Father Elias Friedman, founder of the Association of Hebrew Catholics, in accord with Pope John XXIII and Vatican II stressed the reading of the 'Signs of the Times'. One of the 'Signs of the Times' emphasised by Father Elias is the 'Apostasy of the Gentiles'. This sign was also stressed by the Ratisbonne brothers in the 19th century. Already in the 19th century a major apostasy of the once-Christian nations was well under way. Another of the 'Signs of the Times' was to be the conversion or 'Ingrafting' of the Jews. The 18th and 19th centuries saw thousands of Jews becoming Christians and the Frankist Jews also entered the Church as a group under their leader Jacob Leibowitz Frank.
The end of the 18th century saw the terrors of the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. The Catholic Church was under severe persecution and the Pope imprisoned. Many saw Napoleon as an Anti-Christ and they feared that the last days were upon the world. There was great interest in prophecies especially those found in the Bible. Many Jews believed the Messiah would soon appear and many Christians thought that the Second Coming of the Messiah was near. Joseph Wolff a famous Jewish convert to Christianity taught along with others that a period of 2,300 years were due to end in the 1840's. Joseph Wolff believed that the world may see the second advent of the Messiah Jesus in this period around 1847.
In fact the 1840's did see the end of an era and the beginning of a new era. This era was the new Marian Age and was ushered in with the appearing of the Mother of God to Alphonse Ratisbonne a Jew in 1842, to the children of La Salette in September 1846 and to St Bemadette in 1858. An era of unprecedented visits of the Virgin Mary began and a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit and miracles of healing started to commence. Mary (Miriam ha Kadosha) came as the Queen of Prophets to prepare the world for the times of tribulation that would precede a Eucharistic era of peace for the world. The Catholic Church officially began this Marian Age in 1854 with the proclamation of the dogma that Mary was immaculately conceived. This era would see a great revival of devotion to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. This Marian Age would conclude with the ingrafting of the Jewish people in to the Catholic Church by means of a Marian and Eucharistic miracle. Just as Alphonse Ratisbonne had been miraculously converted by Our Lady of the Miracle so the whole Jewish people would be converted by a miracle and the Jews would become Catholics without ceasing to be Jews as mentioned by some of the Catholic seers and prophets. In order to prepare for the Ingrafting the Holy Spirit had much work to do. The Spirit was preparing the Church so that the Jewish people could enter the Church as a people and not be assimilated and lose their identity as the People of the Election.
At the heart of both Jewish and Catholic spirituality and mysticism is the concept of the Divine Presence (Shekinah) perceived as the Divine Heart. The Jewish adorers of the Divine Heart were known as the Kabbalah mystics or Chaverim (Friends/Comrades). In Eastern and Central Europe a secret society of these Jewish Chaverim formed the Society of the Nistarim. This article attempts to look at the influence of these elements in the modern history of the Church.
Joseph Wolff
The story of Joseph Wolff and Sir Henry Drummond is a very interesting one connected with the Irvingites and the Catholic Apostolic Church. This story is also connected to the Frankists and Cardinal Henry Stuart (York) and the Jacobites. Joseph Wolff was the son of Rabbi David Wolff and Esther Mayer of Bavaria. He was bom in Bavaria in 1795. He was to play an interesting role in the genesis of the Hebrew Christian movement. He was reared as an Orthodox Jew and became a Hebrew Catholic and then a Hebrew Christian evangelist and an Anglican priest. He was greatly influenced from a young age by the life of St Francis Xavier and his Jesuit imitators. His mother was of Frankist background being a granddaughter of Jacob Frank. His education in mainly Jesuit schools was secretly financed by Frankist Jews. The Frankists in turn were secretly suppported by Cardinal York (Henry Stuart) and a group of Jesuits. In 1812 with the encouragement of the Frankists Joseph was baptised as a Catholic at the age of 17. He then went to Rome to further his studies. Joseph Wolff was a Jewish wonder child and through his father he was descended from Sabbatai Tzvi (Tzvi = wolf).
