Gruppo del Rosario (Rosary Prayer Group)
Italian cult that attempted to destroy evil through human sacrifice
1973 - 1989
In 1972 Lidia Naccarato and her uncle Antonio Naccarato started receiving visions from God, which evolved into an organized religion the following year. After Antonio's died, he spoke to Lidia through divine revelation and revealed that he was going to be resurrected to conquer the world's evil. However, when the foretold date occurred with no resurrection, Lidia received another revelation that Peter, one of the sect's members, had made a pact with Satan to prevent it from happening. Therefore, they decided to murder him, believing it would rid the world of evil.
When the police came, they found 30 members in white robes standing in a circle around an altar with images of saints and Antonio and Peter's dead body sealed in a room.
Religion: Christianity
Denomination: Catholicism
Founder: Antonio Naccarato
Leader: Lidia Naccarato
Founded: 1973
Ended: 1989 (remnants existed as late as 2010)
Location: Turin, Italy
Size: 1,000
35 members were arrested for the murder of Peter, who was killed because they believed he was working with Satan to prevent the founder Antonio from getting resurrected (source p. 5-6)
Lidia declared that she and Antonio had offered themselves "in sacrifice for the good of all" and that God had chosen her uncle to be the sacrifice. It is unclear how Antonio died. (source p. 4)
Women were commanded to have sexual relations with multiple female members to "redeem the evil" (source p. 39-40)