OPUS ANGELORUM - Satanism and
Disobedience
Richard Salbato
2-16-2007
Based on 80,000 pages of private
revelations that Gabriele Bitterlich allegedly received from heaven, the Opus
Angelorum was founded in
Attracted to the various retreats and days of
recollection sponsored by the Opus Angelorum, the unsuspecting faithful are led
more and more deeply into a spirituality which is quasi-Masonic in its degree-based structure--from the promise to
the guardian angel at the lower end to the angelic consecration in the middle
to the consecration of atonement at the upper level. The goal is to become an "alter angelus." Consecration
requires a “spiritual marriage” with an angel that a name is assigned to
probably from the list of names given to Bitterlich in her two months of
revelations. No real need to quote some
of these revelations as
Starting in Innsbruck, Austria the order of Priests and nuns of Opus Angelorum has spread to three houses in Rome, Switzerland, Germany, Mexico, Detroit, Michigan, Brazil to name a few. In violation of the tradition of the Catholic Church most if not all houses of priests and nuns are one and the same buildings. The nuns are the housekeepers and cooks of the priests, and their contact is too close, leaving many of the parents of members to imply that sexual activity is common. In violation of Catholic tradition final vows of the nuns (consecration) is secret and even the parents are not invited.
Opus Angelorum never went though
the regular process of becoming a canonical order in the Church and therefore did
not have their rules investigated at first.
They simply took over an old order of priests, Order of
canonical regular ones of the Holy Cross, that had diminished down to only one brother still living. That one
living brother gave the new priests an order to take over without creating a
new one. Canonically their
are the Order of the Holy Cross as you will see in the
The fast growth of Opus
Angelorum over 20 years is due to great devotion to Adoration, very reverent
priests at Mass, good Confessors, and both priests and nuns dress according to
the old laws before Vatican II. The
outward signs are good, just like Pius X Society, but the disobedience and
secret rituals are the problems. It is
hard for me to come to these conclusions since Father Wagner, retreat master
out of
The number of families in the Parents' Association for Opus Angelorum Victims has risen to over 30. And although
Gabriele Bitterlich (1896-1978), a Tyrolean
housewife who originally came from
Demonic
One of
the reasons I believe her apparitions are demonic is their similarity to
Satanic Angels in other esoteric and accult
literature. 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] Gabriele Bitterlich’s writings are Gnostic.
The mysterious Arab Abramelin
transmitted to the equally mysterious Abraham of Worms, a nebulous recipe for
the compilation of personal rituals that are to lead to a communication/communion with the personal Holy Guardian Angel.
By these means one becomes firstly befriended with the Angel and secondly, the master of the demons. The process
seems to be reciprocal: Human and Angel
become One and together forge a bridge to the divine. ("Ordo
Templi Orientis Phenomenon: Smoke gets in your Aiwass") Gabriele
Bitterlich’s writings are the same.
In 1945, L Ron Hubbard became involved with
Scientology seems to be a hybrid of science-fiction and magic.
[L. Ron] Hubbard's
reflection on philosophy seem (sic) to derive largely from Will Durant's Story
of Philosophy and the works of Aleister
Crowley. Aleister Crowley is surely the most
famous black magician of the twentieth-century. It is impossible to arrive at
an understanding of Scientology without taking into account its creator's
extensive involvement with magic. ("Factnet:
Hubbard and the Occult") Gabriele
Bitterlich’s writings are the same.
These mysteries of the faith found a particular and
poignant expression in Mother
Gabriele's writings along side her
extensive contact with many angels. ("The
Work of the Holy Angels and Its Mission within the Church")
Satanist Aleister Crowley and Theosophist Alice
Bailey both obtained their material in a similar manner.
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. 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 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Condemnation of
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 Opus Angelorum: "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."
"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:
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.
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 [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
The Vatican prohibition of the Opus Angelorum vow of silence, to give just one
example of this defiance, was not obeyed...It remains to be seen, then, whether
the Opus Angelorum 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.
The current
The
theories which derive from the alleged revelations of Gabriele Bitterlich
concerning the work of the angels, their personal names, their rank and
function may no longer be either taught or in any way, either explicitly or
implicitly, made use of in the organizational structures of the Opus Angelorum or
in any cult or in prayer or in spiritual formation or in any public or private
spirituality. The use and the
dissemination of books and other writings which contain the above-mentioned
theories is forbidden both within the above-mentioned
organization as well as outside its formal structures.
Disobedience
Many of those who know the Opus Angelorum will find it difficult to believe that its
members have renounced their former beliefs. They suspect that the
majority of Opus Angelorum members continue to hold on to the Bitterlich tenets
and are sticking to their intention to
infiltrate the Church.
On June 22 the Opus Angelorum Press Secretary 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."
