The recent excommunication of members of the Quebec-based 'Army of Mary' raised questions about their identity, foundress, history, and relation to the Catholic Church.

Identity:

 The Army of Mary’s declared purpose is to bring “together souls of good will resolved to live, like Mary, the ordinary life  to its perfection in all the demands of the duties of their state.”

 As means to sanctification, the group emphasizes the Triple White: the Eucharist, Mary, and the Pope.

 Members are expected to practice the following:

• Develop a spirit of prayer.
• Assist at Mass and receive Communion every day, if possible.
• Practice the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.
• Observe the Ten Commandments.
• Recite the rosary each day, the fifteen decades if possible.
• Do at least fifteen minutes of spiritual reading daily.
• Perform well the duties of his/her state.
• Look to his/her interior reform.

 Also called Community of the Lady of all Peoples, this religious organization includes “all levels of society: Christian laity and a minority of priests and men and women religious who have remained faithful to their vocation.”

The Community of the Lady of all Peoples encompasses five works:

• The Army of Mary
• The Family of the Sons and Daughters of Mary
• The Oblate--Patriots
• The Marialys Institute

The headquarters, called Spiri-Maria, are located in Lac-Etchemin, Province of Quebec, Canada.

(Information gathered from the organization’s website:  www.communaute-dame.qc.ca)

Foundress:

The foundress of this multi-faceted organization is Marié-Paule Giguére, born on September 14, 1921.  She felt called, at an early age (12-16) to embrace a religious vocation in the world, becoming a “victim for souls.”  Marē-Paul Giguēre was married in 1944, had five children (1945-1952), was separated from her husband in 1957, and had to place “my children in a boarding school in order to protect them”. She refers in her autobiography to messages from God beginning in 1954:  “He had been speaking to me of a work:  The Army of Mary”. In 1958, upon the order of her spiritual director, Marie-Paule writes her life: Life of Love. In 1965, she moved with her children to Quebec City.  Subsequently, in 1968, a “group of friends” is formed, “lay people and men and women religious, who took to meeting fraternally in a common zeal for the spiritual life”. “I ‘learned’ from on-high that this day saw the founding of the Army of Mary which had been ‘foretold’ to me since 1954”.  The foundation occurred  at the Shrine of Our Lady of Etchemin, and was recognized in 1975 as pious association by Cardinal Maurice Roy, Archbishop of Quebec, “following a decision of the Assembly of the Quebec Bishops.”

Life of Love was published in 1979, unveiling the “mystical importance of the work, kept secret until that time, except with regard to the members of the Marian Group.”

Here is how Mariē-Paule, in religion Paule-Mariē, describes the further development of the Army of Mary:

“The Army of Mary, consisting of several thousand members in Canada and in various countries of the world advocates personal interior reform and the fulfillment of the duties of one’s state in an authentically Christian way of life.  Ten years later, on May 31, 1981, the Family of the Sons and Daughters of Mary was founded: its goal was to renew the family, the basic cell of society.  The Family is composed of various branches: the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary which today comprises more than 150 members (75 Daughters of Mary and 83 Sons of Mary, including 43 priests); the Affiliated Priests; the Associate Members; the Mothers, the Oblates; the Auxiliary (lay) Members: Adults, Adolescents and Benjamins.  Likewise, another Work was founded on August 15, 1986: the Oblate-Patriots whose goal is the renewal of society.”

In 1997, her husband died.  Embracing officially the religious state of life, she was elected Superior General of the Daughters of Mary, one of the five works she had founded.  In 1998 she built Spiri-Maria on the outskirts of Lac-Etchemin, where she lives to this day much revered by her followers, but--according to Martin Patriquin (Hous Magazine, October 4, 2001)--as an “elusive figure” to the world.

(All quotes, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from Mariē-Paule Giguēre’s 1995 short biographical note.  See www.communaute-dame.qc.ca).

History:

