New Book on The Celestial Messenger of Chicago: Giuseppe Maria Abbate (1886-1963)

Giuseppe Maria Abbate (1886‒1963) was one of the many Italians who immigrated to the United States in the early twentieth century. However, his career in the new country would become quite unusual. Not only did he found a new religious group, the New Jerusalem Catholic Church in Chicago (1917), but he also claimed that he was a divinely elected Celestial Messenger and even the Celestial Father, God incarnate. Though a few authors have mentioned Abbate in passing, this is the first detailed investigation about him and his religious movement.

In the book Giuseppe Maria Abbate: The Italian-American Celestial Messenger (2018), Professor Magnus Lundberg (Uppsala) and Fr. James W. Craig (Chicago) present aspects of Giuseppe Maria Abbate’s biography, his religious claims, and mission as well as the history of the New Jerusalem Catholic Church, which he founded. The outline is chronological mainly, following Abbate from his birth in 1886 until his death in 1963, but with a clear focus on the period from the late-1910s onwards, when he appeared as a religious leader. It also includes an investigation of the congregation’s development after the founder’s death and the legacy of the Celestial Messenger.

The book is part of the Uppsala Studies in Church History e-book series that is published in the Department of Theology, Uppsala University. The full-text is available here

For a photo reportage on the Celestial Messenger in La Settimana INCOM Illustrata from 1950.

Palmarian Links: TV, Radio, Websites, etc.

Here is a collection of links to different types of media related to El Palmar de Troya and the Palmarians

TV, Radio, Film, Music and Photos

Antena 3 TV: Six short films on the Palmarian Church, 2016, Accessed from: http://www.antena3.com/temas/el_palmar_de_troya-1

Apostate activist: Nine short films on The Palmarian Church Opposition, 2009–2010. Accessed from: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVRYSSr X7Cwq6JGAcGkANhQ on March 30, 2017.

Cf. the 20 + short films on the Youtube account Apostateactivist. Accessed from: http://www.youtube.com/user/ApostateActivist

Canal Sur, 75 Minutos: La Iglesia de El Palmar de Troya, May 10, 2016, 70 min. Documentary accessed from: http://www.youtube.com/timedtext_video? ref =player&v =mUena2Sxveg on March 30, 2017.

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Palmarian Sources

Apart from my monograph on the Palmarian Catholic Church, A Pope of their Own and many articles on the church and its teachings, I have made a large number of Palmarian doctrinal and devotional texts available on this website. Earlier, most of them were not readily available to non-Palmarians. The full-text documents can be consulted through the following links:

Pontifical Documents of Gregory XVII (1978-1980)

The Palmarian Creed (1980)

Treatise of the Mass (in Spanish; 1992)

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Text of the Palmarian History of the Popes

I have written much about the Palmarian Catholic Church, and its history and teachings. My main contribution is the monograph A Pope of their Own: El Palmar de Troya and the Palmarian Church (1st ed. 2017, 2nd ed. 2020). Although based on many traditional Catholic beliefs, from its foundation in 1978 until today the Palmarian church has come to include increasingly unusual teachings in its creed. Today, for example, the Palmarians have a Bible own their own, which has replaced the traditional Bible as their most important holy scripture. Part of the Palmarian Bible is an official church history, or more precisely a history of the popes from St. Peter to the current Palmarian pope.

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The Palmarian New Testament (in German)

The Palmarian Bible is hardly available in public libraries and it is not available online. As a service to researchers and others, I will scan the entire Sacred History or Holy Palmarian Bible. Superior Grade. According to the Infallible Magisterium of the Church. (Holy Apostolic See, El Palmar de Troya, 2012). So far, I have only scanned the Old Testament, but as soon as possible, the entire Bible in English will be available. However, below you will find an abridged German version of the Palmarian New Testament. It’s scanned from the 2013 edition: Heilige Geschichte oder heilige Palmarianische Bibel. Grundstufe gemäss dem unfehlbaren Lehramt der Kirche (Heilige Apostolische Sede, El Palmar de Troya, 408 pp).