Dr. Erich Leitenberger, editor-in-chief of the June
24, 1992 edition of the Austrian "Kathpress"
said that "
It must be extremely painful for the Opus
Angelorum 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."
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.
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.
From
their own words
Opus Angelorum on their web site http://www.opusangelorum.org admits to being founded by Bitterlich and implies that, although
contemned by the Holy See, in time Bitterlich will change Catholic
Doctrine. The following comes directly
from their web site.
“The Work of the
Holy Angels (Opus
Angelorum for short) arose through the
instrumentality of Gabriele Bitterlich (b. 1897),
who from early childhood had enjoyed a singular intimacy with her own Guardian
Angel, who conversed with her visibly, counseled and guided her. This grace
remained a very personal and private matter until the latter part of the 1940’s
when the intensification of this charism, together
with her obedience to her spiritual director led to the initiation of the Work
of the Holy Angels at
“At the beginning
of the Work of the Holy Angels we find a small group of priests, seminarians
and laymen who had become familiar with the charism
and writings of Mrs. Bitterlich and desired to correspond and unite more
intimately with the holy angels in their ministries. From the very beginning,
Bishop Paulus Rusch,
initially administrator for the diocese, recognizing a particular charism, took a personal interest in the movement and
oversaw its development. For many years he personally issued the
"imprimatur" for the Circular Letters. He appointed Msgr. Walter Waitz to be Mrs. Bitterlich’s confessor and director, and
who oversaw and collaborated in the development of the Work for many years. …
“Both because the writings of Gabriele
Bitterlich contained many quite personal matters -- being as they were a
journal of her spiritual contact with the holy angels and her own call to victimhood (often for particular souls) and the inclusion
of the names and ministries of many angels not found in Sacred Scripture, the
writings were not circulated widely. Still, already in 1951 some of these
writings were presented to Pope Pius XII, with other works presented at a later
date. Bishop Rusch was kept regularly informed
through Msgr. Waitz as well as by means of a regular
but infrequent personal contact with Gabriele Bitterlich. That initial prudence
with respect to the dissemination of the writings, which yielded more and more
to an eager zeal on the part of some sacerdotal directors in the spiritual
movement, somehow anticipated the later decisions of the Church.
“At the personal
initiative of Bishop Rush the Confraternity of the Guardian Angels was canonically
founded and erected in the Diocese of Innsbruck in 1961 with its consecrations
to the Guardian Angel and to all the holy angels. The finality of this
ecclesial institution was to foster the sanctification of its members and a
deeper collaboration with the holy angels in the glorification of God and for
the salvation of souls. In the latter part of the 1960’s the Movement also
began to set up Confraternities of Priests in the Opus Angelorum in different
dioceses around the world in order to help priests in their spiritual lives and
to help coordinate the apostolate on a local basis. …
Then the web site lies about the motive of the
“The depth and
extent, however, to which her writings dealt with the vast world of the angels
raised occasions considerable discussions and questions which eventually lead
to their examination by the Congregation
for the doctrine of the Faith, both at the request of several bishops and
the Direction of the Work of the Holy Angels.
“The examination
of the names of the holy angels, the corresponding presentation of a
particularized doctrine on the structure and functions of the choirs and
groupings of the holy angels (as well of the fallen angels) and certain
practices associated with this body of doctrine constituted the essential
points in the examination of the writings and practices of the Work of the Holy
Angels by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith between the years
1977-1983 and 1987-1992. The very length of the studies indicates something of
the complexity and depth of the issue.
“The result of
the final examination was issued in the Decree of the Holy Office from June
6th, 1992 in which it was declared that only the certain deposit of the Faith
could constitute the spiritual foundation for any institute within the Church.
This is simply a theological principle which is valid for all times and places
in the Church. Now from the examination of Gabriele’s writings it was
determined that they contained the names of individual Angels and a certain body
of particularized doctrine on their ministries and rankings which are
extraneous to Scripture and Tradition; hence, this portion of her writings
could not be used as the basis for the spirituality or practices of any
institute of the Catholic Church. At the same time, the Congregation, aside
from several clear and particular restrictions, left a large body of Gabriele
Bitterlich’s writings untouched.
“The decree,
moreover, acknowledged the ecclesial status of the Work of the Holy Angels. In
fact, the Congregation made no judgment on either the personal life of Gabriele
Bitterlich or even upon the origin or veracity of her writings, but only
maintained that a part of what stands written in her manuscripts goes beyond
what is verifiable in Scripture and tradition.
