Antoinism is a healing-oriented new religious movement founded in 1910 by Louis-Joseph Antoine (1846–1912) in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Seraing in Belgium. With a total of 64 temples, over forty reading rooms across the world and thousands of members, it remains the only religion established in Belgium whose notoriety and success has reached outside the country. Mainly active in France, the religious movement is characterized by a decentralized structure, simple rites, discretion and tolerance towards other faiths.
Raised a Catholic, Antoine worked as a coal miner in his youth, then as a steelworker, before performing his military service in 1866. After marrying Catherine in 1873, he moved several times for professional reasons. Deeply impressed by Allan Kardec's writings, he organized a spiritualist group in the 1890s. In 1893, the death of his son marked the definitive loss of his faith in Catholicism. In 1896, he explained his Spiritist views in a book, then discovered the gifts of healing. Quickly known as a healer, he gathered many followers, mainly among workers disappointed by Catholicism or medicine. In 1906, he broke with Spiritism and started a religion, then published three books outlining his doctrine and consecrated the first Antoinist temple. After his death in 1912, Catherine ensured the continuity of the religion, promoting a centralized worship around the person of her husband and introducing certain Catholic-inspired elements along with additional rules in the organization. When she died in 1940, some differences happened between the French and the Belgian temples.
Antoinist beliefs combine some elements of Catholicism, reincarnation, and esoteric healing. In the Antoinist views, the man must reach consciousness by getting rid of the illusion of matter produced by his intelligence—the source of evil and suffering. The purpose of life is to release oneself from the cycle of reincarnation through a moral progression aided by "fluids"—all human actions, acquired by silent prayer and the harm caused by diseases and enemies. As freedom of conscience and free will are considered very important in the Antoinist creed, the religion does not practice proselytism and is not exclusive. It does not provide any prescription on social issues. Although focused on healing, Antoinism does not interfere with the medical field, and does not discourage the resort to traditional medicine.
Simple and brief, services are performed in the temples, generally twice per day, and are composed of two forms of worship: "The General Operation", which consists of the transmission of the fluid to the churchgoers, and "The Reading" of Antoine's writings. Members who performed the services wear an entirely black dress, as sign of an intense involvement in the religion; they are not paid. Temples are also the place of consultations of a healer by people who wish to obtain a request, frequently related to health. Antoinist celebrations include Christian holidays and other three days that commemorate the founding couple and the dedication of the first temple. Registered as organism of public utility in Belgium and as religious association in France, the religion is directed by a college composed of the most active members called desservants. It is financed by anonymous donations and does not ask for money from its followers. In France, the cult classification of Antoinism in the 1995 Parliamentary Report was criticized by the sociologists who studied the religious group, and many people involved in the anti-cults fight did not report cultic deviances.
History
1846–1912: Founder Louis Antoine
Childhood and professional activities Louis-Joseph Antoine was born on 7 June 1846 in Mons-Crotteux, Belgium at a place called "In the Chapel",Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 41. the youngest of a large family,Vivier, 1989, p. 19 which belonged to the Roman Catholic Church.Vivier, 1989, p. 9. His mother was Catherine Castille, born in 1797. He was raised in the Priesse street and attended primary school in Mons.Lallemand, 1994, p. 45. From the age of twelve, Louis was employed as a coal miner, following in the footsteps of his father.Vivier, 1989, p. 24. One day, while working at the mine, his lamp went out without apparent reason, which he interpreted as a divine sign that he should abandon this work.Vivier, 1989, pp. 30,31. He worked for two years in the mine,Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 43. then was a steelworker in the Cockerill factory in Seraing.Dericquebourg, 1993, p. 11. He was enrolled in the militia of Belgium in 1866, and filled his military obligations in Bruges. During the Franco-Prussian War, he accidentally killed a comrade; although there was no legal action, this event led him to question the meaning of life.Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 47. After marrying Jeanne Catherine Collon on 15 April 1873,Vivier, 1989, p. 108. while he was a hammerer, he became the father of a son, Louis Martin Joseph, born in Hamborn, Prussia on 23 September 1873, and baptized five days later in the Catholic Church of St. John.Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 48.Vivier, 1989, p. 112,113. Then the family went to Belgium in August 1876, where Antoine bought a horse and became a vegetable vendor.Vivier, 1989, p. 122. In 1878, he began to suffer from recurring stomach aches.Bégot, 1997, § 7. In February 1879, he returned to Poland where he was hired as hammerer chief by Mr. Pastor in the Pragua steelworks;Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 49. there his wife ran a school canteen. Five years later,Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 57. the family moved to Jemeppe-sur-Meuse (Belgium),Dericquebourg, 1993, p. 13. where he built twenty houses for workers.Lallemand, 1994, p. 46. On 5 February 1886, Antoine was sentenced to a fine of two francs on the grounds of physical violence on Denis Collon on 10 October 1885. Until 1900, he was a portier and a collector of Lexhy factory.Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 50.
