The Friends of Man are a Christian denomination founded in 1919 by Frédéric-Louis-Alexandre Freytag, the former Branch manager of the Swiss Watch Tower Society since 1912. He founded a group first named the Angel of the Lord (this name was inspired by a verse of the Apocalypse), Angel of Jehovah Bible and Tract Society, then Church of the Kingdom of God or the Philanthropic Assembly of the Friends of Man.
History
editIn 1928, innovations introduced by the second president of the Watch Tower Society, Joseph F. Rutherford (1869-1942), caused the separation of Italian-speaking Bible Student groups in Connecticut. Under the leadership of Gaetano Boccaccio (1906-1996), the group broke with Rutherford and organized itself as the Italian Bible Students Association of L'Aurora Millenniale. From these originsthree different organizations were born (administratively autonomous, but with the same “Russell theology”). In 1933 the Italian-language periodical L'Aurora Millenniale began publication in Hartford (Connecticut), which was sent to interested people in Italy; the publication of the magazine New Creation. A Herald of Christ's Kingdom dates back to 1940. Missionary work was also carried out in Africa, India and other countries.
Since 1996, the international headquarters of the movement has been in Hampton, New Jersey, under the leadership of Elmer Weeks. In Italy, the Millennial Christian Church has existed since the difficult fascist era, because some of the Bible Students who had converted in the United States and brought their new faith to Italy came from Hartford and were friends of Boccaccio. Following these contacts, a group was born in Cerignola (Foggia) – where the community of Jehovah's Witnesses is largely composed of defectors from the local Waldensian church – which included Salvatore Doria (1907-1951), later interned in the Dachau concentration camp and died in 1951 due to the after-effects of his imprisonment. Giuseppe Maurelli of San Giuseppe Vesuviano (1893-?) also joined Boccaccio's group in 1939, with whom he had already come into contact in the United States, in Buffalo.
After the war in 1948 a missionary was sent from Hartford to Italy; the first assembly took place in 1949 in Messina, when several people from evangelical movements, and in particular Pentecostals, were also baptized. After the Second World War a regular missionary work began and the publication of L'Aurora Millenniale was able to move – in 1962 – to Pescara. L'Aurora Millenniale was published with this title until 1970. In 1971 the newspaper took on the name, inspired by the English version, La Nuova Creazione – Araldo del Regno di Cristo .
Until 1970, the Church operated as the Association of Biblical Students, then took on its current name in 1972 and obtained recognition as a religious body, pursuant to Law No. 1159/1929 and Royal Decree No. 289/1930, on 17 May 1979. The Millenarian Christian Church – which has a national coordination committee composed of five members and led by Francesco Modica after the retirement for reasons of age, in 2002, of the historic Italian leader Mario Celenza – currently has around one hundred faithful in various locations in Italy (members are divided into elders, deacons, deaconesses, baptized and communicants, catechumens and supporters), organized into local communities, Churches – with a minimum of ten members –, groups, families and isolated people, who meet in private homes. The main community is in Pescara, and has around twenty-five faithful.
B.: As mentioned, the Millennial Christian Church in Italy publishes the free bimonthly magazine initially called L'Aurora Millenniale and since 1971 La Nuova Creazione – Araldo del Regno di Cristo , in addition to a series of apologetic pamphlets published by the Pescara publishing house of the same name, including: A Thousand Years of Peace (1984); Is Christ's Commandment Authentic or Not? (1987); Jehovah's Witnesses and the Restoration of Israel (1988); and The End of the World and the Ark of Salvation (1989) The group began when Freytag started publishing his own personal views and sent The Message of Laodicea (Le Message de Laodicée), in which he claimed he was the legitimate successor of Charles Taze Russell, to the Bible Students. Therefore, he was ousted from the Watch Tower Society by Joseph Rutherford in 1920.[1] He published two journals, the monthly The Monitor of the Reign of Justice (Le Moniteur du Règne de Justice) and the weekly Newspaper for All (Le Journal pour tous).
