Serafina Tane: I grew up in a religious cult and escaped | ABC Conversations Podcast

Serafina Tane joins Sarah Kanowski on ABC Conversations

Discover more from ABC Conversations on the ABC listen app

Serafina was born as a baby named Miriyum into a religious cult on New Zealand's South Island.

The cult leader was a charismatic but abusive man named Douglas Metcalfe, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

The members lived together at 'Camp David', growing vegetables and reading the Book of Revelation.

For Serafina, the cult was her family and she looked forward to the day they would take part in the final battle against the forces of Satan.

When she was a young woman she was released to attend technical college on the condition she still wore her headscarf.

While she was at Polytech, revelations about Metcalfe and his adultery and abuse of young girls began to emerge, which eventually saw the cult collapse.

But leaving Camp David for a life without religious rules was more complicated than she could have imagined.

Further information |

Guests

Serafina Tanè

Credits

Sarah Kanowski, Presenter

Nicola Harrison, Producer

Carmel Rooney, Executive Producer

#podcast #conversations

Subscribe ✅ and tap the notification bell 🔔 to be delivered Australian stories every day

_________________________________________

This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation YouTube channel. Contributions may be removed if they violate ABC's Online Conditions of Use (Section 3).