Ted Jaracz - the Cardinal Ratzinger of Jehovah's Witnesses

Theodore ("Ted") Jaracz

1925-2010

About 7:30, June 9, 2010, Theodore ("Ted") Jaracz, one of the members of the Governing Body ruling over Jehovah's Witnesses, died.  Previously, on May 19, 2009, he had had a serious stroke, but recently seemed to have made a big recovery, giving some assembly talks.  

Jaracz was born in 1925 and was 85 years old at death.  Even prior to the major stroke he had been diagnosed with a heart condition as far back at the early 90s.

Raised in southern Illinois, in 1951 Jaracz graduated Gilead and was sent to the Australian branch where he worked in the Service Department, then as Branch Overseer where he was diligent in preaching and demanding theocratic order.  However, for reasons no one has yet divulged, around 1956, Jaracz was ordered to leave the Australian branch.  Now that he has died more is likely to come out then President of the Watchtower Society, Nathan Homer Knorr, sent Jaracz back to the United States to serve in the district work in California. He eventually declared himself to be "one of the anointed." 

In the early 70s, Knorr invited Jaracz to be on Watchtower's Governing Body Board of Directors as a way to "get even" after the directors began shifting power from Knorr over to the Governing Body.  It was Lloyd Barry, Branch Overseer in Japan, who recommended that Jaracz be removed from the Australian branch, so there was no love lost between the two men. Barry also was appointed to be a member of the Governing Body, and, eventually, overseer of the Writing Department.

Confrontation and disagreements between Barry and Jaracz were the talk of those in the know in the Writing Department, especially over the organization's child abuse policy of appointing molesters to positions of authority if they had repented. 

In 1972, the Watchtower Society sent a directive to its Bodies of Elders saying they need not delete as fellow elders those who confessed to having committed pedophilia provided "several years" (later defined to 2-3 years) had passed and they appeared to still be enjoying "Jehovah's blessing," meaning their pedophilia had not become widely known beyond the other elders of the Watchtower Society.

Knorr was instrumental in bringing in Jaracz to Bethel knowing that he was a hardline fanatic.  Once empowered, Jaracz was nicknamed "Boss" by the other Governing Body members. He took positions on policies that harmed the lives of millions of rank-and-file JWs and their children around the world. In 1976, at the Watch Tower Society's world headquarters, Jaracz wound up as head of the Service Department over Bodies of Elders around the world.

Barbara Anderson, former staff member in the Watchtower's Writing Department, says Jaracz was single-handedly responsible for the hard-line attitude towards child sexual abuse victims and the way the Service Department dealt with such abuse.  

After being appointed to the Governing Body in 1973, Jaracz, as head of the Service Department over all Watchtower's elders, heartily promoted what the 1972 directive had stated.  Due to Jaracz those molested were silenced, while their molesters, often elders, were allowed to stay in good-standing.

As the years rolled by the numbers and percentage of pedophile elders and other pedophiles among the congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses quietly increased, reaching crisis proportions that would eventually become a scandal breaking onto the world news.

Jaracz detested the October 8, 1991 Awake! about molestation and the following April 8, 1992 Awake! article that contained letters thanking the Governing Body for that Awake!. He even ordered the Watch Tower Society's factory not to print the April 8, 1992 Awake!, but was overruled by the second-in-command of the Writing Department, John Barr, when Barry was out of the country and could not intervene.   

Jaracz was single-handedly responsible for sending forth Circuit Overseers to intimidate child abuse victims into silence by threatening them with disfellowshipping if they continued to accuse Watchtower elders and ministerial servants of having molested them.  He rewarded one especially diligent Circuit Overseer, Guy Pierce, by inviting him to Bethel, and, eventually appointed him to the Governing Body.

Another Circuit Overseer, who helped Jaracz out by threatening victims, was named Beagle. He also was called into the Service Department.  However, Circuit Overseer Beagle, who was being groomed for the position of member of the Governing Body, died after being in Bethel only one year due to a viral infection in his heart. Informants say that before Beagle took ill, he had requested to go back into the district work.

