Still Running Off at the Keyboard

OPUS ANGELORUM

The third article published by "Fidelity" magazine about Opus Angelorum appears in the September 1992 issue and is titled "The Second Fall of the Angels." From the article:

On June 19 [1992] the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued its judgment. A crucial sentence at the heart of this statement pronounces a clear condemnation of the OA: "The angelology which is typical of the Opus Angelorum, as well as certain practices which have been deduced from this teaching, are alien to both Holy Scripture and the tradition of the Church, and as a result cannot serve as a basis for the spirituality and activities of groups which have the approval of the Church."

This third article is also authored by Inge Bluemel. In it she gives additionl names of angels that OA has used:

* Astaroth - whose "attacking light" (according to the OA Handbook of the Demons)"is visible over Rome"
* St. Gethuliel - who "can laugh like a silver bell"
* St. Ophajim - the "angel of the love of God in Creation"

The article describes a radio interview on June 22 with the OA Press Secretary Ritzinger who:

...reprimanded the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by claiming that their decree was "not a distinguished way" of treating a religious community

He also warned that the extent of the decree "was still unclear", and that "It will be necessary to correct this decree". He polished off his critique with the statement that "Ratzinger isn't God." Bluemel then asks how these remarks "jibe with the constant assertion on the part of the OA leadershp that the OA is an organization which is especially loyal to the Church."

Quoting Dr. Erich Leitenberger, editor-in-chief of the June 24, 1992 edition of the Austrian "Kathpress" said that "Rome has declared with admirable clarity that both the teaching and the practices of the controversial Opus Angelorum are out of bounds."

The "Fidelity" article further states:

The bishop reminds us that the OA had not been following the decrees issued by the Pope in 1983. Whether they continue to ignore the present decree remains to be seen At any rate, it must be extremely painful for the OA to have to admit that the entire body of writings produced by "Mother" Bitterlich, for whose canonization they pray in public, had to be jettisoned as incompatible with the Catholic faith. They have to recognize, with a clarity that must strike them as painful, that they have been up to now on the wrong road, and that it is now their duty to turn back to the terra firma of solid Church teaching."

According to the article a Rev. du Roux, O.P., consultant for the CDF, was planning to move into the St. Petersburg castle, home of OA, to oversee implementation of the decrees.

Bluemel also notes that the 80,000 manuscript pages written by Frau Bitterlich came into existence within a period of two months:

On OA retreats, we were told that "an angel stood behind her and commanded: 'Write!'...The angel didn't give her a moment's peace, and she had to write almost continuously for the entire time."

Satanist Aleister Crowley and Theosophist Alice Bailey both obtained their material in a similar manner. Crowley's angel was named Aiwass. Alice Bailey's angel was named Djwhal Khul.

Automatic writings are a form of divination and are forbidden by the First Commandment, as explained in CCC 2116. Yet the Opus Angelorum still have recourse to Bitterlich as can be seen on their webpage as of this writing. If you have been duped by a false seer, why would you want to tell the world about it? Particularly if you are sincere in your efforts to bring your spirituality into conformity with the teachings of the Church? This refusal to stop mentioning a false seer brings the entire body of work of OA into question, particularly when there does seem to be some evidence that in the past they have refused to abide by the rulings of the CDF.

This issue of "Fidelity", in addition to the article by Inge Bluemel, also contains the "Declaration of His Excellency Heinrich von Soden-Frauenhofen, auxiliary bishop of Munich-Freising, on the decree of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Opus Angelorum" issued on June 6, 1992. Some points from that document:

- It [the decree]makes unmistakably clear that the closely interconnected organizations associated with the Opus Angelorum, as well as their teachings concerning the activity of the angels and demons and their connection with the universal work of salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ, are not compatible with the teachings of the Catholic Church and that for years now they have not been following the 1983 rulings issued by Pope John Paul II.

- The Opus Angelorum has functioned as a secret society, and has become deeply involved in magical and occult practices which totally misrepresented the faith of the Church.

- By making use of the occult practice of "mystical marriage with the angels" - an idea, by the way, which is traceable to the Jewish gnostic Kabbala - Opus Angelorum was involved in a pertinacious way in violating the consciences of its members. [What is being described is the alchemical wedding familiar to Gnostics and associated with Christian Rozenkreutz. See item 4) Qabala - Year Three - ct]

- Our chief fear is that the OA will continue to hold fast to its beliefs and at the same time redouble its efforts to camouflage them as well.

Following the bishop's statement, this segment of the "Fidelity" article on OA goes on to give the OA responses to the statement, and the bishop's rebuttal to those responses. Of particular interest is a rebuttal that again makes clear that the OA attempted to ignore the first prohibition issued in 1983:

Whether the Opus Angelorum remains faithful and obedient to the conditions of the Decree of June 6, 1992 remains to be seen. The crucial judgment issued by the Congregation on Sept. 24, 1983 entailed the following judgment: "In fostering devotion to the holy angels, the Opus Angelorum must adhere to to [sic] the teachings of the Church as well as that of the Church fathers and doctors." The Handbook of the Opus Angelorum, which was discovered in 1988, most certainly does not fulfill these conditions. The leadership of Opus Angelorum, however, made no attempt to distance itself from the content of this book, but rather saw its prohibition as "a death blow" for the OA, as evidenced in the Club 2 broadcast over ORF, the Austrian Radio Network, on April 5, 1990.

Knowledge of the writings of the Opus Angelorum was a necessary precondition for those who wished to make an oath of consecration to the angels. The content of these writings, however, goes far beyond the teaching of the Church on the angels. Recent teaching materials disseminated by the OA make it clear that their current practices were in clear defiance of the 1983 prohibitions issued by the Vatican.

The Vatican prohibition of the OA vow of silence, to give just one example of this defiance, was not obeyed...It remains to be seen, then, whether the OA protestations of loyalty to the Holy Father become any more credible in the wake of the the [sic] most recent Vatican decree.

The condition for admission into the Opus Angelorum was the consecration to the guardian angel. In this oath, the candidate promised to take the hand of his guardian angel and "never again" let it go. As of the promulgation of the Decree of June 6, all such consecrations to angels have been explicitly forbidden.

That is not a very encouraging track record.

Today the Opus Angelorum still uses a consecration to the guardian angel. As you can see at the website, they state that this consecration was approved by the CDF on May 31, 2000. I must take their word for that, since there is no verification from another source on the web. However, their word must be read with their previous attempt to deceive clearly in mind.

Bottom line? The spirituality of the Opus Angelorum is not vital to the health of faith. Yes, we believe in guardian angels, and having a devotion to Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael is certainly well within the teachings of the Church, as is a request for intercessory prayer addressed to our guardian angel in keeping with authentic Catholicism. Beyond this we just don't know that much about other angels because the Church has not spoken. They exist. Sometimes they visit human beings. Some angels are fallen.

Scripture is replete with incidents of angels visiting man to bring a message from God. Those angels are not named, with the exception of those listed above. Any spirituality that attempts to name the angels is coming from a source outside of Roman Catholic doctrine, and must be approached with a large dose of skeptism until the Church gives an approval.

What I saw at the Mass last Saturday conducted by a priest from Opus Angelorum was in keeping with the teachings of the Church as I've already explained in an earlier post. That is all that I can be certain of at this particular moment.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!