> ### ~ S P E C I A L ~ F E A T U R E ~

> # Prelude to A Life Possessed

> based on the new book

> ## Anatomy of A Life Possessed

> ### by Maria Ferrara Pema

> INTRODUCTION

> Maria Ferrara Pema was a famous ballerina and later actress who appeared in Fellini Satyricon and De Sica's The Vacation, among other films. Maria lived the glamorous life during Rome's 'Hollywood on the Tiber' days, where she partied with Richard Burton, Roman Polanski, Marlon Brando, and other celebrities. Married to a powerful motion picture attorney, she had everything a woman could want -- everything, that is, except spiritual peace.

> Her search for a deeper truth led Maria to a charismatic priest named Friar G., who gained her confidence, then abused it. In an effort to perform a miracle that would lead to sainthood, Friar G. tried to transfer the illness of a paralyzed boy onto the unsuspecting Maria. Sound preposterous? You haven't heard the half of it. What followed was 27 years of psychological and sexual torture, graphically documented in Maria's new book, Anatomy of A Life Possessed.

> Maria's struggle to rid herself of this possession led to documents about a Vatican investigation into Friar G.'s mentor, whom the Catholic Church accused of brainwashing and abusing female parishioners. As the shocking truth is slowly revealed, you simply will not believe the cover-up by the Vatican and the Catholic Church.

> In the article below, Maria describes how she stumbled into a living hell of religious possession. Following the article, you'll find more information about her new book, Anatomy of A Life Possessed.

> ## Prelude to A Life Possessed

> ### by Maria Ferrara Pema

> I was born in Poland just when the Germans were bombing and marching into Warsaw. Their invasion swept away the elegant and gracious life my parents had known. The war spared none of us. I was the daughter of a famous Tibetan doctor of aristocratic lineage and a beautiful Russian mother, one of four children -- and the only girl. My twin brother George and I were the last to be born.

> The war had ended, but there was no freedom in Poland. We had the misfortune of exchanging one tyrannical invader for another. The only difference was that the Russians pretended to be our friends. It was a time when an imprudent word could cause a man to disappear in the middle of the night and never be heard from again.

> So what could I tell people about my background? My father and mother never even mentioned that I was the daughter of Prince Zasogol, the last descendant of Genghis Khan, as well as the personal physician to Nicholas II, the last Czar of Russia, who had even baptized him into the Russian Orthodox faith -- an affirmation of loyalty to their adopted land.

> My father and his great uncle did not look upon their conversion as an abandonment of their Buddhist faith, for Buddhism honors the truth and love in every religion. It wouldn't be until years later, after I'd moved to Italy, that I learned about their extraordinary lives. My mother encouraged me to pursue dance training at the Warsaw Opera House, where I embarked on a successful career in ballet.

> Once I'd won second prize in an international musical competition, I was a celebrity, my future in ballet seemingly assured. But I was growing increasingly restless. I was being oppressed from two different directions: the Communist regime on the outside and my tyrannical mother at home, who overshadowed all my attempts to break free. Actually, I don't know which of the two was the more onerous, but I have the feeling that my mother won the contest. So, just before I turned twenty, I left Poland and went to live in Italy, never to return.

> I was young and beautiful -- and hopelessly naïve -- when I arrived in Rome in 1960. And though I had absolutely no idea how to go about selling myself in a job market -- such a thing was unknown in Communist Poland -- I was full of ambition and talent. No sooner than I could have possibly imagined, I found myself working in the film and TV industry.

> This was the era of 'La Dolce Vita,' a time when the city had become transformed into Hollywood on the Tiber. In those days, I was working for directors like Fellini and De Sica; at night I was partying in the cafes on the Via Veneto, mingling with stars like Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Maximilian Schell and Roman Polanski. I'd ride through Rome in chauffeur-driven Rolls Royces and wind up at fashionable parties where champagne was free-flowing . The days were so heady with excitement that I barely got any sleep, but of course it didn't matter.