And Implies that Bitterlich will change Doctrine
“The question
arises, "If no private charism can ever add anything new to the Apostolic Deposit of Faith
nor constitute a foundation for an ecclesial institute, then what is their
purpose and function in the Church?" Charisms,
as a gift of the Holy Spirit, are intended to serve as a beacon in the Church,
focusing their light on those truths of the Faith which are opportune (and
perchance neglected) for the present hour in the life of the Church. In this the Holy Spirit can evidently
communicate prophetic charisms and lights to the
Church that look to the future or deal with particulars not contained in the
Deposit of Faith. Such charisms may also act as a
catalyst, stimulating theological discussions and research which lead to an
organic development of doctrine from within the Church’s treasure of divine
truth. …”
What
the
CONGREGATION
FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
Litteris decree diei
The
association “Engelwerk”
The “Opus angelorum”, particularly diffused in Austria and Germany in the more conservative wing of the Catholicism, is made up of many distributions, between which an association for the priests (diffused in beyond 50 dioceses), a male congregation (“Order of canonical the regular ones of the Holy Cross”) and feminine (“a feminine Fraternità of the Holy Crosst”), Other important centers of the “Opus angelurum” are to Rome, in Portugal, Brasil them and India. In the Handbook of the Opus angelorum, that it collects part of the 80,000 sheets of the diary of visionary G. Bitterlich, the names of 400 angels and 200 demons are recensiti.
A letter was sent to the Apostolic Center on
December 01, 1977, by Cardinal Joseph Höfner,
archbishop of Colony and President of the German Episcopal Conference, asking
that Angelorum (Engelwerk was proceeded by an
examination of the Opus association) and its doctrines and particularly
how it draws its origin from the presumed private revelations of Mrs. Gabriel
Bitterlich.
After completing the examination of the
variety of documents containing the above mentioned doctrines, the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith communicated a memo to the involved parties a
letter on September 24, 1983 with
the following decisions, previously approved by the Holy Father in an audience on July 01,
1983 (cf. AAS (1984), 175-176):
1. In the promotion of the devotion of the
Work of the Angels you must obey to the Doctrine of the Church and its Fathers
and Doctors.
In particular you will not circulate to its
members and the faithful a cult of the angels who claim “known names” of a
presumed private revelation attributed to Mrs. Gabriel Bitterlich. It will not
be lawful to use those names [of angels] in any prayer from any part of the community.
2. The Work of the Angels will not require
from its members the so-called “promise
of silence” (“the Schweige-Versprechen” or
even suggest it), even if it seems legitimate to guard against just discretion
about the inner things of the Work of the Angels, when it assembles the members
of institutes of the Church.
3. The Work of the Angels and its members
will observe with rigor all the liturgical norms; especially those regarding
the Eucharist. This is in reference to the so-called “repairing communion”.
Later the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith was able to examine other documents coming from the same source and
concluded that its previous decisions have not been interpreted and executed
correctly.
The examination of these additional documents
confirms the foundation of the previous judgment and of previous decisions -
that the angelology of the Opus angelorum is
positively derived from writings that are strangers to Church Writings and
Tradition (Cf. BENEDICT XIV, Doctrine de beatificatione
servorum Of ET de canonizatione
beatorum, lib. IV. Pars II, c. XXX. De angels
ET eorum cultu, Venetiis, 1777) and therefore cannot be the basis for the
spirituality and the activity of Associations approved by the Church.
Therefore the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith has found it necessary to make known such decisions and
implementing them with the following norms:
.
The use and the spread, inside or outside of the association, the books or
other written documents containing the aforesaid theories are prohibited to
all.
II.
The various forms of consecration to the angels (“Engelweihen”) practiced by
Opus angelorum are forbidden.
III.
Moreover, the so-called “administration at a distance” (“Fernspendun”) of the Sacrament,
let alone its insertion into the Eucharistic Liturgy and the Liturgy of the
Hours of Witnesses’, and these prayers or rituals that directly or indirectly
refer to the aforesaid theories are forbidden.
IV.
The exorcisms are the exclusive practice of the Church
and subject to the norms, the discipline and the formulas approved by it.
V. a delegate with special faculties, named
from the Sede Saint, will verify and urge, in contact
with the bishops, the application of the norms established. It will strive to
clear up and regularize the relationships between the Canonical Opus angelorum and the regular ones of the Holy Cross.
I add pontefice
Giovanni Paul II, in the course of the audience come to an agreement to the
undersigned prefetto, has approved of present the
decree, decided in the ordinary reunion of this congregation, and of it he has
ordered the publication.
Rome, from the center of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith, June 6, 1992.
+ JOSEPH card. RATZINGER, prefetto
+ ALBERTO BOVONE arciv. tit. of Cesarean section of
Notes:
1. Gabriele Bitterlich’s writings
are the same exactly as two seers in
2. No evidence has ever been
produced that she wrote everything in two months and in fact no 80,000 pages
has ever been produced. Her family
claims 20,000 pages but even that has never been published entirely.
3. The names of Angels in her documents are in many cases the same as
demonic angels in Gnostic writings.
References:
Fidelity http://www.culturewars.com/
Families of members of
Opus Angelorum
Personal Experience
OA Web Site http://www.opusangelorum.org