Founded in Romania, the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA) turned sacred esotericism into the central feature of a mass movement, which now counts 30,000 members worldwide.

Massimo Introvigne is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), and the author of some 70 books and more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, mostly in the field of new religious movements. In 2011, he has served as the Representative for combating racism, xenophobia and religious discrimination of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).