Influence by Spiritism Though young, Antoine showed great piety,Vivier, 1989, p. 26. which the historian Pierre Debouxhtay described as a "devotion of a rather scrupulous formalism".Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 46. Despite his strong faith, Antoine was unsatisfied with his religion. He began to be influenced by the writings of Allan Kardec and, through his friend Gustave Gon, was initiated in 1884 in Spiritism in attending Spiritist meetings to Tilleur,Giltay, 2011, p. 6. alongside his wife and his nephew Pierre Dor.Debouxhtay, 1934, pp. 54,55. In Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, with friends, he started a Spiritist movement called "The Vine Growers of the Lord" ("Les Vignerons du Seigneur"). Often ill, his son attended evening school in Jemeppe, then worked at the Society of Belgian Northern Railways (Société des Chemins de Fer du Nord Belge);Debouxhtay, 1934, pp. 58,59. At his death on 23 April 1893 because of a phlebitis,Dericquebourg, 1993, p. 14. Antoine and his group definitively broke with Christianity; moreover, after participating in Spiritist meetings, parents believed that their deceased son was reincarnated as a pharmacist in Paris. Antoine published in 1896 a book entitled Little Spiritist Catechism (Petit catéchisme spirite) to explain his own doctrinal views; shaped on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, this writing was successful and was translated into Spanish. Antoine organized public meetings of Spiritism the first Sunday of each month at his home, and the second and the fourth Sundays at Pierre Debroux's home,Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 64. people being invited to meetings through flyers.Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 65. He then discovered the gifts of healing and by 1900, he received many sufferers to heal; thenceforth, he was known as the "healer of Jemeppe". He distributed remedies learned from Spiritism and advocated vegetarianism, as well as temperance and avoidance of fatty foods.Dericquebourg, 1993, p. 16.
On 8 November 1900, the prosecutor of Liège, who had received an anonymous letter, asked doctors Louis Lenger and Gabriel Corin to investigate the healing activities of Antoine. On 14 December, the Commissioner raided the pharmacist Nizet, installed in Jemeppe, who received orders made by Antoine to heal the sick. Three days later, the prosecutor and the two doctors asked Antoine about his healing activities and attended several consultations. In his report, the prosecutor stated that Anthony was very cooperative, that his treatments were "simple" and that it was certain that he obtained many recoveries but only under suggestion; he noticed his "absolute sincerity", but also asserted his activities could be "a danger to public health".Debouxhtay, 1934, pp. 70–89.Dericquebourg, 1993, p. 17. Antoine appeared before the Criminal Court on 19 February 1901; Dr. Corin and three patients who reported having been cured succeeded at the witness box.Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 90. Finally, Antoine was sentenced to a suspended fine of 60 francs, which did not prevent him to enjoy great renown.Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 91. Meanwhile, on 25 December 1900, approximately 180 people attended the inauguration of a new building located at the corner of Tomballes and Bois-du-Mont streets that Antoine had purchased earlier the same year, and then decorated with portraits of Allan Kardec, the cure of Ars and Dr. House.Debouxhtay, 1934, pp. 67–69.
In 1901, Antoine posted an advertisement in the Spiritist journal The Messenger (Le Messager) seeking doctors who would associate with him, but the attempt did not meet with success.Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 92. At the same time, he was deeply influenced by Léon Denis' book In the Invisible.Bégot, 2000, § 7,8. He began to give up his remedies, particularly because of his then recent trial,Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 93. and gradually left Spiritism, as he was sometimes deceived by false mediums.Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 115. In 1902, his group The Vine Growers of the Lord, although solicited, did not participate in the creation of a Spiritist Federation, then in 1905, the members did not attend the preparatory meeting of the Congress in Liège and refused the 0.25 franc contribution.Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 117. In 1905, he saw up to 400 patients per day.Debouxhtay, 1934, p. 149. Around the same time, he published a four-page leaflet which commented on passages of the Gospels without reference to Spiritism.Debouxhtay, 1934, pp. 120,121.
Foundation of a new religion In 1906, Antoine discovered a spirituality he called a "new spiritualism", which led him to definitely give up Spiritism, to decide to heal by faith alone and to perform only collective healing in a temple, and thus started to lay the foundations of a structured religious movement.Dericquebourg, 1993, p. 20. That year, the followers of The Vine Growers of the Lord attended for the last time the national convention of Spiritists in Charleroi, which officially marked the end of their mutual support, and the following year, Antoine publicly abjured any practice of Spiritism.Debouxhtay, 1934, pp. 122–24. In addition, the moral dimension became more present in the doctrine,Roure,1925, p. 179. while the experimental disappeared.Debouxhtay, 1934, pp. 126, 127. Given this abandonment of the Spiritist doctrine, the new religious group was criticized in Spiritist journals.Debouxhtay, 1934, pp. 128, 129.