The history of the movement is essentially the history of its stormy relationship with ecclesiastical authority.  The origin of the collision course may have been the publication in 1987(?) of two books by Marc Bosquart: “De la Trinité Divine ā l’Immaculéé-Trinité” and “Le Rédempteur et la Co-Rédemptrice.”  Sanctioned by Cardināl Ratzinger as containing “gravely erroneous doctrines” the Vatican intervention led to the ban of “all celebrations organized under the auspices of the Army of Mary and by its various branches in the parish churches and other places of worship in the Diocese” (February 6, 1987).  Even more important, Cardinal Louis-Albert Vachon, Archbishop of Quebec, in date of May 4, 1987, formally revoked “the decree of official Church status of the Army of Mary as a pious association in good standing.”  This happened after a commission of theologians had confirmed that the writing of the association contained grave doctrinal errors.  On April 20, 1991, the supreme tribunal of the Catholic Church, the Apostolic Signatura validated and confirmed Candinal Vachon’s decision to revoke the Army of Mary’s canonical status.  It was further indicated that Catholics were to refrain from belonging to this organization.  In 1997 the Vatican appointed an episcopal administrator for the “Sons of Mary,” the worldwide association of priests, seminarians and brothers--first Bishop Gilles Catabon, of Saint Jerôme, more recently Terrence Prendergast, Archbishop of Ottawa.  Prompted by Cardinal Ratzinger’s February 29, 2000 intervention, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) issued a doctrinal note on the Army of Mary in which it confirms that teachings promoted by the Army of Mary were contrary to fundamental doctrines of the Church and thus, that the Army of Mary is not a Catholic association (August 15, 2001).  Most recent developments, namely the ordination of deacons and priests by a priest of the movement led to the March 26, 2007 declaration by Cardinal Ouellet and the July 11, 2007 one by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declaring the invalidity of the ordinations and the excommunication of the active participants therein, as well as the heretical character of the doctrine promoted by the Army of Mary.

Doctrinal Aspects

The above short historical note does not specify some of the doctrinal aspects of this controversy.  The most explicit treatment of these concerns is without doubt the August 15, 2001 Doctrinal Note by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Generically it states its purpose as follows:

The doctrinal note, which is a clarification of dogmatic teaching, states that some of the teaching the Army of Mary propagates about redemption, the Virgin Mary and “reincarnation” are profoundly at variance with the teaching and profession of the faith of the Catholic Church.

After reminding the readers of the Church’s teaching about Private Revelations, the note states wide regard to the use of private revelations by the Army of Mary: 

The presumed private revelations, upon which members of the Army of Mary stake their claim, do not merely urge Catholics to follow the Gospel more faithfully; they include spurious new doctrines that are without foundation in Scripture or Tradition.

Expounding in the next section Mary’s role in the history of Salvation, the Note compares the Church’s doctrine to that of the Army of Mary:

As its name clearly indicates, the Army of Mary centers much of its devotion and spirituality on Mary.  Yet its Marian devotion contains many elements that are patently contrary to the teaching of the Church, especially with regards to Mary’s place in God’s plan of redemption and her non-repeatable, irreplaceable role in salvation history.  These and other doctrinal points as taught by the Army of Mary seriously misrepresent the Church’s teaching.

The Army of Mary, through their misguided interpretation of Catholic teaching, would in effect not only rob Mary of her unique, irreplaceable role in salvation history, but their so-called “reincarnation” of Mary all but renders superfluous Mary’s on-going intercession in heavenly glory.  The Mary of the Gospel and Catholic tradition is in heaven, not on earth. It is the teaching of the Catholic Church that Mary’s life is both unique and historical, and as such cannot be repeated, reproduced, or otherwise “reincarnated.”  When the course of her earthly life was finished, she was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory.  It is from there, beside the Risen Christ and no longer here on earth, that she continues, even now, to be our Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix: “Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside her saving role, but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.”

The presumed private revelation upon which the Army of Mary bases its claim to legitimacy does in fact introduce new and erroneous doctrines about the Virgin Mary and her role in the economy of salvation history.  It significantly adds to Christ’s definitive Revelation.  It would have its followers believe, for example, that their “Immaculate” is co-eternal with the Triune God, and that although she was once the historical mother of Jesus, she is now ‘reincarnated” and “dwells” in the very person of the recipient of these presumed private revelations.  It was because of such spurious attempts to add to the fundamental deposit of faith, and other such assertions, that the Army of Mary forfeited its claim to be a duly recognized Catholic association.

With regard to the relationship between the Army of Mary and the legitimate ecclesiastical authority, the Note says the following:

The Catholic Bishops of Canada regret the way the leaders of the Army of Mary continue to defy ecclesial authority and refuse to heed the legitimate pastoral admonitions and injunction of the Archbishop of Quebec.  This can only be injurious to the proper teaching and unifying role of episcopal

authority, mission, and responsibility, and thus to the ecclesial communion.

