The John-Henry Westen Show - December 24, 2025


Satanic Ritual Abuse SURVIVOR Exposes the VATICAN ｜ Rachel Mastrogiacomo


Episode Stats


Length

22 minutes

Words per minute

158.42946

Word count

3,571

Sentence count

241

Harmful content

Hate speech

4

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Rachel Mastrogiacomo was sexually abused by a Catholic priest in the mass when she was a young girl growing up in the 1960s and 70s. She talks about her experience and how she was able to find her way back into the Catholic Church.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 What I came face to face with was actually Satanism within the church.
00:00:04.340 It was diabolical ritual abuse of a virgin during the holy sacrifice of the mass.
00:00:11.740 Hello, my friends. Welcome to the John Henry Weston Show.
00:00:14.580 Today's show is really special, not because we're in Rome, which we are,
00:00:18.480 but because we have with us a guest who exemplifies something really neat.
00:00:25.140 One of the worst things that people think of, and the reason many people leave the church,
00:00:30.000 is because of the horror of clergy abuse.
00:00:33.700 They think of that, and they think, that's it.
00:00:36.100 Some people say, if God could allow that, then obviously he's allowed people to leave the church who wants them to.
00:00:44.060 And yet the truth is that despite the most horrific things, our Lord is able to make of them good.
00:00:51.700 As insane as that sounds.
00:00:54.680 There's living proof with us today in Rachel Mastrogiacomo.
00:00:59.220 Her story is very famous.
00:01:01.840 She was ritually abused by a Catholic priest in the mass.
00:01:09.200 And it doesn't get worse than that.
00:01:13.060 That's the thing that drove so many people to spit at priests,
00:01:17.480 to talk about when they talk about priests, like all of the pedophiles,
00:01:20.780 because of this type of thing.
00:01:23.000 And yet, even in that, we have an unbelievable example of not only overcoming it,
00:01:32.420 but overcoming it in such a way that there is forgiveness for the offender
00:01:38.740 and a deepening of the faith.
00:01:43.820 An embrace of our Lord like it wasn't before.
00:01:48.000 It's mind-blowing.
00:01:49.460 Our guest is Rachel Mastrogiacomo.
00:01:51.440 Rachel, thank you for being with us.
00:01:52.820 Thank you.
00:01:53.000 Thank you, John Henry.
00:01:54.020 What a joy.
00:01:55.420 Let's begin as we always do with the sign of the cross.
00:01:57.920 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
00:02:02.300 Amen.
00:02:03.500 So, let me start off with this, Rachel, because I think it really is a burning question
00:02:07.560 for people who hear about your story,
00:02:09.780 and then just can't, how in the world can this happen?
00:02:14.080 Because you, when you speak, I remember hearing you one of the first times,
00:02:17.860 and I was like, her faith is so strong.
00:02:20.820 How?
00:02:21.180 How?
00:02:23.000 It's like, despite everything that happened to you, as I said, the worst for most people.
00:02:28.380 A lot of people watching are going to be wondering, how in the world did you get to that place of peace, of joy even, after this?
00:02:37.820 How can they encourage other people who have either experienced this, or family or friends of those who experienced this?
00:02:45.480 How could we possibly get them, how could we possibly get them to re-embrace the faith when they've gone through, or they know someone who's gone through this?
00:02:50.860 It's a tough question, but I'm sure it's no surprise to you when I give all of the credit to the Mother of God.
00:02:59.400 She's the co-redemptrix, and if it weren't for my total consecration to Mary when I was a teenager, I don't think that I would be sitting here with you right now, having this conversation.
00:03:12.840 So I have to recognize her role, not only my breaking silence and coming out of extreme psychological abuse to the point of, I mean, it was total brainwashing.
00:03:25.640 I was under mind control.
00:03:27.600 It was a miracle, which I attribute to the Mother of God, that I even broke silence and started to get out of, you know, break down the control that had been established around me.
00:03:39.780 I have to begin with honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary and just honestly admitting that this has not been easy.
00:03:48.580 It's been 10 to 15 years of just wholehearted cooperation with grace, with the Mother of God, pursuing the sacraments, never turning away, you know, from the faith and receiving from our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:04:06.660 Just miracle after miracle, really, and I'm not worthy of the grace which He's bestowed upon me and liberating me from this evil, true evil.