> Little did I know how my life was about to change as I embarked on a journey into the abyss -- a hole so dark and deep, that even today I cannot see any glimmer of light that would offer me any promise of relief...

> Then one day I was introduced to a widower, a prominent lawyer in the film business named Max Ferrara. To look at Max, you'd never realize that you were dealing with one of the most astute legal minds in all of Italy. He served as a legal consultant for the biggest production companies in Rome, and he was held in high esteem by virtually everyone of importance in the international film industry. He had gained their respect as the head of the Scalera film company, which had pioneered the Italian neo-realist film era, marked by such monumental movies as Fellini's La Strada, Rosellini's Open City and De Sica's The Bicycle Thief. Max was truly a renaissance man, for he went on to become a writer as well who collaborated with many film directors on screenplays.

> I was with some producers at the coffee bar in the Excelsior Hotel when Max joined us. He was thirty years older than I was. I suppose there will be those who say it was my seeking a father figure, and it is true that in his presence I always felt protected. However, the age difference gave Max a sense of confidence that allowed me the freedom to explore whatever I wanted, without any restrictions. This was very important to me.

> When we married, I believed that my happiness would last forever. But then, quite without my knowing it, one morning after a particularly wild party, I awoke to find myself in the Buddhist Lotus position. I knew this was my subconscious trying to tell me that I was forgetting my dear father's philosophical roots. The time had come for me to travel to Tibet, the ancestral home of my father. I wished to learn the secret traditions of the great masters there. I knew that the awakening of the Kundalini force in one's body was supposed to allow one to achieve profound knowledge. This became my dream.

> I spent my days studying Buddhism and meditating, hoping that if I practiced long enough I would achieve a state of greater awareness.

> I wanted most of all to meet a lama -- a holy man -- who would help me attain Nirvana. When I was told that it wasn't necessary to travel all the way to Tibet or India to find a great holy man, but that such a man was a pastor of a parish church outside of Rome, I didn't hesitate. I wanted to meet him at once.

> It didn't make any difference to me that I knew practically nothing about Catholicism, since I grew up during the communism. My god was the Kremlin, my father was a Buddhist, and I vaguely knew who Jesus Christ was. As soon as I was within sight of the small church, I experienced a sense of fulfillment and inner peace that I'd never felt before. The atmosphere in the little village of St. Vittorini was mystical. I was drawn back to the church again and again until one day I finally summoned the courage to go inside.

> The pastor of the church was known as Friar G. He made for an imposing sight: he was tall and heavy-set, with a round red face and small yellowed teeth. He was clearly uneducated and unschooled in any manners as well. In fact, he could be surprisingly vulgar and prone to insulting his parishioners.

> Nonetheless, there was something undeniably magnetic about his personality, and people turned out in great numbers to attend his masses. Friar G., I soon learned, had inherited his position from a charismatic -- and controversial -- priest named Padre Pio. Padre Pio was known for his stigmata, and he was recently declared the last saint of the twentieth century. Some critics, though, believe the stigmata was not miraculous at all, but a symptom of hysteria. Father Pio was also accused of having sexual relations -- he called it 'fusion' -- with a number of young women whom he adopted as his 'spiritual daughters.' At one point in the 1930s, he was even expelled from the church, but was ultimately reconciled to it years later.

> In many ways, Friar G. was like Father Pio; he too, had the stigmata and acquired a cult of personality. He had gathered around him an entourage of loyal followers, many of them naïve young foreigners who offered him unquestioning devotion. He also managed to raise a great deal of money from his parishioners -- but not for a worthy cause such as feeding the starving masses of Africa or Asia. Instead, he wanted the money to help build an enormous church which he conceived of as a monument to himself. As for the poor, "The good God will provide for them," he frequently declared.

> This I would learn in time. In the beginning, I could only see the light and not the shadows surrounding Friar G. Over the next few years, I was to return again and again to the church, its positive energy feeding my belief that my kundalini would open and I would at last experience true knowledge. But unfortunately, my life took a decided turn; I found myself setting out on a path that took me far astray.

