Grail Movement
Encyclopedia
The Grail Movement is an organization which originated in Germany
in the late 1940s, inspired by the work of Oskar Ernst Bernhardt (also known by his pen name
Abd-ru-shin), principally In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message
. Abd-ru-shin did not establish the organization, the Movement as it exists today was formally organized by followers.
The Grail Movement has been described as a new religious movement
. Most members reside in Western Europe
, primarily Germany and France
, and the group claims to have hundreds of members in Britain
and in the USA. It can also be found in Quebec
, Canada
, Brazil and in some West Africa
n countries such as Nigeria
, Zaire (Congo) and Côte d'Ivoire
, as well as in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand amongst others.
Worldwide, there are about 10,000 members of the Grail Movement. A declaration of the personal commitment to adhere to the principles of the Grail Message can be made by a request for the “Sealing”, a Grail Act (ceremony) that takes place during one of three annual festival
s. This, however, is a personal decision on the part of the individual and leads neither to commitment to an organisation nor to formal links with other adherents.
The establishment of the Grail Settlement on Vomperberg resulted as groups of readers of The Grail Message, wishing to live and work in his immediate vicinity, took up residence there.
The Settlement developed gradually; adding residences, work and administration buildings and then a small hall with seating for about 300 people. This hall was used by Abd-ru-shin for Sunday Hours of Worship and for the three annual Grail Festivals, Easter Festival etc., to which adherents of the Grail Message also journeyed.
This development was interrupted in 1938 when the Nazi regime annexed Austria and expropriated the Grail Settlement. Abd-ru-shin was arrested on the first day of the annexation and taken to Innsbruck prison. All residents were expelled so that the Settlement could be used as a Nazi training camp. Abd-ru-shin was eventually released but kept under house arrest and surveillance until he died in 1941 in Kipsdorf, Germany. It was not until late in 1945 when the Allies returned the Settlement to his widow Maria Bernhardt that, under her direction, new development began. During this time the term “Grail Movement” was in common use, as a group designation for adherents of the Grail Message.
Over the years national Grail Movements have formed in many countries, some of which, (e.g., Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Congo (Zaire) and Nigeria) have built their own Halls of Worship. Abd-ru-shin had explicitly stated in his writings that he had not come to establish a new religion.
The world view of members of the Grail Movement is based mainly on the work In the Light of Truth, written by Oskar Ernst Bernhardt and published under the name Abd-ru-shin.
near Brno
, Czech Republic. Two weeks later, on 19 May, a sensationalist article appeared in the Czech newspaper Mlada Fronta DNES stating that a bizarre cult might be involved, most probably the so-called Grail Movement. The newspaper article was subsequently quoted by many others all over the world.
The Czech Supreme Court however, on the 27th October 2010, upheld an earlier court verdict that the allegations and inferences regarding the Grail Movement in this and subsequent articles were without substance and falsified, and ordered the Czech newspaper involved to print a public apology.
Further details:
The Grail Movement responded vigorously to the falsified Czech newspaper article, at press conferences and in articles, stating that the people involved had previously been a part of it, but the Movement broke with them 11 years previously in 1996, due to their behavior being quite opposite to the Grail Movement’s principles. They may have established their own bizarre cult, having nothing to do with the Grail Movement. This statement was supported by the opinions and research of all Czech religion & religious entity researchers / observers interviewed.
In 2008 the abuse case was tried, some more details disclosed and the people involved were sentenced to 5–11 years imprisonment. At that time, the cult was called the "Nameless sect of Mr. Skrla" in Czech media,( in Czech) however the falsified article insinuating that the Grail Movement was connected to the case has already been quoted in foreign papers.
In October 2009 a lawsuit took place in Prague between MAFRA
, the publisher of Mlada Fronta DNES, and the Grail Movement Foundation in the Czech Republic, who demanded a public retraction of the false allegations and a published apology. The Foundation won the lawsuit. The publisher had subsequently appealed the court findings, however the Czech Supreme Court confirmed the verdict one year later, on 27. 10. 2010. The paper has since printed the apology on 21. 12. 2010.
A consequence of the falsified article is the reprinting and quoting of the original article in foreign newspapers, which can still be found and are not subject to the Czech Supreme Court order.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in the late 1940s, inspired by the work of Oskar Ernst Bernhardt (also known by his pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Abd-ru-shin), principally In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message
In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message
In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message was written by Oskar Ernst Bernhardt and first published in 1926 under the pen name Abdruschin. The last edition published by the author himself was in 1931, entitled In the Light of Truth...
. Abd-ru-shin did not establish the organization, the Movement as it exists today was formally organized by followers.
The Grail Movement has been described as a new religious movement
New religious movement
A new religious movement is a religious community or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of modern origin, which has a peripheral place within the dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, in...
. Most members reside in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, primarily Germany and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and the group claims to have hundreds of members in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and in the USA. It can also be found in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Brazil and in some West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
n countries such as Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Zaire (Congo) and Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
, as well as in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand amongst others.
