The Community of the Lady of All Nations, also known as the Community of the Lady of All Peoples or the Army of Mary, is a Marian sect founded by Marie-Paule Giguère. She founded the group in Quebec in 1971.
The movement believes that its 90-year-old founder, Marie Paule Giguère, is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary, in open contrast not only with the Catholic belief that reincarnation does not exist, but more specifically that Mary was assumed soul and body into heaven by God, and therefore Mary's soul is not separate from her body, so that if she were to appear, it would have to be as herself, not as a reincarnation.
On July 11, 2007, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration of excommunication against the group for heretical teachings and beliefs after a six-year investigation. The declaration was announced by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops on September 12, 2007.
On September 28, 2007, Msgr. J. Gaston Hebert, the diocese administrator (per the July 11 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) stated that 6 Arkansas nuns in the Diocese of Little Rock were excommunicated for heresy (the first excommunications in the diocese's 165-year history). They refused to recant the doctrines of the Community of the Lady of All Nations (Army of Mary). The 6 nuns are members of the Good Shepherd Monastery of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge in Hot Springs. Sister Mary Theresa Dionne, 82, one of 6, said they will still live at the convent property, which they own.
A spokesman for the Army of Mary called the excommunication of the nuns and the other members of the sect an injustice. Father Eric Roy said Giguère has not claimed to be the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary, and said the 86-year-old Quebec woman "receives graces" from the Virgin Mary and God.
"The Virgin Mary took possession of her soul. I would rather say it that way," said Roy, superior general of the Sons of Mary, an associated group.
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