“She says that Jesus takes possession of her body and that he tells her that the followers must detach themselves from the good which is the most dear to them, but it is a pretext to be served by the followers”, explains to the AFP Magali Breux, the daughter of the founder of the “Love and Mercy” community, which she left in 2006 after spending ten years there, from her 15 to 25 years. “The followers donated their jewelry, paintings… We couldn’t get rich except from the word of God, so we paid a pension every month to Éliane, from 300 to 350 €. Yes of course there is a hold, ”she assures us.
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Her followers nickname her “the servant”
After nearly twenty years of proceedings, Éliane Deschamps, who says he hears the Virgin every 15th of the month at 12:06 am, will be tried in Dijon, from Monday, for abuse of weakness in the context of sectarian aberrations. The association “Love and Mercy” was created in 1999, in Dijon, under the name of “Our Lady of Peace and Mercy” and is now located in a village in the Jura.
This 62-year-old woman, nicknamed “the servant” or the “seer” by her followers, says she saw the Virgin Mary for the first time on the night of August 15 to 16, 1996 in a forest, at 12:06 am She says since this occurrence recurs every 15th of the month, at the same time.
In 2002, complaints, the first, are filed by relatives of followers, but a dismissal is made in 2007. Other complaints follow, evoking a mental manipulation that would lead the members of the group to sever all ties with their family. Monsignor Roland Minnerath, Archbishop of Dijon, denounced for the first time in April 2013 the actions of Éliane Deschamps. In a press release, at the time, he took a stand and asked that she cease the prayer sessions practiced within the association.
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“I have not seen my son, engaged in this group, for fifteen years”
A new investigation was then opened and Éliane Deschamps was indicted in July 2014 despite her contestation of the facts. The Interministerial mission for vigilance and the fight against sectarian aberrations (Miviludes) mentions in a 2008 report “behaviors constituting sectarian aberrations” and “a process of control, of rupture with the family and social environment and of financial pressures”.
“There is no control”, however, assures AFP Didier Pascaud, lawyer for Éliane Deschamps, who is appearing with his alleged accomplice Daniel Delestrac. “There is nothing in this file,” he adds, pointing to an “ubiquitous” procedure, which has lasted for twenty years. “There is no consequence on the moral and physical health of the plaintiffs”, asserts the lawyer, who will ask for the release.
“We are waiting for the defendants to be put out of harm’s way,” said Aleth Saint-Hillier, president of the Association for Dialogue and Reconciliation, which brings together alleged victims. “My 45-year-old son has been in this group for twenty years and I haven’t seen him for fifteen years,” she says.
A dozen plaintiffs will be represented at the Dijon Criminal Court for this trial which is due to end on Tuesday and which has already been postponed many times.
She says that Jesus takes possession of her body and tells her that the followers must detach themselves from the good which is most dear to them.
Magali Breux, daughter of Éliane Deschamps
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