Worldwide, there are about 10,000 members of the Grail Movement. A declaration of the personal commitment to adhere to the principles of the Grail Message can be made by a request for the “Sealing”, a Grail Act (ceremony) that takes place during one of three annual festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
s. This, however, is a personal decision on the part of the individual and leads neither to commitment to an organisation nor to formal links with other adherents.
Background
The Grail Movement had its beginnings when Oskar Ernst Bernhardt took up residence in Vomperberg, Tyrol (Austria) in 1928, in order to focus on the writing of his major work “In the Light of Truth” - The Grail Message (as Abd Ru Shin), which was then followed by other works.The establishment of the Grail Settlement on Vomperberg resulted as groups of readers of The Grail Message, wishing to live and work in his immediate vicinity, took up residence there.
The Settlement developed gradually; adding residences, work and administration buildings and then a small hall with seating for about 300 people. This hall was used by Abd-ru-shin for Sunday Hours of Worship and for the three annual Grail Festivals, Easter Festival etc., to which adherents of the Grail Message also journeyed.
This development was interrupted in 1938 when the Nazi regime annexed Austria and expropriated the Grail Settlement. Abd-ru-shin was arrested on the first day of the annexation and taken to Innsbruck prison. All residents were expelled so that the Settlement could be used as a Nazi training camp. Abd-ru-shin was eventually released but kept under house arrest and surveillance until he died in 1941 in Kipsdorf, Germany. It was not until late in 1945 when the Allies returned the Settlement to his widow Maria Bernhardt that, under her direction, new development began. During this time the term “Grail Movement” was in common use, as a group designation for adherents of the Grail Message.
Over the years national Grail Movements have formed in many countries, some of which, (e.g., Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Congo (Zaire) and Nigeria) have built their own Halls of Worship. Abd-ru-shin had explicitly stated in his writings that he had not come to establish a new religion.
The world view of members of the Grail Movement is based mainly on the work In the Light of Truth, written by Oskar Ernst Bernhardt and published under the name Abd-ru-shin.
Falsified allegations involving a Czech child abuse case - Press article attempting to involve the Grail Movement
In May 2007 the case of an abused 7 year old, Ondrej, was discovered in the small town of KurimKurim
Kuřim is a town in the Czech Republic.It is placed near Brno-External links:*...
near Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, Czech Republic. Two weeks later, on 19 May, a sensationalist article appeared in the Czech newspaper Mlada Fronta DNES stating that a bizarre cult might be involved, most probably the so-called Grail Movement. The newspaper article was subsequently quoted by many others all over the world.
The Czech Supreme Court however, on the 27th October 2010, upheld an earlier court verdict that the allegations and inferences regarding the Grail Movement in this and subsequent articles were without substance and falsified, and ordered the Czech newspaper involved to print a public apology.
Further details:
The Grail Movement responded vigorously to the falsified Czech newspaper article, at press conferences and in articles, stating that the people involved had previously been a part of it, but the Movement broke with them 11 years previously in 1996, due to their behavior being quite opposite to the Grail Movement’s principles. They may have established their own bizarre cult, having nothing to do with the Grail Movement. This statement was supported by the opinions and research of all Czech religion & religious entity researchers / observers interviewed.
In 2008 the abuse case was tried, some more details disclosed and the people involved were sentenced to 5–11 years imprisonment. At that time, the cult was called the "Nameless sect of Mr. Skrla" in Czech media,( in Czech) however the falsified article insinuating that the Grail Movement was connected to the case has already been quoted in foreign papers.
In October 2009 a lawsuit took place in Prague between MAFRA
MAFRA
MAFRA is Czech media group oriented mainly on printed internet media. Company is subsidiary of the German group Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei- und Verlagsgesellschaft GmbH , that bought it from French press group Socpresse in 1994.MAFRA is publishing daily newspaper MFDnes, as of March 2011 having...
, the publisher of Mlada Fronta DNES, and the Grail Movement Foundation in the Czech Republic, who demanded a public retraction of the false allegations and a published apology. The Foundation won the lawsuit. The publisher had subsequently appealed the court findings, however the Czech Supreme Court confirmed the verdict one year later, on 27. 10. 2010. The paper has since printed the apology on 21. 12. 2010.
A consequence of the falsified article is the reprinting and quoting of the original article in foreign newspapers, which can still be found and are not subject to the Czech Supreme Court order.
Grail Movement books
- In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message, Vol. 1 (Paperback). Abd-ru-shin, Grail Foundation Press, 1998,ISBN 157461-000-7
- The Ten Commandments of God and The Lord's Prayer, Abd-ru-shin, Grail Foundation Press,1995, ISBN 157461004X
- Knowledge for the World of Tomorrow, Herbert Vollmann, Grail Message Foundation, Germany, 1975, ISBN 3878600747
- What Lies Behind It...?, Herbert Vollmann, Grail Message Foundation, 1977, ISBN 3878600836
- Concerning Grail Activities, Herbert Vollmann, Grail Acres Publishing Co Ltd, 1998, ISBN 3878601166
- From the Heart of Africa, Irmingard Bernhardt, Grail Message Foundation, Grail Acres Publishing Co Ltd, 1981, ISBN 3878601018