Vatican Warns of ‘Deviant’ Sect That Prays to Angels

(Nov. 5) — In the eyes of the Catholic Church, praying to angels might seem pretty harmless. Compared with all the other vices out there, you'd think the church might even encourage it.



But the Vatican has sent a letter to Catholic bishops around the world warning them of a tiny, secretive sect that believes adherents can communicate with angels and combat demons. The letter, sent last month and made public Thursday, says a renegade faction of the sect is "disruptive" to the Vatican's authority and "deviant."



Opus Angelorum, which means "work of angels" in Latin, was founded by an Austrian housewife, Gabriele Bitterlich, who died in 1978. She apparently believed she could communicate with an archangel, who rattled off the names of hundreds of angels and demons vying for control of human beings. Her followers would pray to those angels by name, encouraging them to fight their evil counterparts.



Among other things, Bitterlich's followers — fewer than 150 in the world — believe that women who've had abortions are possessed by the devil.



The Vatican started investigating the sect after Bitterlich's death. In two documents dated 1982 and 1992, the church ordered Opus Angelorum to abide by all of its official scriptural teachings rather than new ones created by Bitterlich.



Basically, the Vatican ruled that it's OK for Catholics to pray to angels, as long as they don't use the "names" of angels derived from "the alleged private revelations" of Bitterlich, according to the Vatican press office.

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