“John of God,” whose real name was **João Teixeira de Faria**, represents a shocking story of how a man who presented himself as a spiritual healer was able to abuse and exploit thousands of vulnerable people for decades before finally being brought to justice.
The Rise of “John of God”
From a Simple Farmer to a Global Guru
Faria had no formal medical training and only two years of schooling. He initially worked as a wandering peddler before settling in Abadiânia, Brazil, where he established his “spiritual healing” center, the *Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola*. His rise to international fame came after a 2010 interview on **The Oprah Winfrey Show**. This catapulted him to global stardom, attracting celebrities and thousands of desperate, vulnerable people seeking miracle cures for everything from cancer to blindness.
The “Healing” Practice: Psychic Surgery
At his healing center, Faria performed what he called **”psychic surgery”**. He claimed to be a medium who could channel the spirits of over 30 deceased doctors. While in a trance, he would use unsterilized tools like knives, scissors, and forceps to perform invasive procedures on his patients without anesthesia, such as scraping eyeballs or cutting into people’s bodies. The mechanisms for any reported benefits are unknown and likely a placebo effect.
The Shocking Reality: A Pattern of Predatory Abuse
The “miracles” and “healing” were a façade for a horrifying reality of systematic abuse. After he was exposed on Brazilian television in late 2018, over 600 women came forward with accusations of sexual abuse. The abuse was often disguised as part of the “treatment”.
His own daughter, Dalva Teixeira, publicly testified that her father had abused and raped her between the ages of 10 and 14. Furthermore, activists like Sabrina Bittencourt claimed he ran a “sex slave farm” where he would lure poor, young girls to his properties, force them to become pregnant, and sell their babies on the black market for up to £40,000 ($50,000).
The Reckoning: Arrest and Legal Consequences
The avalanche of accusations in 2018 was the beginning of Faria’s downfall. After initially evading arrest, he turned himself in to police in December of that year. In the following years, he was found guilty of multiple crimes, including rape, sexual misconduct, and illegal possession of firearms. The total of his combined sentences amounted to a staggering **489 years and 4 months in prison**.
The story of “John of God” is a stark reminder of how easily the guise of spirituality can be used to exploit human hope and vulnerability.