In Italy, the first community was founded in 1946 in Turin by Sebastiano Chiardola.[2]
When Freytag died in 1947, one of his followers, Bernard Sayerce (1912–1963), a Roman Catholic schoolteacher, claimed he was his successor.[citation needed] Almost all of the 900 French and Belgian assemblies joined this new group which had a peak of 9,700 members between 1958 and 1962.[3] In 1963, Lydie Sartre (1898–1972), who was named the "Dear Mom", then Joseph Neyrand (1927–1981) in 1971, replaced Sayerce as leaders of the movement, named "Amis sans frontières" in 1984.[4]
Beliefs and practices
editThe movement theology includes Christian doctrines of restorationism and millennialism. Its beliefs can be found in Freytag's writings: The Divine Revelation (La Divine Révélation, 1920), The Message to Humanity (Le Message à l’Humanité, 1922) and The Eternal Life (La Vie éternelle, 1933).[citation needed] The movement stresses the need to change the character of humanity by practicing the Gospel. Members believe that only 144,000 persons, who are the Kingdom of God's members, will go to heaven. They are antitrinitarian and believe in a sole God, Jehovah.[5] They are vegetarian.[6]
In 1951 the movement turned increasingly to philanthropy: help for disadvantaged, disaster relief and material donations for farmers.[7]
They celebrate the feast of the Army of the Lord on 18 April and the feast of the little flock on 18 October. The weekly four meetings are largely devoted to study of the founder's writings. Baptism and the Last Supper are celebrated only within the Swiss branch, not in France.[8]
Organization
edit
The movement was later under the leadership of Édouard Rufener, then Marie Roulin, then Mr. Kohli. An elder oversees a community.[9]
The main headquarters are in Cartigny, Switzerland.[10] In France, the national headquarters were located in rue Amelot, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, with a strong influence in the south-west, before moving to Les Ormeaux, in Lot-et-Garonne. Every year, there are one or two congresses composed of speeches, artistic galas and concerts (e.g. at the Parc des Princes in 1948 and 1949, in Bordeaux in 1950 and in Toulouse in 1951). Regional meetings are also organized in European countries as well as in non European countries such as Algeria and Morocco.[7] In Italy,AMICIdell'UOMO CorsoTrapani, 11 Turin the first community was founded in 1946 in Turin by Sebastiano Chiardola.[11] Today it has about twenty congregations plus some other isolated groups for a total of about 6,000 members , of which about 1,000 are active and present. The 6.000 members are active in twenty countries, including Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, UK, U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Australia, but particularly in Italy.[9] The 71,500 members are active in twenty countries, including Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, UK, U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Australia, but particularly in Italy.[9]
References
edit- ^ "La Chiesa del Regno di Dio" (in Italian). Center for Studies on New Religions. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
- ^ "Freytag, Alexander F. L. (1870-1947) e Chiesa del Regno di Dio" (in Italian). Eresie. Archived from the original on 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
- ^ Séguy, Jean (1965). "Le non-conformisme sectaire en France. Problèmes de recherche". Revue de sociologie française (in French). 6 (6–1): 45. doi:10.2307/3319649. JSTOR 3319649. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
- ^ Chantin, Jean-Pierre (2004). Des " sectes " dans la France contemporaine — 1905-2000 — Contestations ou innovations religieuses ? (in French). Toulouse: Privat editions. pp. 46, 47. ISBN 2-7089-6855-6.
- ^ Barbey, Philippe. "Le christianisme unitarien en France — une étude sociologique" (in French). barbeyphilippe. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
- ^ Kreiss, Wilbert. "Églises, communautés et sectes, par Dr. Wilbert Kreiss — Les Amis de l'homme" (in French). egliselutherienne.org. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
- ^ a b Chantin, Jean-Pierre (2004). Des " sectes " dans la France contemporaine - 1905-2000 — Contestations ou innovations religieuses ? (in French). Toulouse: Privat editions. p. 48. ISBN 2-7089-6855-6.
- ^ Vernette, Jean; Moncelon, Claire (2001). Dictionnaire des groupes religieux aujourd'hui (religions - églises - sectes - nouveaux mouvements religieux - mouvements spiritualistes) (in French). Presses Universitaires de France. p. 16. ISBN 978-2-13-052026-9.
- ^ a b c "Sectes et nouveaux mouvements religieux — Association philanthropique "les amis de l'homme"" (in French). Info-sectes. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
- ^ "Religions > Mouvements chrétiens libres > Amis de l'Homme". Quid 2003 (in French). Robert Laffont. 2002. p. 552. ISBN 2-221-09758-0.
- ^ "Freytag, Alexander F. L. (1870-1947) e Chiesa del Regno di Dio" (in Italian). Eresie. Archived from the original on 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2009-06-28.