In January 2001, Kentucky-based elder, William H. ("Bill") Bowen, went public about a Watch Tower pedophile cover-up in his own congregation. The story was carried by local Kentucky newspapers. Immediately, Bowen founded a website, www.silentlambs.org, where he discussed his accusations of a Watch Tower child abuse problem. Bowen used information shared by Barbara Anderson, former staff member in the Watch Tower's Writing Department, and also related his own encounters with many pedophilia judicial cases.

Thousands of JW victims of abuse responded which validated the claims made against the Watch Tower. Later, in 2002, he appeared with Barbara Anderson on Dateline NBC, a national TV program. In addition, over the years, Bowen appeared on international TV. For example: CBS, CNN and BBC told his story to the press many times. Anderson was also interviewed for many newspaper articles. She appeared on local Tennessee TV programs, and in November 2007, on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

[from Barbara Anderson, former member of the Watchtower's Writing Department]

Ted Jaracz' Influence On The Rest of the Governing Body

One dissenter writes:

There is a big philosophical split between the Writing Dept. and the Service Dept. - liberals versus conservatives. The Writing Dept. (was) headed by GB member Lloyd Barry, who I've heard mixed reviews about. I've been told by people who know him that he's fairly hard-line or fairly soft-line. I suppose it depends on one's point of view. Ted Jaracz head(ed) up the Service Dept. and those who have commented about him are unanimous that he's a "hard-line ***hole." The other GB members call him "The Boss" and they aren't just making fun. Barry and Jaracz, and of course their respective departments, have major disagreements about how JWs should behave and how the JW organization should be run. The nasty, hard-line approach of the last 20 years is due almost entirely to Jaracz' dominance.

Whenever there are conflicting directions from the Writing Dept. in The Watchtower and from the Service Dept. via the Circuit Overseer and direct letter channels, naturally the elders will follow the privately-given instructions. This is how the elders have ended up with the extreme nastiness and conservatism of Ted Jaracz.

More subjects on Ted Jaracz are discussed HERE such as:

Ted Jaracz vs Jack Barr - Governing Body Showdown

Ted Jaracz And Mental Health Counselors

Ted Jaracz And the United Nations Scandal

Ted Jaracz And Child Abuse Policy

Ted Jaracz On The Secret Child Abuser Database

Audio and Video available

Interview with Bill Bowen of silentlambs.org (8/15/2002) (Windows Media, 11 minutes)

Fifth Estate program on Spiritual Shepherds (2/3/2003) (Windows Media, 45 minutes)

Interview with Bill Bowen of silentlambs.org (8/4/2006) (Windows Media, 2 parts, 37 minutes)

Barbara Anderson on JWs and Pedophiles with WSMV.com (11/22/07) (Windows Media, 2 minutes)

NBC Jehovah's Witnesses child sexual abuse on YouTube (11/23/07)

Denver 2004 SNAP Conference

Interview with Mark Furhman from the Mark Furhman Show on Radio 1510AM KGA on Real Audio:

part 1 with Linda John (20:10)

part 2 (continued) (18:08)

part 3 with Barbara Anderson (15:00)

part 4 with Barbara Anderson (21:18)

source: http://www.freeminds.org/organization/governing-body/ted-jaracz-the-cardinal-ratzinger-of-jehovah-s-witnesses.html

Randall Watters

see also: Most Wanted Watchtower Leaders - For Crimes Against Humanity

Randy, please don't insult Ratzinger aka B16.  Pope Benedict is an intellectual giant.  Jaracz was, well....a Jehovah's Witness.

StAnn

Hi StAnn,

I have nothing against Catholics, but you can't ignore the news about Ratzinger and the similarities. There are bad apples in any religion, that's all.

Randy

Hi Randy, 

I respectfully suggest you're not reading the entire news about Ratzinger, just the MSM "we hate Catholics" news.  (Especially the New York Times, geez.)  I will ask you to rethink the notion that Ratzinger/B16 is a bad apple.  He is anything but.  

Check out NewAdvent.com for current news.  When you get stories from both sides, they suddenly become a lot more believable.