00:04:17.000 But also restoring me and healing me so that I can use my voice for others.
00:04:23.740 And hopefully, I mean, at the end, I just want to be able to proclaim to a church in crisis that if the Immaculate Heart of Mary could triumph in a soul as poor as mine, I mean, I should be lost.
00:04:38.440 But I'm here and it's because of her and, of course, our Lord Jesus.
00:04:44.460 If her heart could triumph in a soul as poor as mine, her heart will absolutely, undoubtedly triumph in the life of the church.
00:04:54.460 And so I'm just grateful for the opportunity to just share my story.
00:04:59.080 If I can stay in the bark of Peter, if I can stay Catholic, anybody can.
00:05:03.940 You know, and Catholics are abandoning the faith because of stories like mine.
00:05:08.560 But I'm here to say that there's no better time to be Catholic.
00:05:12.700 And I've experienced the power of Our Lady, her heel to crush the head of Satan.
00:05:17.740 Because as you know, what I experienced, what I came face to face with was actually Satanism within the church.
00:05:23.960 It was it was diabolical in nature.
00:05:27.360 Ritual abuse of a virgin during the holy sacrifice of the mass is the coin of the realm of the Satanic.
00:05:34.660 And so I was clearly exposed to that.
00:05:38.200 And Our Lady completely liberated me from the throes of the Satanic.
00:05:45.720 And so I'm here just to do my, how could I not proclaim what she has done for me?
00:05:55.220 So I'm grateful.
00:05:57.500 Hello, my friends.
00:05:58.580 I want to thank you so much for your prayers, for your support for Life State News.
00:06:01.620 We couldn't do this without you.
00:06:02.740 We're right here in Rome, in the Eternal City.
00:06:06.240 We're not going to cede Rome.
00:06:08.640 We're not going to give up on the church.
00:06:11.680 We're going to continue to fight despite everything they throw at us.
00:06:15.200 And we need to do that with your help.
00:06:17.640 I would beg for your support so that we can continue this work.
00:06:21.480 It's coming up end of year.
00:06:23.280 And I know many do end of year donations.
00:06:26.560 Please consider Life State News and your giving.
00:06:28.600 God bless you, my friends.
00:06:29.460 And thank you.
00:06:30.920 Praise God.
00:06:31.640 One of the things, I mean, you mentioned the sort of struggles.
00:06:34.860 I'm sure those struggles are there to leave the faith.
00:06:37.520 And it's actually hard to even imagine.
00:06:40.320 And this is what a lot of people say.
00:06:41.740 How can God permit this?
00:06:43.720 A lot of people, when they come to struggling with God at all, and or having left the faith
00:06:48.480 and coming back, how can God allow any evil, for one thing, but then abuse of children,
00:06:56.220 and then in the context of the faith, how can God just allow?
00:07:01.300 That makes people go, like, have a mind trip because they say, how can any good God allow for this?
00:07:08.680 How do you respond now?
00:07:09.880 That question, I've been wrestling with it and learning how to integrate it into my being for the whole of my life.
00:07:21.220 Because when I was 13 years old, my father died tragically.
00:07:25.540 So the point of, like, God, are you good?
00:07:29.660 Or, I mean, who are you?
00:07:31.400 A 13-year-old little girl in me had to face that then, you know, and choose either to rebel
00:07:39.720 or to lean into grace and recognize that if it weren't for the death of my father,
00:07:49.880 I wouldn't have developed a total dependence on God as my father.
00:07:54.680 So there was this sense of, there's an opportunity to be grateful here.
00:07:58.160 This was hard as hell to lose my dad.
00:08:01.180 But through this suffering, I am now grateful that I know God as my father in a far more intimate way
00:08:08.720 than if my father were alive.
00:08:11.440 And so then, you know, you fast forward and then I'm a married young woman and struggling with infertility.
00:08:19.400 And infertility could, if I mean, rob me of my faith.
00:08:22.560 I think that it robs many women of their faith.
00:08:25.800 But through the course of fixing my eyes on Jesus and Mary and pursuing the path that our Lord opened up for me,
00:08:34.240 I ended up adopting my beautiful daughter and my son,
00:08:38.860 who I would take all the infertility in the world to have my children.
00:08:44.160 And so the question is, how do I want to look at this?
00:08:47.000 Is God evil or has God allowed me to suffer and identify with Jesus Christ on the cross
00:08:53.920 and then be a person of gratitude, a true woman of the Holy Eucharist?
00:08:57.720 Because the Eucharist means gratitude.