The Nistarim
The genesis of our story starts with the founding of the secret society of the Nistarim (the Hidden Ones) by Rabbi Elijah Baal Shem to preserve the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Abulafia and the Zohar. These teachings were brought out of Spain by Rabbi Elijah's father Rabbi Joseph Jospa at the time of the expulsion in 1492. Rabbi Joseph Jospa settled in Krakow Poland. Rabbi Elijah was bom in Krakow in 1537. He was also a Jewish wonder child. After his Bar Mitzvah his father died and he disappeared from view for the next 40 years. Rabbi Elijah spent his time praying and learning, and travelling around the world, including the New World, like the prophet Elijah disguised as a donkey driver. In 1590 he suddenly appeared openly as a healer and miracle worker in Worms. He founded the Society of the Nistarim to preserve the ancient mystical teachings. He wrote a booklet called 'Toledot Adam' ('The Generations of Adam') which contained mystical healing remedies. It describes a Kabbalistic practice involving mystical squares and the seven seals of God. In a tradition coming from Rabbi Abraham Abulafia he attained the level or experience of Ruach ha Kodesh (the Holy Spirit) and through this experience he received the healing power through the name of Mashiach ben Joseph (Messiah son of Joseph). He taught the idea that Mashiach ben Joseph is present spiritually in every generation. There was a potential portion of Mashiach ben Joseph within each person that could be released by Ruach ha Kodesh and manifested in righteousness (Tzedekah). This teaching was not unique to Rabbi Elijah Baal Shem but comes from the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Abulafia. Abulafia had taught that this experience of the Holy Spirit could be received by Jew or Gentile, man or woman. Rabbi Elijah lived until he was 116 years old and the Society of the Nistarim was led by one of his followers Rabbi Joel Baal Shem Tov after his death.
Adam Baal Shem Tov was according to Hasidic tradition the third leader of the Society of the Nistarim in Eastern Europe. He is a mysterious figure. He remained largely unknown outside the mystical circles. He is the first prominent Jewish figure to bear the name of Adam in this period. He was the secret son of Sabbatai Tzvi (1626-1676) the famous false Messianic figure of the 17th century. His identity was a closely guarded secret due to the negative attitude of the Jewish and non Jewish leaders in regard to the followers of Sabbatai Tzvi. Sabbatai Tzvi's mother was the daughter or granddaughter of Rabbi Elijah Baal Shem the founder of the Nistarim.
The Adamites
One of Rabbi Elijah Baal Shem's disciples took the ‘Toledot Adam' and the Society of the Nistarim to England. From this arose a Puritan group called the Adamites. Like Rabbi Elijah they believed a new era had begun leading to a messianic era of peace. The Adamites, in England, in the 17th century were mystics who wished to return to the state of Adam and Eve in Paradise. They went naked in their rituals and meditated nude. Some of their followers caused disturbances and no doubt amusement when insisting on walking naked in public. When Sabbatai Tzvi rose to prominence some of the Adamites traveled to join him. He mated with Eva the daughter of the chief Adamite leader. Their child was named Adam in honour of the new era and of the sect of his mother - the Adamites. Due to this sect Adam became a popular name in England and Scotland at this time.
Unfortunately Rabbi Elijah's teachings were distorted by some of these followers and by his grandson Sabbatai Tzvi who was mislead by his Adamite disciples. The Adamites remained popular in central Europe and were present in the Austrian Empire in the mid 19th century. Their teachings were also found among the secret followers of Sabbatai Tzvi among the Muslim mystical sects. Joseph Wolff, who was known as the English Dervish among the Muslims, often got out of dangerous situations by stripping naked and walking away in accord with the Adamite tradition.
The Three Adams
Adam Baal Shem Tov at first avoided his father's Kabbalistic teachings. Meanwhile the Society of the Nistarim was lead by Rabbi Joel Baal Shem Tov the successor of Rabbi Elijah. When Adam reached the age of 33 he visited Rabbi Joel and remained with him. Adam was seen by many of the secret followers of Sabbatai as their Tzaddik. Adam sent his son Adam (Noah ben Adam) to England to lead the Nistarim there. He took the name of Adam Wolfson which became Adam Wilson in Scotland. The Nistarim believed that Mashiach ben Joseph would have the soul of Adam Kadmon – and thus the significance at this time of the name Adam. They expected the Mashiach to come forth from this lineage descended from Sabbatai Tzvi. In England Adam Wolfson married Elizabeth Ferdinando the granddaughter of Joseph Lombroso's son. Adam and Elizabeth later went to Scotland. The eldest son of this marriage was named Adam Wilson in the expectation that he could be the Promised One. Adam was seen as the potential (or representative of) Mashiach ben Joseph (Messiah son of Joseph) in their generation.
