1 2 ALBERTO RIVERA – THE TRUE STORY Roy Livesey Edited by Shaun Willcock Bible Based Ministries 3 First published in 2018 by Bible Based Ministries Published by permission Bible Based Ministries www.biblebasedministries.co.uk [email protected] Cover design by Bethany C. Willcock The cover photograph of Alberto Rivera was taken by Shaun Willcock, 1985 IMPORTANT NOTICE: This ebook may be distributed freely in this format, or reproduced in printed form for free distribution, provided it is distributed or reproduced in full, including the cover, without being altered or edited in any way. However, anyone wanting to print it for sale must obtain permission to do so. 4 Contents About the Author .......................................................................................................................................8 Editor’s Preface .........................................................................................................................................9 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................13 Pictures (Photographs and Document Reproductions)…………………………………………………15 1. “Alberto” – a Jesuit-Trained Teenager Destroying Protestant Churches? .........................................32 2. From Rome to Christ – Earlier Testimony at Odds with Alberto Story .............................................43 3. Alberto Rivera in Venezuela and Costa Rica .....................................................................................47 4. Alberto Rivera’s Ten-Year Trail of Personal Destruction .................................................................55 5. Spain 1967 – Conversion to Christ or Conversion to Rome? (Or Neither?) ......................................62 6. Back Home in the Canary Islands – Dressed as a Priest ....................................................................75 7. Rivera Goes to London: He Meets Avro Manhattan and His Sister Maria ........................................78 8. Stolen Car and Credit Card – From Florida to Seattle .......................................................................87 9. The 1970s – Conning Congregations in California ............................................................................95 10. Alberto – Jack Chick Ignores the Evidence .....................................................................................105 11. Rivera, “Sister Charlotte” and Clark Butterfield .............................................................................118 12. “Dr” Alberto Rivera – International “Christian” Personality in the 1980s .....................................124 13. Rivera: His Influence as Cult Leader and Publisher .......................................................................137 14. Rivera Expelled from Membership of His Own Church .................................................................143 15. Rivera in Court ................................................................................................................................148 Postscript ...............................................................................................................................................151 Appendix I: Alberto Rivera Chronology – Fantasy ..............................................................................154 Appendix II: Alberto Rivera Chronology – Fact ..................................................................................155 Appendix III: Some Previous Publications Exposing Alberto Rivera ..................................................158 Endnotes ................................................................................................................................................160 5 Pictures (Photographs and Document Reproductions) The somewhat poor quality of some of the photos (enhanced to the best of our ability) is because the editor does not have the original photos, only the author’s photocopies of the originals. 1. Statement by Alberto Rivera 1980……………………………………………………………15 2. Alberto Rivera and Jose Luis Medina………………………………………………………...15 3. Church Register of the Eglesia Cristiana Evangelica, Las Palmas, Canary Islands…………16 4. Young People’s Group, Eglesia Cristiana Evangelica……………………………………….16 5. At the quayside………………………………………………………………………………..17 6. Alberto Rivera, Las Palmas Evangelical Church…………………………………………..…17 7. Rivera on stage (1)………………………………………………………………………..…..18 8. Rivera on stage (2)………………………………………………………………………..…..18 9. Rivera, Clara Montalban and others……………………………………………………….…19 10. Rivera, third from left………………………………………………………………………...19 11. Roman Catholic priest outside Las Palmas Evangelical Church Building……………….…..20 12. Vincent Phillips, Pastor of Eglesia Cristiana Evangelica……………………………………20 13. A Jesuit infiltrator?...................................................................................................................21 14. Rivera, some years later……………………………………………………………………....21 15. Rivera, Plutarco Bonilla and others………………………………………………………..…22 16. Rivera and Plutarco Bonilla……………………………………………………………….….22 17. Alberto Rivera at the Seminary 1956………………………………………………………...23 18. Death certificate of Juan Alberto Rivera……………………………………………………..24 19. Pauper burial of Juan Alberto Rivera………………………………………………………...24 20. Inside front cover of The Godfathers………………………………………………………...25 21. Letter from the Roman Catholic archbishopric of Madrid-Alcala…………………………...26 22. Barnett Bank document…………………………………………………………….………...27 23. Letter from “The Old Roman Catholic Church.”…………………………………….………28 24. Rivera’s business card…………………………………………………………….………….29 6 25. Nury, Alberto and Albertito Rivera……………………………………………….………….29 26. Court Record against Rivera……………………………………………………….…………30 27. Outside the Municipal Court……………………………………………………….…………31 7 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Roy Livesey trained as a Chartered Accountant in England and graduated from the University of Bristol in Economics and Politics. A career in business and finance took him all over the world. He had early leanings to the New Age Movement. In later life he conducted an extensive search of the occult. Out of that he was converted to Christ. He began writing about deception from a Christian perspective in 1983, and authored a number of books. With his wife, Roy Livesey published New Age Bulletin which had a worldwide circulation and provided regular updates on the New Age, the New World Order and deception in the professing Church. This book marks a further step. Alberto Rivera – the True Story exposes a master deceiver. 8 EDITOR’S PREFACE This book by Roy Livesey is a devastating and unanswerable blow to the false claims of Alberto Rivera, one of the greatest religious deceivers of modern times, indeed of all time. Others have written shorter exposés of him (including myself), but none did such a thoroughly researched, exhaustive job. He travelled extensively to conduct his research, accumulating a massive amount of documented information. The result is this definitive exposé of a master deceiver, manipulator, liar and fraud. Not only did I correspond with Roy Livesey for many years, but I knew him personally, as he stayed with my wife and I for a couple of weeks in our home in 1996. Although disagreeing with him on certain issues, I considered him to be a friend and Christian brother, with a sincere desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. It was with much sadness that I received the news that he had passed away in 2016. The draft for this book was completed in 1992, although my own personal manuscript copy, given to me by the author, has a few notations which he added in 1993. However, this is the first time the book has been published, as far as is known. Although he always wanted to publish it, for various reasons he was unable to do so. It has remained in manuscript form only, copies of which are owned by just a handful of people, until now. My reasons for editing this book, and publishing it as an ebook, are as follows. Firstly, Roy Livesey passed away before it could be published, and I, along with many others, believe it to be an exceptionally important, thoroughly researched work, the fruit of years of labour and investigation, which should not be lost to the world, for the message is vitally important. Secondly, I knew Alberto Rivera personally, having spent three weeks with him and some of his co-workers in Los Angeles in 1985; and for a time afterwards, although I never officially became a part of his A.I.C. Ministries, my ministry, Bible Based Ministries, acted as his representative for Africa and other parts of the world. And thirdly, I personally knew, and still know, some of those who were part of Rivera’s organisation and members of his church, and I was privy to much that transpired in those memorable days when they forsook Rivera and expelled him from the pastorate and membership of his church in Los Angeles. I have therefore always had a close personal interest in the stranger-than-fiction story of Alberto Rivera. The fact that this book was completed in 1992 must always be borne in mind when reading it, for Rivera was still alive at the time. He died in 1997. But it would be a grave mistake to assume that his immense influence died with him, for it did not. Considering how many multiplied millions of the Chick comic books bearing Rivera’s false testimony are in circulation all over the world, and are still being published, his influence will be felt for a very,