00:09:00.200 And so it comes down to a choice.
00:09:02.900 Do I want to be bitter or do I want to be grateful?
00:09:06.400 And I think that our Lord has allowed that, really through the power of the Eucharist and Our Lady,
00:09:11.260 that sense of gratitude.
00:09:12.700 And so then it comes to this horrible evil that I endured.
00:09:16.640 You know, and some would say, how could you maintain the faith after that?
00:09:20.700 It's been 10 to 15 years of healing and of liberation and of processing this trauma.
00:09:25.140 But I'm at a point where I can say, thank you, Jesus.
00:09:29.860 Because if it weren't for this horrible evil, I wouldn't be exposing what I'm exposing.
00:09:36.080 And, you know, I'm humbled that Jesus would allow me to bear witness to his mother
00:09:42.080 and the power of your heel in the way that I can do because of what I experienced.
00:09:46.560 So I'm grateful.
00:09:48.200 So it's really the Eucharist.
00:09:50.000 You know, and when I was a kid, all I wanted to do was be a missionary.
00:09:52.940 In fact, we were missionaries in Africa.
00:09:55.940 But I feel, though, I believe in the depths of my heart and soul that Jesus is calling me to be a sort of a missionary
00:10:04.920 in a weird way to the heart of the church and to proclaim really Our Lady of Fatima's message
00:10:11.180 in the heart of the church amidst this crisis in the church right now.
00:10:15.720 So when I was a kid saying, Lord, send me, send me, I never thought that he'd send me into this mission.
00:10:23.620 Never.
00:10:24.760 This is crazy.
00:10:26.060 But, you know, looking back now, after 15 years of restoration, healing, liberation,
00:10:32.060 I can say thank you, Jesus, for sending me into this diabolic underbelly so that I can bear witness to the Virgin Most Powerful
00:10:43.840 who crushes the head of Satan.
00:10:45.960 And so that's my mission, to bear witness.
00:10:48.120 It's amazing if there's any mission in the church that's difficult.
00:10:54.500 It's funny because I think of it more as there's missions to go to the poor, to go to the persecuted poor,
00:11:01.520 to go to the disabled and the abandoned and the orphans and everything else.
00:11:06.040 This mission, it's like going into the heart of darkness because in a real way, the spiritual torture,
00:11:16.680 the spiritual deprivation that's being perpetrated by the hierarchy is a worse crime than anything else.
00:11:26.080 It's that quote from St. John Eudes about when God really wants to show his castigation,
00:11:32.140 his worst punishment in the world, he gives you bad priests.
00:11:34.200 It's not he gives you tempests and storms and earthquakes and starvation.
00:11:39.500 It's actually bad priests.
00:11:41.220 And so you really are a missionary in the heart of darkness.
00:11:46.460 I mean, that's really where your mission lies in a kind of unbelievable way.
00:11:52.160 Tell us about that.
00:11:52.880 Have you been able to witness and maybe even see an effect of your witness in this area
00:11:58.900 with regard to bishops or church leaders to take sort of seriously their job,
00:12:05.080 to stomp out these evils, to make them take it seriously?
00:12:08.680 Because we know painfully that, you know, 2002 happened, Boston happened,
00:12:14.500 and they said, oh, we're going to do whatever, everything, everything, everything.
00:12:18.380 And they made all sorts of plans.
00:12:19.640 And so much of it was a mirage.
00:12:22.220 Like it was basically, oh, yes, we're going to take it seriously.
00:12:25.280 And then they kept doing it.
00:12:26.880 And we just learned here that Leo himself was involved in this kind of thing,
00:12:31.720 himself, let alone letting other people do the whole shuffle them on game.
00:12:39.820 And have you been able to see success?
00:12:42.360 It doesn't, sometimes we're sent to missionaries and don't get to see it.
00:12:45.400 Have you seen any movement in the bishops and priests you ministered to?
00:12:48.940 Clearly, there's been no indication that bishops or other church leaders are taking definitive
00:12:55.200 steps to address these abuses, other than to continue to try to cover them up and discredit
00:13:02.180 witnesses or settle cases.
00:13:04.320 However, we must continue to call them out.
00:13:07.040 You know, so part of the reason why I'm breaking silence is to inspire other victims to come forward,
00:13:13.440 because we're never going to restore the church unless these deep dark secrets are dragged
00:13:19.060 into the bright light of Jesus Christ.
00:13:21.240 So it's actually a mercy to the church, you know.
00:13:25.040 I love the church.
00:13:25.880 People don't seem to understand, some people.
00:13:28.280 I mean, I know you do.
