SHOCKING, SUPRISING AND SAD: Benny Hinn's Wife files for Divorce

ORANGE, Calif. (AP) — The wife of televangelist Benny Hinn has filed for divorce in Southern California.

Suzanne Hinn filed the papers in Orange County Superior Court on Feb. 1, citing irreconcilable differences, after more than 30 years of marriage. The papers note the two separated on Jan. 26 and that Hinn has been living in Dana Point, a wealthy coastal community in southern Orange County.

Hinn is one of the best known advocates of the prosperity gospel, which teaches that Christians who are right with God will be rewarded with wealth and health in this lifetime.

His TV broadcasts on the Trinity Broadcast Network, a Pentecostal broadcasting juggernaut, and other TV networks are seen by millions of people around the world nearly every day. He travels the globe in his ministry's plane, named Dove One, holding events he calls "Miracle Crusades" that include spiritual healings.

Hinn has never fully publicly disclosed how he spends the money he raises, but his vast ministry is believed to be a multimillion-dollar operation. There was no mention of finances in the court filing, which listed three recent Southern California addresses for the family.

Over the years, Hinn has been the target of intense criticism from fellow Christians and watchdog groups who call his teachings false and accuse him of raising money only to enrich himself.

He is one of six televangelists under investigation by Sen. Charles Grassley, the Iowa Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, over whether he complied with IRS rules for nonprofits. Hinn has said on his website that external auditors ensure his compliance with IRS regulations and that in 2008, 88% of the money he collected was spent on ministry.

Benny Hinn Ministries is based in Grapevine, Texas, and operates a church and television studio in Aliso Viejo in California's Orange County, according to its website.

Sorrell Trope, the attorney listed on Suzanne Hinn's court filing, did not immediately return a call for comment.

J. Lee Grady, contributing editor of Charisma, a news magazine on the Pentecostal community, said Hinn's divorce is the latest in a string of high-profile ministry divorces and moral failures among the Pentecostal leaders, beginning with Ted Haggard's fall from grace in 2006.

He said Hinn's followers will want an explanation because of the high profile the couple had.

"It will be devastating to the people who have supported Benny Hinn's evangelistic work around the world," Grady said.

"Obviously because their ministry has been very public (and) they will need to issue a statement to their supporters to explain how this happened," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-02-18-benny-hinn-divorce_N.htm