He’s a famous pastor, with longstanding ties to the highest circles of power in the Philippines. But for the past two weeks, he’s also been a fugitive, and on Sunday he was arrested. Pastor Apollo Carreon Quiboloy faces numerous allegations of trafficking and child abuse. He’s also on the FBI’s Most Wanted List[…]
The weeks-long standoff transfixed Filipinos, reminiscent of the way Americans viewed the Branch Davidian[…]In a key distinction, Quiboloy is far from a fringe figure: he’s a high-profile ally and confidante of[…]Rodrigo Duterte[…]
From 2002 to at least 2018, the U.S. indictment states, leaders of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ selected girls and young women between the ages of 12 and 25 to be “pastorals” --[…]assistants to Quiboloy who were also coerced into sex[…]
The pastorals’ duties included preparing the pastor’s meals and cleaning his homes. According to a superseding indictment from a federal grand jury in California, the girls also “gave him massages using lotion, and traveled with him on trips throughout the world”[…]
“Pastorals engaged in sex with defendant Quiboloy on a schedule” that assigned them “night duty”[…]
Some pastorals were minors, the indictment states. It accuses Quiboloy and church administrators of telling the girls and young women that sex with the pastor was God’s will, threatening them with physical and verbal abuse “and eternal damnation”[…]
Church leaders instructed the girls to write “commitment letters” pledging to devote their lives and bodies to Quiboloy as “The Appointed Son of God,” the indictment states[…]
The church’s full name is Kingdom of Jesus Christ The Name Above Every Name. To its followers, Quiboloy is known as the “appointed son of God.” His church is based in Davao City[…]
One of the church’s key teachings is repentance and the “spirit of obedience to the Father’s Will,” according to its website. Its reach is extensive, describing a “Kingdom Nation” run by administrators who serve “Kingdom citizens”