00:13:29.540 But if you really love the church, why are you, you know, airing her dirty laundry?
00:13:35.480 But this really is a work of mercy.
00:13:39.120 And I love the church so much.
00:13:41.600 And I want to tell other victims, especially those who do love the church and they don't
00:13:45.320 want to, you know, because believe it or not, many victims are still faithful Catholics.
00:13:51.580 I've been walking with several of them over the past decade or so.
00:13:56.100 And it takes wisdom from the Holy Spirit.
00:14:00.900 It takes real grace to recognize that if you truly love the church, you will cooperate with
00:14:08.560 Jesus Christ in bringing this to the light, telling the truth, and really fighting for
00:14:14.860 Holy Mother Church and being the ones to, you know, bear the cross in some way and be misunderstood.
00:14:21.700 You know, many people think that I'm an enemy of the church or whatever by being a whistleblower.
00:14:25.660 But really, I would die for her.
00:14:27.600 And this is in some way a death.
00:14:30.900 To tell the truth, to fear no man, and to expose what I'm exposing.
00:14:34.860 But I love the church that much.
00:14:37.000 And they can say whatever they want about me.
00:14:39.380 At the end of the day, I will stand before Jesus Christ.
00:14:42.120 And I'm doing my best to just follow Him.
00:14:44.480 I don't think that anyone who would say that...
00:14:48.900 I thought, you know, maybe we're finally past those days where everyone's like, hush, hush,
00:14:54.420 don't say anything.
00:14:55.440 I'm sorry, I'd love to say that.
00:14:56.880 Don't you get it?
00:14:58.040 Yeah.
00:14:58.260 Everybody knows it's not a secret.
00:15:01.680 And by trying to hide it, it's the dumbest thing.
00:15:05.320 Because then everybody just goes, see, they're trying to hide it.
00:15:10.560 Stop already.
00:15:11.640 The movement to do the mea culpa, which was done.
00:15:17.220 It's so often done for the wrong reasons.
00:15:19.060 And you're like, please stop.
00:15:20.820 Please, don't apologize for offending the ecology or the planet or something.
00:15:26.820 Come off it.
00:15:28.060 Yeah.
00:15:28.160 This area where they have done some apologies, but then when it continues, and then when
00:15:34.980 they play the games, like with McCarrick and stuff, and just, oh, he's leicized now, so
00:15:38.560 he's all done.
00:15:39.580 That's a sick job.
00:15:42.080 Yes.
00:15:42.420 So we need to obviously get them to address that.
00:15:46.100 But one of the questions, at least as it pertains to this issue of clergy abuse, people are trying
00:15:51.980 to figure it out.
00:15:52.580 Yeah.
00:15:52.880 They're trying to figure, okay, what really can they do?
00:15:57.100 Should they do?
00:15:58.120 There's some theories.
00:15:58.940 A lot of parents, I guess, would have said, hang them or something like that.
00:16:04.560 But from your perspective, from the perspective of a victim and someone who's been there and
00:16:11.640 you've actually come through it, which I think is a total miracle, what do you suggest that
00:16:18.260 the church do about this?
00:16:20.340 As you know, I don't expect to defeat Satanism.
00:16:23.100 I don't expect to, you know, I'm just here to tell the truth and hopefully die with a 1.00
00:16:29.880 clear conscience.
00:16:30.960 But I have been at this for long enough to kind of know who to trust and who not to trust,
00:16:35.960 even within the church and even within advocacy groups, especially those who have suffered
00:16:41.480 abuses such as my own.
00:16:43.280 You can't trust everyone.
00:16:45.200 Not even every exorcist is capable of handling ritual abuse cases or extreme cases such as my
00:16:52.560 own.
00:16:53.320 And so I do have, I guess, some insight as far as that.
00:16:59.200 Groups like Purify the Church continue to show and argue that these clerics who abuse,
00:17:05.780 facilitate abuse, and cover up abuse are not acting in accord with the deposit of the faith.
00:17:11.640 They're not conducting themselves as a Catholic priest or bishop should, and as such cannot
00:17:16.860 expect the church to defend them or to pay for the damages caused by their criminal activities.
00:17:22.560 Or allow them to remain in their official capacities.
00:17:26.180 Groups like 490 Consulting continue to investigate, facilitate, and advocate cases of abuse for those
00:17:34.140 victims who have experienced satanic ritualistic abuse at the hands of clergy.
00:17:39.880 And so I encourage victims of SRA or ritualistic abuse. 0.68
00:17:45.000 So abuse that's done, you know, similar to my own, there's a lot of different various forms
00:17:51.700 of ritual abuse.
00:17:52.580 But I really urge them to seek out groups like Purify the Church or 490 Consulting, because 0.94