StAnn

There's a nice spot reserved in hell for Ratzinger and Jaracz alike.

Spot on Randy. There is more dirt coming out on Ratzinger every day.

As the reporter said on CNN yesterday: 'He is doing a lot of talking but making no changes. Things are just the same in the church."

Thanks to him, children are still at risk. 

Ratzinger seems like a kitten compared to what I hear about Jaracz. Though Ratzinger is being hard pressed to appease the masses....he at least has apologized and admitted publicly his/their errors......GB....NOTHING. 

What a HUGE responsibility it is to lead masses of people. I would feel so bad if I made errors of judgement, leading many to wrong life choices. I don't know how these men live with themselves. 

Question? Does anyone ever think maybe the GB once had Gods blessing....then lost it? I do wonder sometimes...then later I think of the wacky background they started with..and say, no way....

Ratzinger:  A sniffles.

Ted Jaracz:  Spanish flu.

I think Jaracz deserves all the torment he can get, and then some, for all the torment his policies have caused people.  And I, for one, would not give this lowlife scumbag a resurrection were it within my power (Raymond Franz, on the other hand, would merit a resurrection and another 120 years to get people to see the errors of the witless religion).

However, I don't think the witlesses have seen the worst of it yet.  Bad as it may be, Geritt Losch is next in line to assume control (legitimately or not).  And, from his anti-college stands (D.E.A.D.), I don't think things are going to ease up a bit under him.  For starters, he could start putting teeth in the ban on college.  Currently, all they can do is remove "privileges" from people that go or that let their children go.  That could be upgraded to a judicial offense, and all it would take is one letter to the hounder-hounders or an article in the Kool-Aid washtowel about it.

Another danger under Losch is a total ban on entertainment, gradually phased in, with disfellowshipping as a result.  Even a partial ban--say, a ban on sports, could get completely out of control.  So many things are tied in with sports that Losch could make the witlesses afraid to do things that normal people do (like working in industry where sports sponsors things, like supermarkets) or drinking beer (which is currently allowed).  And many products we use are inspired by sports--many cars, watches, shoes and sneakers, even equipment we see people wear on the job.  Let Losch hard-ban sports, and many of these items could also be banned.

It is not likely to stop at just sports, either.  Given enough time, Losch will ban computer games, Internet access, TV, radio, listening to real music, watching any videos not put out by the Washtowel Babble and Crap Slaveholdery, going to movies, and anything that is generally fun.  It probably will not happen in one go, any more than Boozerford banned everything as soon as he pushed himself in control.  At best, the witlesses will see things get a lot tighter.   At worst, it is going to be one miserably austere world for the witlesses.

Plus, I think Losch is going to do nothing about the pedophile policy that his predecessor Jaracz put in place.

Thanks Randy.  My parents told me how everyone at the ASSembly this past weekend was just sooooooo upset at Teddy Jackass Jaracz passing, but were thrilled that he's now in heaven with Jesus, (probably telling Jesus and Jehover how things should be done.)

Ted Jaracz was not a very nice person and given that it was his hardline attitude that caused the whole pedophile problem, I don't think it is too far off the mark to say that he was mentally ill.  He most definitely fit the profile of a Narcissist:

Narcissistic Personality: People with a narcissistic personality have a sense of superiority, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. They have an exaggerated belief in their own value or importance, which is what therapists call grandiosity. They may be extremely sensitive to failure, defeat, or criticism. When confronted by a failure to fulfill their high opinion of themselves, they can easily become enraged or severely depressed. Because they believe themselves to be superior in their relationships with other people, they expect to be admired and often suspect that others envy them. They believe they are entitled to having their needs met without waiting, so they exploit others, whose needs or beliefs they deem to be less important. Their behavior is usually offensive to others, who view them as being self-centered, arrogant, or selfish. This personality disorder typically occurs in high achievers, although it may also occur in people with few achievements.

 Not very comforting to know that a man who fit the above mentioned profile to a T had absolute control over how 6.5 million lived their lives.  I hope the bastard burns in Hell.