Adam Wilson of Scotland
Adam Wilson, son of Adam Wolfson, was involved with influencing the early Scottish Freemasons. Sabbatai Tzvi had undergone conversion to Islam in order to save his life and reunite the lost sparks of truth in Islam. His other followers in the Christian world often assumed the outward sign of conversion to Christianity while maintaining their secret Kabbalistic and Jewish traditions. Some of them were the crypto Jews of Scotland. After attaining his experience of Ruach ha Kodesh (the Holy Spirit) Adam Wilson was to lead the secret Scottish branch of the Nistarim. Adam Wilson was also a supporter of the Stuart Dynasty and a Jacobite. Adam Wilson was a friend and associate of Lord Kilmarnock the 4th Earl of Kilmarnock who was executed in 1746 after the last Jacobite rebellion. Lord Kilmarnock became the Grand Master of Scottish Freemasonry in 1742. Lord Kilmamock's son the Earl of Erroll changed the family surname from Boyd to Hay. Adam Wilson's first wife was Jannet Or (or=light in Hebrew). His second wife was Jannet Taylour. Both wives were of Jewish origin.
After 1716 some of the Wilsons went with James Wilson (son of Adam)and other Jacobites to Czarist Russia and the Wilsons became high officials and generals in Russia. Their Jewish origins were a closely guarded secret. A descendant of Adam Wilson was John Wilson founder of the British Israel Movement who was born in 1788 the son of John Wilson (b.1759) of Kilmarnock, Ayr, the grandson of Adam Wilson. John Wilson was a friend of the Anglican Bishop Solomon Alexander of Jerusalem, a Hebrew Christian. Bishop Alexander was a former Jewish Rabbi bom in Poland (the son of a Rabbi from England) and he was ordained by George Murray, Bishop of Rochester; Bishop Blomfield of London and Bishop Selwyn of New Zealand.
The Polish Connection
Daniel Leiwowicz or Leibowitz was a follower of a secret Jewish group that followed the teachings of Sabbatai Tzvi. Daniel's daughter married in to the Sobieski family —she converted to Catholicism and was thus a Hebrew Catholic. Daniel's grandnephew Judah Leibowitz was the famous Jacob Leibowitz Frank. Jacob Frank and his followers dialogued with the Polish Catholics who had the support of the half Polish Cardinal York in Rome. Cardinal York was the brother of Bonnie Prince Charlie. King John Sobieski's son Prince James Lewis Sobieski was the grandfather of Cardinal York and he was a secret follower of Sabbatai Tzvi's teachings. Prince James Lewis Sobieski left his Polish wealth to his Stuart grandson Cardinal York. Cardinal York was known as King Henry IX of England to the Jacobites and was recognised as such by the Pope and several Catholic nations.
Jacob Frank
Jacob Frank and the Frankists have been slandered by history through their enemies in the Jewish and Catholic religions. His father Judah Leibowitz was a member of a group that followed the teaching of Sabbatai Tzvi. Jacob Frank first studied the Mystical Traditions of Judaism from the Sabbatian and Lurianic perspective but later became more centred on the Zohar and the pre Lurianic Mystical Traditions of Judaism. This was to lead him to the truths of the Catholic Faith which he called 'the way of Esau' in accord with Rabbinic tradition. Many have accused Frank of being ignorant of Talmud and tradition but his letters and the letters of his followers show in depth knowledge of the Talmud and the whole Rabbinic tradition. Frank's sayings have been misunderstood by those who do not refer them back to the mysticism of the Zohar. He and his followers were accused of sexual depravity because of the deep 'theology of the body' that Frank taught. Many rabbis and scholars and others from devout Jewish families either openly or secretly followed his teachings.
The Jesuits who were the brains of the Church in this period understood Frank and his ideas and they were his supporters. Unfortunately the Jesuits themselves were under attack by many negative forces in the Catholic world and were suppressed in 1773 however they continued to exist in the Russian Empire as the Czar refused to allow the Jesuit's suppression in his territory and they continued their work in the Russian provinces of Poland. They were later restored by the Church in 1812. Jacob Frank and his followers were baptized in their thousands in a mass ceremony in Lvov Poland (now in the Ukraine)in 1759. Due to the slanders by enemies in the Church he was imprisoned at Czestochowa for 13 years. Jacob Frank took the name Joseph at his baptism proclaiming him as the special Jewish representative of Messiah son of Joseph of this generation. One tradition states that while the Baal Shem Tov and some other Hasidim opposed Frank publicly, in secret they respected his great sanctity and knowledge. Like the Baal Shem Tov, Frank disliked the dry intellectualism of the Judaism of his day and he championed the common man's spirituality. His spirituality was down to earth and practical, similar to what Catholics later would call Opus Dei (the Work of God). Rebbe Nachman of Breslov also taught much in common with Frank. In fact Rebbe Nachman's granddaughter Feiga (daughter of Udel) married Gershon Yehuda Leib Brody (Broida) a Catholic grandson of the Alter Rebbe.