00:18:03.420 even in my own recovery, you know, I found myself going to different places within the church,
00:18:09.680 advocacy group that didn't even acknowledge what truly happened to me.
00:18:15.540 And that is extremely harmful to the overall process of healing for a victim of extreme abuse.
00:18:29.100 You need to be believed.
00:18:30.760 And not everybody in the church, not even every exorcist in the church,
00:18:33.960 believes that there are actually satanic practitioners operating within the priesthood
00:18:38.100 when there are.
00:18:39.240 So you need to find the correct...
00:18:43.340 You know, that's why I'm trying to kind of break this open and open this dialogue to help
00:18:48.920 facilitate healing for victims and point them in the right direction, if that makes sense.
00:18:54.520 It does.
00:18:55.080 It does indeed.
00:18:55.700 I just interviewed Rob Morrow on his book about Father Melike Martin.
00:19:00.180 And it was Father Martin who really blew the whistle on this early on, the satanic rituals 0.85
00:19:07.200 inside the Vatican.
00:19:09.220 Yes.
00:19:09.860 But, you know, it was in the context of a novel.
00:19:14.560 And many people thought, maybe he's doing some artistic license and exaggerating some things.
00:19:18.900 But your stories, the stories of others that are just...
00:19:23.900 It's unspeakable.
00:19:26.920 Yeah.
00:19:27.640 But I think the best speakable thing is the conclusion.
00:19:32.520 Oh, yeah.
00:19:33.360 Your conclusion is healing.
00:19:35.200 Your conclusion is the triumph of the Immaculate Heart
00:19:37.400 inside of what looks like the impossible situation.
00:19:43.000 That's why your story is so beautiful.
00:19:45.500 It's, you were asked to grow through a crucible suffering that very few are asked to go through.
00:19:55.780 And you are to be the example of how you can come out on the other side, how you can love
00:20:01.600 God more, be more Catholic.
00:20:06.740 Despite, and not only despite, but with that suffering.
00:20:09.980 It's really beautiful.
00:20:10.720 Rachel, I just want to thank you on behalf of so many out there who you've touched with
00:20:16.600 your story.
00:20:18.080 And you've given not only them hope, but hope to hopefully bring their family, their friends
00:20:24.780 who have been affected by this crisis, which is widespread, back to church.
00:20:28.700 Any final words for us?
00:20:29.860 I want to thank you for giving me a voice, just a platform where I can use my voice, for
00:20:36.620 believing, for believing me.
00:20:38.540 Not all Catholic media has given me a voice.
00:20:42.900 I've been stonewalled and silenced, even by Catholic media.
00:20:47.960 But you have been someone who's been brave enough.
00:20:51.140 And it's also within the laity.
00:20:52.820 There are so many people in the laity that want to turn a blind eye to this.
00:20:58.260 And of course, in the priesthood, but there are good priests.
00:21:02.680 And of course, Bishop Strickland, who has believed me, stood with me, said, you know,
00:21:08.980 keep on telling the truth.
00:21:10.620 Don't fear anyone.
00:21:11.880 Tell the truth.
00:21:12.680 You're on a mission.
00:21:14.180 And so I'm thankful to those priests.
00:21:17.240 They know who they are.
00:21:18.620 Of course, Dr. Janet Smith.
00:21:20.180 She's been with me every step of the way.
00:21:22.040 And I'm just so grateful also to Libra Cristo Press, who had the courage to publish my book
00:21:27.720 when no other publishing company had the courage to do so.
00:21:32.080 So a lot of this really comes down to moral courage.
00:21:34.820 And my story, in some weird way, acts almost like a sword.
00:21:38.500 It divides.
00:21:39.500 The majority of people don't want to go near it.
00:21:41.580 But then there's a few brave souls, such as yourself.
00:21:45.380 And you're not afraid.
00:21:47.640 And your eyes are fixed on Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
00:21:51.580 And so I'm just grateful that I can share my small story in service to her.
00:22:03.000 So thank you with all my heart.
00:22:05.680 Thank you, Rachel.
00:22:06.660 God bless you.
00:22:07.560 Go pick up Rachel's book.
00:22:08.780 Devil in Rome.
00:22:09.640 The Devil in Rome.
00:22:10.400 I think just released.
00:22:12.040 Yes.
00:22:12.860 That's great.
00:22:13.800 Yeah.
00:22:14.320 And God bless you.
00:22:15.660 Thank you.
00:22:16.100 God bless you, John Henry.
00:22:17.500 And God bless all of you.
00:22:19.420 And we'll see you next time.
00:22:21.580 Hello, it's Fr. David Nix.
00:22:25.700 If you like this content, please click the link in the description for more like this.
00:22:30.520 Thank you all for watching, and God bless you.