But he was so proper when I was at Bethel!

such a nice man.

Randy

I wonder if Teddy Boy also has little skinny legs!

Syl

Unless you can provide a shred of evidence aside from the accusations of Barbara Anderson and Bill Bowen, this is nothing more than a bunch of demoralizing gibberish.

1. When it comes to public opinion about the Catholic Church and Cardinal Ratzinger, the accusations are backed with real evidence not word of mouth.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/7573404/Pope-Benedict-accused-of-delaying-unfrocking-of-sex-abuse-priest.html

Pope Benedict XVI resisted pleas to unfrock an American priest with a record of sexually molesting children, arguing that the negative publicity would damage the church in a 1985 letter bearing his signature.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/world/europe/25vatican.html

Top Vatican officials - including the future Pope Benedict XVI - did not defrock a priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys, even though several American bishops repeatedly warned them that failure to act on the matter could embarrass the church, according to church files newly unearthed as part of a lawsuit.

But Cardinal Bertone halted the process after Father Murphy personally wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger protesting that he should not be put on trial because he had already repented and was in poor health and that the case was beyond the church's own statute of limitations.

"I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood," Father Murphy wrote near the end of his life to Cardinal Ratzinger. "I ask your kind assistance in this matter." The files contain no response from Cardinal Ratzinger.

http://documents.nytimes.com/reverend-lawrence-c-murphy-abuse-case#document/p1

The Document Trail: The Predator Priest Who Got Away

The New York Times obtained the documents, which the church fought to keep secret, from Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan, the lawyers for five men who have brought four lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The documents include letters between bishops and the Vatican, victims' affidavits, the handwritten notes of an expert on sexual disorders who interviewed Father Murphy and minutes of a final meeting on the case at the Vatican.

2. Unlike the men that serve as elders, abnormal psychology susceptible to perversion is ingrained in the priesthood because of archaic, medieval church doctrines.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/mar2002/chur-m29.shtml

Why the epidemic of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church?

The attempt by Church officials to blame the behavior on a few individual predators, overcome by evil, is absurd. That the abuse is a long-standing and worldwide phenomenon demonstrates it is not aberrant behavior, but something ingrained in the institution and its practices. Contrary to the pope's view, there is hardly any "mystery" whatsoever about the source of the misconduct: it emerges ineluctably from the inhuman and unnatural celibacy requirement and related medieval teachings and practices of the Church on human sexuality, associated with the doctrine of man's Original Sin. After decades, or perhaps centuries, of concealment, the psychologically perverse consequences of these teachings and practices have been exposed for all to see.

When clergymen are ordained, they take an oath of secrecy that complicates the epidemic of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimen_sollicitationis

Crimen sollicitationis (Latin: the crime of soliciting) was a 1962 document from the Holy Office (which is now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) codifying procedures to be followed in cases of priests or bishops of the Catholic Church accused of having used the sacrament of Penance to make sexual advances to penitents.

"I will never directly or indirectly, by gesture, word, writing or in any other way, and under any pretext, even that of a greater good or of a highly urgent and serious reason, do anything against this fidelity to secrecy, unless special permission is expressly granted to me by the  Supreme Pontiff."

Elders and ministerial servants of course are not ordained, but upon appointment, why would they all of the sudden acquire this lust for prepubescent boys?

In my communication with others, Jehovah's Witnesses are never mentioned in connection to the cover-up of abuse. These stories are only accepted without question by those in apostate circles.

Atheism and Agnosticism

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Atheism

2123 "Many . . . of our contemporaries either do not at all perceive, or explicitly reject, this intimate and vital bond of man to God. Atheism must therefore be regarded as one of the most serious problems of our time."

Hmmmmmm..........The Catholic Church sits back and runs the largest child molestation ring in history, yet they claim some moral high ground to proclaim that atheism is the real, serious problem today. Okay. 

Are people still falling for this? 

In Defense of the Catholic Clergy (Or Do We Want Another Reign of Terror?