Contrary to this humble submission, the Army of Mary has publicly defied episcopal authority, and its defiance has not been confined to the local Church.  Prior to the decision to revoke the Army of Mary’s canonical status, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had already examined the extensive written record of the presumed private revelations and had found them, in many instances, to be contrary to Catholic teaching.  Contesting the canonical legality of Cardinal Vachon’s decree revoking its status, as was its right, the Army of Mary lodged an administrative recourse against his decision.  It appealed its case to the supreme tribunal of the Church in Rome, the Apostolic Signature, which is the highest recourse possible in such judicial matters.  After due process and prolonged procedures, this supreme tribunal issued a definitive decision by decree on April 20, 1991.  With this decision, the Archbishop was vindicated in his decision to revoke the Army of Mary’s canonical status, with the ensuing consequence that Catholics were to refrain from belonging to this particular group. Sadly, many still continue to do so in defiance of ecclesial authority.  In the eyes of the Catholic faithful, this can only be divisive and undermine the teaching and unifying role of episcopal  authority.

(This document received the “recognition” of the CDF in date of August 10, 2001 (Prot. N. 216/74--13,501. See also:  www.cccb.ca/docs/armyofmary.htm.)

There are two recent documents dealing specifically with problems of authority, namely the 2007 ordinations of deacons and priests.

1. Cardinal Quellet’s Declaration on the Army of Mary (March 26, 2007)

Here are some of the most important passages:

·        Exclusion from the communion of the Roman Catholic Church

Following some of the statements published in the more recent issues of their newspaper Le Royaume and the formal acts of disobedience and usurpation of power in the administration of the sacraments, I am compelled to declare that the leaders of the Army of Mary have excluded themselves from the communion of the Roman Catholic Church.  In spite of repeated efforts undertaken during the past 4 years by the Pontifical Commissioner, the Most Reverend Terrence Prendergast, and in spite of the many warning and attempts at reconciliation on the part of the Archbishop of Quebec and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Army of Mary has hardened its position.  Recently, without permission and especially without power of orders, its leaders have proceeded with ordinations to the diaconate at the Lac-Etchemin Centre Spiri-Maria.

·        Invalid Ordinations

      This last action is of the utmost gravity since it is openly breaking communion with the Roman Catholic Church.  It carries severe canonical penalties for the authors of such an act which by nature belongs to the episcopal order and cannot be performed by a priest under any circumstances whatsoever.  Therefore, these ordinations are invalid; they inflict a grievous wound upon the Church.

·        Schismatic Organization

Consequently, I strongly reaffirm what has been expressed before by the Canadian Bishops and hereby add the following:  the Army of Mary has clearly and publicly become a schismatic organization, and thus a non-Catholic association.  The particular doctrine it promotes is false and its activities cannot be attended or supported by the Catholic faithful.  Priests or deacons belonging to the Army of Mary can no longer exercise any ministry within the Archdiocese of Québec, and the sacraments of confirmation, penance, or marriage at which they preside are invalid for lack of jurisdiction.

Considering this rupture with the legitimate authority of the Catholic Church, all those entrusted with the care of churches or other places of worship within the diocese are required to deny all requests by priests or deacons of the Army of Mary to concelebrate or preside at any liturgical celebration in these sacred places.

2. The CDF Declaration regarding the movement The Community of the Lady of All Nations and associated works. (July 11, 2007)

Succinctly, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith confirms Cardinal Ouellet’s declaration and states five points:

a) The so-called “diaconal and presbyteral ordinations” performed by Father Jean-Pierre Mastropietro are invalid.

b) Father Jean-Pierre Mastropietro has incurred an excommunication latae sententiae for the delict of schism (can.1364 CIC). Moreover he has incurred an irregularity for the reception and for the exercise of Sacred Orders by having attempted to perform an act of Sacred Orders reserved to Bishops (cann.1384; 1401, n.6; 1044,§1. n.3 CIC).

c) The persons who have claimed to be ordained deacons and priests with the imposition of hands of Father Jean-Pierre Mastropietro have incurred an excommunication latae sententiae for the delict of schism (can. 1364 CIC).

d) All the members of the above-mentioned Movement and of the works associated with it, who, despite the warning of the Cardinal Archbishop of Québec on 26 March, 2007 have participated in these schismatic acts and have determined to continue to associate with said Movement, are in schism and, therefore, they have incurred an excommunication latae sententiae.

e) The negative doctrinal judgment expressed by the Catholic Bishops of Canada June 29, 2001, after consultation with this Congregation and with the approval of the same, is upheld.  It confirms with clarity and firmness that the doctrine promoted by the Movement, “Community of the Lady of all Nations,” better known as “The Army of Mary,” is heretical.   Whoever knowingly and deliberately embraces this doctrine incurs an excommunication latae sententiae due to heresy (can.1364 CIC).

by Father Johann G. Roten, S.M.

URL for this page is http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/ArmyOfMary.html