Last weekend, as most parts of the world enforced extreme social distancing measures to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, a crowd of thousands gathered in the Dominican city of Puerto Plata to listen to a popular “pilgrim” prophesize that God will rid the country and the whole world of this pandemic.

In flagrant breach of the social distancing measures imposed by the Dominican Government, a crowd of thousands of people accompanied pilgrim Mildomio Adames to a local square where the self-proclaimed holy man revealed that he had had a divine revelation. Adames told the excited crowd that he had to dump a large wooden crucifix into the sea to make God end the Covid-19 pandemic.

“On Monday, they will already be able to tell that the world that the Dominican Republic and many countries in the world will not have the disease because God has already cleaned us,” Adames could be heard saying in one of the videos published on his official YouTube account.

According to Monsignor Julio César Corniel Amaro, the Bishop of Puerto Plata, before gathering in the open to hear the pilgrim’s revelation, the mob stormed the Cathedral of San Felipe Apóstol.

“When the ‘pilgrims’ arrived at the cathedral, which was closed at the time, they forcibly opened a door and entered the premises, where they remained for around 10 minutes and then left after a message from the leader of the group,” Amaro said in a statement.

The gathering sent shock waves across the whole of the Dominican Republic, withe many public figures and politicians denouncing the event, and one senator going as far as calling it a “terrorist attack” that undermines the safety of the entire country.

Mildomio Adames, who calls himself ‘The Pilgrim’, brushed off accusations, saying that he did not expect to see such a large number of people gathered to greet him. That didn’t stop him from preaching to them though, telling them to repent for their sins and seek God.

Adames claims he began the pilgrimage from his home province of San Cristobal to invoke God, asking the Almighty to have mercy on humanity in the face of the current coronavirus pandemic. He has been saying that he had prophesized that this pandemic was coming since last year, as Jesus Christ had sent him several signs.

 

Unfortunately, in a country where many people have lost faith in corrupt politicians and authorities, twisted religious messages like The Pilgrim’s become much awaited answers to serious social and financial problems. Sadly, this sort of fanaticism only makes things worse.