Mariavite Church
The origin of the Mariavitismus as a religious renewal movement - first within the Roman Catholic Church, and later outside it - is in Poland.
Since 1883 the nun was Feliksa Kozłowska (* May 27, 1862; † August 23, 1921 ) Member of the Congregation, which was founded by the beatified by Pope John Paul II Capuchin monk Honorat Koźmiński. In 1887 she founded the Congregation of the Rule of St.. Clara, who was later called the Order of Mariavites. they took
- The first rule of Saint Francis of Assisi,
- For the sisters, the second rule of the Poor Clares,
- For the lay Franciscan Tertiarenregel.
Poland was divided at the time when the Mariavitenbewegung between Russia, Prussia and Austria. The tsarist authorities banned after the Polish January Uprising in 1863 the establishment of the Polish- national organizations as well as all non-Orthodox monasteries and communities. Since they were illegal under Russian law, many Roman Catholic monasteries were dissolved. In this epoch the burgeoning Mariavitenbewegung was one of many Roman Catholic congregations. For the Polish bishops had the authority enjoyed this because of their private revelations, a welcome opportunity to take action against them; they concealed the existence of the Congregation. By 1903, the Roman Catholic Church, the existence of Mariavites denied altogether so. Their liturgy is a Polish or Lithuanian translation of the Roman.
The private revelations Feliksa Kozłowskas
1893, Feliksa Kozłowska, known by the religious name Maria Franciszka, visions. On 2 August 1893, the movement founded " Mariavites ". Thus the Mariavitische church was built. The name " Mariavites " derives from the Latin Mariae vitam imitans ( emulating the life of Mary ) or from the Latin also Mariae Vitae cultores ( worshipers of the life of Mary).
Kozlowskas visions 1893-1918 were 1922 anthology " Dzieło Wielkiego Mercy " - published - " work of the great grace." These " revelations" are in addition to the Bible, the source of religious Mariavites. In the visions Feliksa Kozłowska fights against the moral decline of the world, especially the clergy. In the first vision it was applied, the order of the Catholic clergy to reorganize and thus terminate the existing double standards. The Holy Communion was chosen as the most important sacrament for baptized Christians. The Mariavites undertook to disseminate exactly this form of piety.
Religious conviction
For Feliksa Kozłowska and the priests the movement of Mariavites was an instrument of God to the inner mission and reform in the Catholic Church. However, this company is proving more difficult than expected. The Bishop of Płock initiated the approval of the Mariavites and instructed its management to send the documents to Rome. A month later, Pope Pius X, whose delegation. At the same time chose the Mariavites Jan Maria Michał Kowalski for the first Minister General. In June 1904, another delegation traveled to Rome, was the Curia again the importance and urgency of their mission before, so Pius X. promised recognition of the Congregation.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith but then decided against the Mariavites and in December 1904 denied Pius X against previous commitments recognition. The disclosures of the Feliksa Kozłowska counted as hallucinations. Pius X disbanded the movement and forbade any contact between the priests and Feliksa Kozłowska. Two other delegations to Rome were unsuccessful. The Mariavites rebelled when they saw abused their trust by misleading promises. In February 1906, she announced Pius X. cooperation with the Roman Catholic bishops in Poland. Rome responded with the encyclical " Tribus circiter ", where Pius X made the recognition of Mariavites of the rejection of private revelations Feliksa Kozłowskas dependent. From these revelations, however, the order Mariavite derives and so they rejected the demand, after which Pius X spoke the great excommunication.
Feliksa Kozłowska and Jan Maria Michał Kowalski were then excommunicated on April 5, 1906. Feliksa Kozłowska is the first woman to the Vatican excommunicated. 1972-1974 Jesuit Father Stanislaw Bajko was commissioned by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, to check the Mariavitenorden. The occasion and the outcome of the review are currently unknown.
Spin-off
As of 1909, the Old Catholic Church Mariavite was a member of the Union of Utrecht, but was - in 1924 excluded from the Union - because of not tolerated by the Union tendencies. The reason were so-called mystical marriages between priests and nuns. In 1935, the church split into two branches:
- Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites ( Płock ), it was headed by Klemens Maria Philipp Feldmann; and the
- Catholic Church Mariavite ( Felicjanów ) whose Bishop Jan Maria Michał Kowalski was. He had been deposed in the absence of the General Assembly.
On April 1, 2014, the resumption of the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites was decided in the Union of Utrecht.
Order of Mariavites in Germany - foreign jurisdiction
The so-called "Order of the Mariavites in Germany - Foreign jurisdiction " based in Cologne, whose head is attributed to the Vagantenszene is recognized neither by the Old Catholic Church Mariavite ( AKM ) nor by the Catholic Church Mariavite ( KKM ). The head of the Order is also the "Church of the Good Shepherd " before. Here, even without church membership " ceremonies " ( birth and baptism to marriage and partnership and death and mourning ) are offered.
The Diocese of Limburg warned in its Official Journal of November 2004, the Archbishopric of Cologne in the Official Journal in May 2007 before " activities of the Cologne-based international jurisdiction of the so -called Order of Mariavites in Germany. '" The Diocese of Rottenburg -Stuttgart also warned in May 2007 an alleged prelates Mariavite who campaigned for donations for work in Paraguay. All ecclesiastical office leaves emphasize that there is no connection between the Catholic Church and the Mariavites.