'Broken lives and families': former members of Quebec religious community speak out

Several former members of fringe religious community the Mission de L’Esprit-Saint are urging the Quebec government to intervene following claims that it was a cult that brainwashed some members.

Noovo Info journalist Marie-Christine Bergeron collected their stories as part of a three-part documentary series, La prison de l’Esprit-Saint, which is streaming on Crave.

• READ MORE: «Un lavage de cerveau»: d’anciens membres de la Mission de l’Esprit-Saint supplient le gouvernement d’agir

The community was founded in 1913 by Montreal policeman Eugene Richer, known as La Flèche (the arrow), who believed he was the embodiment of the Holy Spirit.

The Mission de l’Esprit Saint continues to operate in Quebec, North Carolina, Massachusetts and California.

Some members have left and are speaking out about what they said happened to them behind closed doors.

“I stayed in touch with these people,” said Bergeron, who worked with director Isabelle Tincler on the documentary. “It took time and trust for them to share their stories.”

In the documentary, former members described life in the community as a prison.

“It’s a religious organization that is harmful to its members. Its history is littered with broken lives and families,” former member Felix Morin told Noovo Info. “I lost a lot of my life for nothing. A part of my life was annihilated and broken.”

Tincler said silence has allowed the alleged abuse to continue into the present.

“It’s the cause of the abuse, the silence,” she said.

Journalist and Noovo Info anchor Marie-Christine Bergeron and director Isabelle Tincler speak about their new documentary series La Prison de l"esprit-Saint about the Mission de l'Esprit-Saint and some who have left the community. (CTV News)

The documentary features stories from members of different ages and groups.

They say that from a young age, they were taught to fear the world and have little contact with anyone outside of their faith.

Bergeron said church leaders controlled members by limiting their exposure to information.

Former members said that they weren’t allowed to learn about science or geography, planets do not exist and the Earth was shaped like a pear.

In addition, girls were discouraged from education altogether in order to get married young and start having children.

Some said they were sexually abused by relatives and repeatedly beaten by their parents.

"Everything that came from outside was downright of the devil. At six-years-old, we were told that we were going to be mothers," said a woman who identified herself as Richère.

None of the missions Noovo Info contacted responded to requests for comment.

The mission also operates the Académie de la Vallée du Roy private school in Lavaltrie, which was granted a private school permit from the Quebec Education Ministry.

The school told Noovo Info that it "does what the ministry asks” when questioned on if it meets educational requirements for all children.

The Education Ministry told Noovo Info that it granted the permit and explained that since the school meets the administrative criteria and that ministry staff carries out interventions to monitor teaching.

Bergeron said that those who leave the sect are left with few skills or outside support.