Top Stories 24/01/31 Korean Church bans Catholic spirituality group

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Korean Church bans Catholic spirituality group

God's Will Spiritual Research Society was founded with inspiration of Italian Catholic mystic and author Luisa Piccarreta

Luisa Piccarreta (1865-1947) was an Italian Catholic mystic and author known for her spiritual exercises centered on union with the will of God. (Photo: Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, Canada)

By UCA News reporter

Published: January 31, 2024 11:25 AM GMT

Seoul Archdiocese in South Korea has banned a Catholic spirituality group and revoked permission for publishing books citing doctrinal and spiritual errors, says a report.

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick banned the group, the God's Will Spiritual Research Society, from holding future gatherings and revoked the license for more than ten books through a decree, Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation of Korea (CPBC) reported on Jan. 31.

The move was based on the opinion reached by the Committee on the Doctrine of the Faith of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, the prelate said in the decree dated Jan. 25.

The books whose publishing permission has been revoked include 20 volumes of “The Book of Heaven,” “The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of God’s Will,” “When God’s Will Rules the Soul,” “24 Hours of Spiritual Pilgrimage,” and “Spirituality of God’s Will.”

Other banned books include “Collection of Prayers for the Will of God,” “Thy Kingdom Come,” “The Hours of Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” and “Holy Mass.”

Chung said the books’ “content and form contain a number of dogmatic and spiritual errors that are inconsistent with or even contrary to the Bible and the traditional teachings of the [Catholic] Church."

"In the current situation of the Church in Korea, where private revelation is spreading indiscriminately, it is very likely that it will spread false piety among the faithful and cause confusion and division within the Church,” he added.

The gatherings and prayer meetings of the group also “may unintentionally spread false devotion or cause confusion in the Church,” Chung said.

The prelate urged the faithful to use the officially approved prayer texts and prayer groups to deepen their faith.

The spiritual group is based on the works of Luisa Piccarreta (1865-1947), an Italian Catholic mystic and author known for her spiritual exercises centered on union with the will of God.

Her writings had courted controversy for defying Catholic doctrines.  

Piccarreta was declared a Servant of God after passing a preliminary, diocesan stage for sainthood in the Catholic Church in 2005.

Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, on two occasions, refused to give its nihil obstat (no objection) to the proceedings of her beatification process, because of issues related to her writings, reports say.

In 2023, the Korean bishops’ Committee for the Doctrine of Faith issued a detailed explanation of Piccarreta’s writings and cautioned priests and laity to distance themselves from the spiritual group.

While accepting that Piccarreta’s writings were pious and helpful for deepening Catholic devotion, some claims led to “very serious consequences for the Christian faith,” the bishops’ statement said.

“However, in this book, through the ‘Fiat’ project, Piccarreta is elevated to a special position in the history of salvation, comparable to, and even surpassing, Jesus and the Virgin Mary,” the bishops said.

Allegedly, Piccarreta “is described as the 'eldest daughter' of God's will and a being who opens a 'new era', and her mission also occupies a 'special position' in God's work of salvation for all mankind.”

This claim that Piccarreta opens a new era of salvation “tarnishes the salvation achieved through Christ," and “subordinates Christ’s salvation to the work of ‘Fiat’ propagated by her writings,” the bishops warned.