instagram @SacredScandal
To help support the people of Ukraine at this time, visit https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/ukraine-crisis-re...
For lovers of true crime, EXILE Content Studio proudly presents their latest show, Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder, & Pegasus Spyware (subscribe here). Beginning with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Shoot the Messenger investigates the sophisticated spyware used on his inner circle, Pegasus - and how vulnerable we all might be.
Jamal Khashoggi’s life, assassination, and betrayal opened up a timeline for a n...
Sacred Scandal, named one of Podtrac’s Best New Podcasts of 2022, embarks on its second season, focusing on Mexico-based megachurch La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World). It tells the story of Naasón Joaquín García, a self-proclaimed apostle, who is currently behind bars after pleading guilty in June 2022 of sexually abusing girls from his congregation. Naasón is currently serving a nearly 17-year sentence, but maintains his innoce...
Discover the stunning downfall of the leader of religious organization "La Luz del Mundo," Naasón Joaquín García.
Join us as we explore the shocking events that rocked the religious organization "La Luz del Mundo" when its leader, Naasón Joaquín García, celebrated his 50th birthday at Mexico City's prestigious cultural center, only to be arrested weeks later on charges of heinous crimes.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...
Moises Padilla was brutally attacked, stabbed 68 times after denouncing the heinous crimes committed by the religious group called La Luz del Mundo
It was in 1998 when Moises Padilla was brutally attacked, stabbed 68 times after denouncing the heinous crimes committed by the religious group called La Luz del Mundo, the largest cult on earth which, after decades of abuse, has recently come to light.
See omnystudio.com/listener for p...
We delve into the remarkable expansion of LLDM under the leadership of its second Apostle, Samuel Joaquín García, and trace the origins of LLDM back to its founding Apostle, Aaron Joaquín.
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We meet Sochil Martin, the whistleblower who played a pivotal role in the downfall of Naasón Joaquín García. Sochil takes us on a journey through her childhood as a faithful member of the church and the dark tasks she was asked to perform as part of her service to the apostle.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A woman is shot dead in Guadalajara. There are multiple witnesses. Security camera footage. But no one comes forward and the case remains unsolved. We look at LLDM's deep connections with the police, and their hush-hush operations.
LLDM's longstanding connections with influential figures and politicians have helped them evade accountability time and again, but as public scrutiny intensifies, will justice finally be served? I...
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