> I heard that many Indian gurus as well the so -- called saints in Christianity have the ability to take into their body the sickness of others and cure them. I began to suspect that the priest was using my body for this purpose. After awhile, I began to feel as if Max's illness was being transferred to myself, as if I was being made weak so that he could gain strength. In time, though, I suspected that I was mistaken about the cause of my infirmity. Perhaps, I thought, it wasn't my husband's illness I had taken on but that of another member of the church. There was a paralyzed young man named Paolo who'd heard of Friar G.'s success and was hoping for a miracle for himself. Without realizing it, I'd let myself be taken over by Friar G.

> And now, as I soon discovered, there was no escape. As my physical condition worsened, I realized my body was no longer my own. Yet, even with this knowledge and the terrible pain in my body, I could not prevent him from filling me with the paralyzed boy's malady. His telepathic communication was like a battering ram in my brain.

> Despite my pleas, he would not stop. He took possession of me. I was barely living; I'd become like a sleepwalker, no longer capable of thinking for myself. I was forced to abandon my studies at the university.

> Actually, this man has lived my life against my will. I can't describe how devastated and disgusted I felt because of my impotence in the face of his cruelty.

> Increasingly desperate, I went from one church to another, praying for help. But there was only silence. I even sought out exorcists appointed by the Vatican, all to no avail. Friar G. let me know that there was no point in praying because he alone was my only source of help. He'd become both my tormentor and my savior.

> I needed to understand what was happening to me. I pored through books on medicine, on religion and metaphysics. I saw that what had befallen me had been inflicted on others, too; I began to understand how such exploitation goes on and why it continues.

> I have written a book, Anatomy of A Life Possessed. I believed, that by writing my story I could help others in avoiding any kind of possession. I am certain of the necessity of telling any and all, to inform everyone who will listen of the perils of possession.

> ## About the Book

> # Anatomy of A Life Possessed

> ### by Maria Ferrara Pema

> Published by Winner Episode Press
> ISBN 0-9719221-5-2, 343 pages, softcover, $19.95

> "You won't take this into account. If you had written it instead of me, I probably wouldn't believe it." So begins this amazing tale of a woman victimized by peculiar forces. It reads like a work of fiction, but it is true.

> The author describes a privileged childhood in an aristocratic family with links to Genghis Khan, Tibet, Russian czars, and Rasputin as part of her incredible story, which includes growing up under three oppressive regimes: Nazism, Communism, and her monarchical, dictatorial mother.

> Ms. Pema recounts her early life in the ballet world, followed by her years as an actress during Rome's golden age of cinema, working for directors Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, and Marco Ferreri, where she met and married prominent entertainment attorney Max Ferrara.

> Anatomy of A Life Possessed makes a sudden turn from the glamour of the Via Veneto onto a backroads Highway to Hell. It reveals a harrowing telepathic possession with physical and emotional consequences. A mad monk, sexual torment, exorcism, and never-ending harassment devastate the author's life. She describes her excruciating experience of possession and her research conducted in an effort to regain control.

> Anatomy of A Life Possessed is a fascinating and controversial book which challenges traditional beliefs. Pema's personal memoir will be of value to people of any age who are ready to find and face the truth. It may help you to:

> - Protect yourself from negative energy and subjugating ideologies

> - Understand the dangers of a faith that relies on fear and submission

> - Discover how to turn obstacles, fear, and self-doubt into helpful knowledge

> - Recognize that the generosity, genius, and greatness of humanity are the only virtues that can help us create our own happiness.

> For an absolutely gripping, unstoppable reading experience, take a journey into the abyss and back with Anatomy of A Life Possessed.

> Anatomy of a Life Possessed is available through your favorite bookseller or directly from Book Clearing House, http://www.book-clearing-house.com, or call 1-800-431-1579 or visit our web site at: http://www.onlyonetruth.com

> `Copyright ©2002 by Maria Ferrara Pema. All rights reserved. Please feel free to duplicate or distribute this file as long as the contents are not changed and this copyright notice is intact. Thank you.`