I think she would agree that we want the priests to pay for their crimes and for the pope to stop quoting Jesus' reference to adultery in relation to these children. Sex with children is not adultery unless we have indeed reached that level of depravity as a society in which children are considered sex toys. Sex toys with the least ability to fight back.  Sounds like Babylon to me. Prepubescent boys were sacrificed to the god of lust in that society as well.

Wow, Alice, thanks for the documentation!

I am not sure what you are saying is gibberish, however.

??

Randy

Unless you can provide a shred of evidence aside from the accusations of Barbara Anderson and Bill Bowen, this is nothing more than a bunch of demoralizing gibberish.

You both insult and provoke the THOUSANDS OF VICTIMS of Ted's heinous pedophile policy, dozens of whom are valued members of this message board.  This is a violation of the very first posting guideline.

Both Barbara Anderson and Bill Bowen, as well as the many many victims who have posted their stories online, have provided plenty of evidence supporting the allegations.  Oh, or do you want there to be two actual witnesses to each of the baby rapes Ted Jaracz endorsed by his hateful and evil policy?  Do you think the baby rapists should need to have filmed their horrible acts and then posted them to the Internet in order to be accepted as true events?

I don't mind you trolling this board on doctrinal issues.  Sometimes it's kind of fun messing with willfully ignorant Dub apologists.  But when you deny the MOST HATEFUL deeds of this evil man you have gone too far.  It is unkind, unmerciful, and unchristian.  Say your prayers tonight Alice and beg for a soul cleansing.

  DOGPATCH-  Randy thanks for posting the links and information on the child abuse problems within the WT society. There is PLENTY of documentation on Barbara Anderson's " Secret's of Pedophilia in an American Religion " where Barbara shared actual court documentation available to the public regarding the Jehovah's Witness abusers of 16 JW children - in which out of court millions $$$$ in settlements were paid to the victims by the WT society - thus an admission of guilt to avoid publicity. 

  So pay no attention to the negative poster here Randy - she knows not what she's speaking about. Good for you to bring out the information. Peace out, Mr. Flipper

"Wow, Alice, thanks for the documentation!

I am not sure what you are saying is gibberish, however.

??

Randy"

I'm just subjecting the claims by some that Jehovah's Organization is an "evil pedophile paradise" to analysis and making comparisons. Kingdom Halls are public and an undesirable person may enter, but as a whole Jehovah's Witnesses make every effort to make Kingdom Halls and their own homes a safe haven for children. The public policy is here:

http://www.jw-media.org/aboutjw/article23.htm

There's no peer-reviewed documentation that the administration in Jehovah's Organization acts as some kind of agency to protect abusers. Much can be said about Bill Bowen, but he told some outright lies in his initial interview on Dateline and during other interviews. My 25 years experience has been that the elders are men of character and are not callous to abuse like greedy officials in the Catholic Church.

$3 for the download $15 for the CD

http://www.freeminds-store.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=secrets&x=0&y=0

5000 pages that have been entered into the Court record - is that good enough evidence for you?

5 year legal battle with the victims and then the WTS suddenly settle out of court with gagging orders 2 weeks before the trial date

Step up Alice - let us know when you have ordered the CD or the download - otherwise STFU.

"Step up Alice - let us know when you have ordered the CD or the download - otherwise STFU."

I have this. I tried to go into this information and I was told to STFU. Ok if that's the way you feel, fine.

Besty,

For chrissake, if it isn't published on the internet then it isn't real.  That's how these nitwits work - they're used to getting information spoon-fed to them like the pablum drivel spooned out on the platform written for six-year olds.  Plus I bet janitors can't afford $3.00 anyways.  

  ALICE in WONDERLAND- Just because YOU haven't experienced elders who are not calloused to child sexual abuse- what about the thousands of JW children who HAVE experienced the callousness and family members DFed or shunned because they choose to turn in a child abuser to the police authorities ?  You want to admit negligence in the Catholic religion , but not Jehovah's Witnesses. You need to pull your head out of the sand and open your mind to the facts and documented cases of pedophilia in the Jehovah's Witnesses. Peace out, Mr. Flipper