[Benzgirl]

My cousin, also a member of my sorority, is a very devout Roman Catholic. She was raised in a Catholic household, attended Catholic schools k-12 and a Catholic college. That said, she has come out strongly against ACB because of her faith. I have another cousin who is a less devout Catholic and a KD who is also against her appointment. Not that any of this matters to those who will review her appointment, but I'm giving my two cents.

The statements from my 2 cousins piqued my interest so I researched the Catholic Group, People of Praise, of which ACB and her husband are part. First and foremost, People of Praise subjugates women. They are a religious community based in charismatic Catholicism, a movement that grew out of the influence of Pentecostalism, which emphasizes a personal relationship with Jesus and can include baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.

ACB’s family are deeply connected with the organization. As recently as 2017 ACB served as a trustee at the People of Praise-affiliated Trinity Schools Inc. Barrett’s father has served as the principal leader of People of Praise’s New Orleans branch and was on the group’s all-male Board of Governors as recently as 2017. Her mother has served in the branch as a “handmaid,” a female leader assigned to help guide other women.

The group has been portrayed by some former members, and in books, blogs and news reports, as hierarchical, authoritarian and controlling, where men dominate their wives, leaders dictate members’ life choices and those who leave are shunned. A former member has been indicated her mother saying a wife could never deny sex to her husband because it was his right and duty. She also recalled People of Praise meetings held in her parents’ living room where members prayed in tongues to cast out demons from a person writhing on the floor, rituals she described as exorcisms.

People of Praise has roughly 1,800 adult members nationwide, with branches and schools in 22 cities across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It was founded in South Bend in 1971.