Universal Church of The Kingdom of God - Controversies

Controversies

Many specific criticisms are listed on the Rick A. Ross Institute website. The UCKG's response to some of these issues are on its website.

Throughout its history the church has been charged with immoral and illegal deeds, including money laundering, charlatanism, witchcraft, and intolerance toward Judaism, Islam, Catholicism, other Protestant and Christian groups, Spiritism, Neo-Paganism, New Japanese Religions, Atheism, Agnosticism, homosexuality and especially Afro-Brazilian syncretic religions such as Umbanda and Candomblé. The church is accused of extracting money from congregants, who are often poor, and using the money to enrich UCKG leaders instead of distributing it to the needy. Accusations of charlatanism are the most frequent. As a consequence of such charges, the church has been under investigation in Belgium. There have been detailed reports in the US, UK, Brazil, and Zambia.

According to the UCKG website, media organizations that have made accusations against the Universal Church lost cases and had to retract their allegations. The website says that the Universal Church has been found innocent in cases around the world, in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. A TV station there lost its case and had to pay the court expenses of €102,978 and was threatened with a fine of €250,000 if it chose to ever speak against the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. The website says that the Universal Church is committed to transparency and building good relationships with the media.