Ugandan cult The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God was one of the deadliest in world history, with the number of casualties similar to the infamous Jonestown massacre. The mastermind behind it? A woman who said she was receiving messages directly from the Virgin Mary.

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If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Links:

• Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs on the Petition by the Orphans of the Victims of the Kanungu Church Infernos — Parliament of the Republic of Uganda, July 2014
• The Kanungu Massacre: The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God Indicted — The Uganda Human Rights Commission Periodical Report, 2002
• Uganda Cult’s Mystique Finally Turned Deadly — by Ian Fisher, New York Times, 2 April 2000
• The preacher and the prostitute — BBC News, 29 March 2000
• Mary’s Flames: The Long Road to Horror in Kanungu — The East African, 8 February 2001
• The power behind the cult — The Telegraph (UK), 2 April 2000
• Violence and New Religious Movements — edited by James R. Lewis, Oxford University Press 2011
• A party, prayers, then mass suicide — by Anne Borzello, The Guardian, 20 March 2000

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