Pace memorandum

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The Pace memorandum was a 1990 memorandum written by Glenn L. Pace, a general authority in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, describing to a committee of the church the complaints of some members of the church that claimed they had been subjected to Satanic ritual abuse by family members and other members of the church. The state of Utah investigated these claims after the Pace memorandum was leaked to the press in 1991, but they were unable "to substantiate with physical evidence the incidents reported."

Contents

[edit] Background

Main article: Satanic ritual abuse

In the 1980s, individuals in the United States began alleging that children and non-consenting adults had been sexually abused in Satanism-related rituals; the rituals that these people were allegedly subjected to became known as Satanic ritual abuse (SRA).[1] Beginning in the early 1990s, adherents in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) began telling leaders of the church that they had been subjected to SRA by their relatives—often parents—and other members of the church.[2]

[edit] The Pace memorandum

In July 1990, Glenn L. Pace, who at the time was a member of the church's presiding bishopric, fulfilled a request by the church's Strengthening Church Members Committee by writing a memorandum about his investigations into alleged incidents of SRA among Latter-day Saints in Utah, Idaho, California, Mexico, and elsewhere.[2] The memorandum was leaked to the press in October 1991.[3][4][5] In his memo, Pace stated that he had met with sixty victims who had recovered memories of ritualistic abuse performed on them when they were children. Pace reported that children were being "instructed in satanic doctrine" and that as eight year olds they were "baptized by blood into the satanic order which is meant to cancel out their baptism into the Church".[2] Forty-five of Pace's witnesses claimed to have witnessed or participated in human sacrifice, including the killing of babies. It was also widely reported that children were being ritually tortured and raped. Pace said that the alleged perpetrators included "Young Women leaders, Young Men leaders, bishops, a patriarch, a stake president, temple workers, and members of the Tabernacle Choir" and that some of the abuse took place in church meetinghouses.[2] Pace wrote that "when sixty witnesses testify to the same type of torture and murder, it becomes impossible for me, personally, not to believe them."[2][6][3][4]

Pace compared these allegations to stories in LDS Church scriptures about secret combinations and Cain's combination with Satan to become Master Mahan.[2] Pace also suggested that the alleged abusers were using and corrupting the oaths in the church's temple Endowment ceremony as part of the Satanic abuse, and that many victims had flashbacks when they attended the temple for the first time and were asked to participate in the blood oaths.[2][6][7]

[edit] Government investigation

In 1991, the Utah State Legislature appropriated $250,000 for the Attorney General's office to investigate the allegations.[8] The investigators interviewed hundreds of alleged victims, but they were unable "to substantiate with physical evidence the incidents reported." The 1995 report added that the specific accusations against church leaders were "absurd", and the head of psychiatry at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City said he "has never been able to independently verify memories of satanic ritual abuse".[9][10][11]

[edit] Church reaction

The church has made no official statement related to the allegations related in the Pace memorandum. However, one commentator has suggested that Apostle Richard G. Scott's sermon in the April 1992 general conference of the church may have been related to the SRA allegations.[12] In his remarks, Scott warned Latter-day Saints:

I caution you not to participate in ... improper therapeutic practices that may cause you more harm than good. ... Detailed leading questions that probe your past may unwittingly trigger thoughts that are more imagination or fantasy than reality. They could lead to condemnation of another for acts that were not committed. While likely few in number, I know of cases where such therapy has caused great injustice to the innocent from unwittingly stimulated accusations that were later proven false. Memory, particularly adult memory of childhood experiences, is fallible. Remember, false accusation is also a sin.[13]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ See, e.g., Kagy, L. (1986). "Ritualised Abuse of Children." ReCap: From the Child Assault Prevention Project (Winter); Hechler, D. (1988). The Battle and the Backlash: The Child Sexual Abuse War. Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books; Cozolino, L. J. (1989). "The Ritual Abuse of Children: Implications for Clinical Research." Journal of Sex Research 26(1): 131–138.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glenn L. Pace, "Ritualistic Child Abuse", memorandum to Strengthening Church Members Committee, 1990-07-19. A photoreproduction of the memo is in Jerald and Sandra Tanner (1992). Satanic Ritual Abuse and Mormonism (Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah Lighthouse Ministry) and is available at utlm.org.
  3. ^ a b Salt Lake Tribune, 1991-10-25, p. A1.
  4. ^ a b Deseret News, 1991-10-25, p. A1.
  5. ^ "Leaked Bishop's Memo Spotlights LDS Ritual Satanic Sexual Abuse", Sunstone, Nov. 1991, p. 58.
  6. ^ a b James Coates, "Mormons Study Satanism Claims: Members Report Abuse As Kids By Renegade Cliques", Arizona Republic, 1990-11-03, p. A7.
  7. ^ The LDS Church had removed the blood oaths as part of the Endowment ceremony in April 1990. It is not known if Pace's investigations were related to the decision to remove the blood oaths.
  8. ^ B.A. Robinson, "Utah State Government's Inquiry into Ritual Crime", 2000-11-23, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance webpage.
  9. ^ Michael R. King and Matt Jacobson (1995). Ritual Crime in the State of Utah: Investigation, Analysis & A Look Forward (Salt Lake City: Utah Attorney General's Office).
  10. ^ "Report Finds Little Proof of Ritual Abuse", Deseret News, 1995-04-25, p. B2.
  11. ^ "Satanism Probe Comes Up Empty," Salt Lake Tribune, 1995-02-28, p. D3.
  12. ^ Massimo Introvigne, "A Rumor of Devils: Allegations of Satanic Child Abuse and Mormonism, 1985–1994", paper read at the Annual Conference of the Mormon History Association in Park City, Utah, 1994-05-21.
  13. ^ Richard G. Scott, “Healing the Tragic Scars of Abuse,” Ensign, May 1992, 31.