Army of Mary

The Community of the Lady of All Nations, also known as the Community of the Lady of All Peoples or the Army of Mary, is a Marian sect founded by Marie-Paule Giguère. She founded the group in Quebec in 1971.

Marie-Paule Giguère was born in Sainte-Germaine du Lac-Etchemin, Quebec, Canada on 14 September 1921. In 1944, she married Georges Cliché; they divorced in 1957. Their five children were placed out-of-home. Marie-Paule claimed to have heard celestial voices since the age of twelve. After visiting a small Marian shrine on the edge of Lake Etchemin in 1971, Marie-Paule is said to have received a revelation directing her to creating an Army of Mary ("Armée de Marie") as an alternative to the existing Legion of Mary. Founded as a prayer group in 1971, and recognized in 1975 by the Archbishop of Quebec as a pious association four years later, the "Army of Mary" has been a headache for Canadian Catholic bishops ever since. A Quebec priest, Philippe Roy, joined the movement and became its director, and over the next ten years the association began to expand.

In 1971 Giguère learned from Raoul Auclair of alleged apparitions in Amsterdam and the purported messages of the Lady of All Nations. Giguère met visionary Ida Peerdeman in Amsterdam in 1973.

In 1977, due to another revelation to Marie-Paule, the "Militia of Jesus Christ" was introduced in Canada and connected to the Army of Mary. The Militia, was a new chivalric order created in France in 1973 for stimulating Marian devotion and doing social work. A number of members of the "Army of Mary" joined the "Militia of Jesus Christ".

In 1978 Giguère introduced herself as the (mystical) reincarnation of Mary. Giguère published her spiritual writings ("Vie d'amour") in 1979. In 1981, "Army of Mary" movement changed its name to the "Family and the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary", and in 1983 began construction at Lac-Etchemin of a world center for the Army of Mary and the Militia. At present, the Community of the Lady of All Nations declares itself independent of the Church and non-Catholic. She is an independent Neo-Marian; Ecumenical and open to interreligious dialogue. His new liturgy integrates "The Heritage of Humanity" (excerpts from books and sacred texts of other religions and thinkers).

After a series of newspaper articles regarding the beliefs expressed in her writings, the new archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Louis-Albert Vachon, withdrew the approval of his predecessor, and on 4 May 1987 declared the movement schismatic and disqualified it as a Catholic association because of its false teachings. He asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to review Giguère's writings. Then Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) concluded that the movement was in "major and very severe error." The Army was forbidden to organize any celebration or to propagate their devotion for the Lady of All Peoples.

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