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Palmarian Childrens’ Bible (in German)

I have written much about the Palmarian Catholic Church, and its history and teachings. My main contribution is the monograph A Pope of their Own: El Palmar de Troya and the Palmarian Church (2017). Although based on many traditional Catholic beliefs, from its foundation in 1978 until today the Palmarian church has come to include increasingly unusual teachings in its creed. Today, for example, the Palmarians have a Bible own their own, which has replaced the traditional Bible as their most important holy scripture.

In another blog post, I published the Old Testament according to the Sacred History or Holy Palmarian Bible. Superior Grade. According to the Infallible Magisterium of the Church. (Holy Apostolic See, El Palmar de Troya, 2012). Apart from superior and basic versions, the Palmarians have published a Childrens’ version of the Sacred History. A colleague of mine has scanned a German edition: Heilige Geschichte oder Heilige Palmarianische Bibel. Kinderstufte gemäß dem Unfehlbahren Lehramt der Kirche (Heiliger Apostolischer Stuhl, El Palmar de Troya, 2006).

Kinderbibel p 1-125

Kinderbibel p 126-246

Palmarian Devotions

Here is a collection of Palmarian devotions and prayers: the Holy Penitential Rosary, the Trisagion, Daily Prayers and Miscellaneous Prayers. These versions were used in the mid-2010s, during the pontificate of Gregory XVIII (2011-2016). For a study of Palmarian history, teachings and devotions, see my monograph A Pope of their Own: El Palmar de Troya and the Palmarian Church.

Holy Penitential Rosary

Holy Trisagion

Daily devotions

Other prayers

The Text of the Palmarian Bible

I have written much about the Palmarian Catholic Church, and its history and teachings. My main contribution is the monograph A Pope of their Own: El Palmar de Troya and the Palmarian Church (2017). Although based on many traditional Catholic beliefs, from its foundation in 1978 until today the Palmarian church has come to include increasingly unusual teachings in its creed. Today, for example, the Palmarians have a Bible own their own, which has replaced the traditional Bible as their most important holy scripture.

The Palmarian Bible is hardly available in public libraries and it is not available online. As a service to researchers and others, I will scan one of the English versions: the Sacred History or Holy Palmarian Bible. Superior Grade. According to the Infallible Magisterium of the Church. (Holy Apostolic See, El Palmar de Troya, 2012). So far, I have only scanned the Old Testament, but as soon as possible, the entire Bible will be available here. However, a German version of the Palmarian New Testament is available here.

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Dan Brown and the Palmarians

I have studied the Palmarian Church for many years. In May 2017, I published a book [EDIT, see the 2nd edition here] on the subject and through the years I have written some twenty blog posts on El Palmar de Troya and the church’s development, structure and teaching. Interestingly enough, the Palmarian Church plays a part in bestselling author Dan Brown’s most recent book, Origin, which was published in September 2017.

Why haven’t I mentioned Origin in any blog post until now? The reason is simple. I think that it is a very bad book even by Dan Brown standards. In the afterword, the author, as always, claims that the book is based on much research. I doubt it and I wonder how it is possible to write such a boring book about such an intriguing theme as the Palmarian Church. Only Dan Brown knows and does he even care?

If you want to read something good about Brown and El Palmar, I would suggest that you read Damian Thomson’s “Dan Brown’s new target?: The creepy Catholic sect with its very own pope and ‘Vatican'”, published in The Spectator in October 2017 or why not Matthew Walther’s “Dan Brown is a very bad author”, published in The Week at about the same time.

The Italian-American Celestial Messenger

I am currently working on a project about Giuseppe Maria Abbate (1886-1963). Born in Sicily, he spent most of his life in Chicago. Abbate claimed that he was a Celestial Messenger and even God incarnate, the Padre Celeste. In 1917, he founded the New Jerusalem Catholic Church of the Celestial Messenger, which attracted at least hundreds of Italian-Americans in the city.

I hope to be able to finish this research report soon, but for now, I post scanned versions of two articles, written by Alfredo Pieroni that were published in the Italian journal La Settimana INCOM illustrata in 1950. The story and the photos are quite astonishing.

EDIT: The book is now published and can be downloaded here

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Magnus Lundberg

Church and Mission Historian

Author: Magnus Lundberg