Jacob Frank saw him self in the role of a new Jeremiah called to knock down and destroy, and then to build and to plant. He was a trail blazer whose work would bear fruit in the future. He foresaw the destruction of European Jewry and saw that their salvation lay with the Catholic Church who in accord with Rabbinic tradition he called Esau or Edom. The Virgin of the Zohar the Matronita would lead them to become nothing -to die to Rabbinic Judaism and rise to Messianic freedom in the Catholic faith. He saw a future pure and humble Universal Messianic Religion that would come forth from the present Catholic Church. He saw a great Ecumenical Church that would through the Virgin's leading usher in a universal era of peace where the hidden mysticism of the Zohar would be fully understood and deepened as the Torah of Atzilut ( Torah of Atik). Frank saw the barriers and rules of present religions as obstacles between people. He came under Divine Guidance to nullify or to become as nothing which was a entering into the highest level of Keter (Crown) - the realm of entering in to the Divine Will. Frank looked to the earth and salvation history (the world of man and the person) to see God at Work rather than looking to the heaven which is veiled even for great mystics. His was a down to earth and practical spirituality that sanctified man's works. He foresaw that Poland would be the place that would prepare for the coming universal transformation (by the Divine Will) of the earth in the coming Messianic Era of Peace. He saw Poland as a place to be in the turn of 'night' before the great era of light that was coming. He foresaw a Slavic or Polish Pope who would draw on the insights that his follower's descendants in Poland would spread in spiritual and mystical circles among the common people. He also foresaw a great role for the Jews and for the French in this coming time. He foresaw a united Catholic Europe under a Great Catholic Monarch called Messiah ben Ephraim (or Messiah ben Joseph) a Catholic descendant of King David and a descendant of the Stuart Kings. He foresaw the coming a Great French Pope and saw the French return to their position as the eldest daughter of the Church. He also foresaw the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in bringing about the unity of East and West. He sought to dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Czar who visited him. He foresaw the destruction that Russia and the Muslims would inflict before the Virgin would lead them into the bosom of the new and purified universal Church. He tried to dialogue with the Muslims involved in mystical circles that had much in common with the Frankist mystics. He perceived that all laws and rules that separate people and divide them must be caste down and that not only Jews had to be saved but all mankind. The man-made social institutions had to be caste down because they stand in the way of universal salvation. Jacob sensed that he and his followers (Haverim/ Friends) had to go like Jesus to all people even to the lowest in this time when mankind was at its worst. They must like the Messiah become all things to all men. One has to descend (become nothing and totally die to self - to be annihilated or nullified) before one can ascend. This is dangerous because evil is similar to good - it imitates the good and perverts the goodness to the evil side. This is the mystery of Jacob's Ladder. Frank saw himself as a New Jacob who must descend to the abyss of nothing at the bottom of the ladder in order to redeem the one caught in the grip of the evil side. He further saw the role of himself and his followers as New Jacobs who were called to totally die to self (even to being Jews) through baptism in order to unite with their brother Esau/Edom (Rome). The Tanak (Old Testament) foresaw that the Messiah was to come from Edom (Seir or Esau) in certain prophecies and the Rabbinic tradition spoke of the Messiah dwelling among the poor Gentiles on the outskirts of Rome. Frank also developed a deep mystical 'theology of the body' based on the teachings of the Zohar. It was earthy and sexual while being mystical at the same time. His enemies and even some of his Frankists misunderstood these teaching and distorted and misrepresented them. Some of his followers took these teachings into an occult direction such as his relative Moses Debuchka. Frank also correctly perceived that the Catholic Church (Esau /Rome) of his time was not fully ready for his insights so that he and his followers must practice 'holy silence' outside the Frankist's circles. Through their silence they must become a Jewish leaven in Catholicism from which in the fullness of time would emerge 'holy knowledge' (Daat) hidden within the Zohar which would be universalized for the benefit and enlightenment of all.
Frank also realized that while they must join the nations of the Catholic Church they still needed to retain their Jewish identity in some form. In order to attain the mystical goals of the Frankists they may for a time have to move freely not bound by the strictures of Orthodox Jewish rules and traditions. As Paul felt free to be a Jew to the Jew and as one under the Torah to those under the Torah for the sake of the Gospel, the Frankists felt able to be Gentiles to the Gentiles for the sake of the Mystical traditions. Their acceptance of baptism and Jesus as the Messiah allowed them this freedom in the Messiah. They saw that by entering into the Messiah they would now observe Torah at the mystical levels of the Torah of Beriyah and in the future at the level of the Torah of Atzilut. In order to fulfill their mission as New Jacobs they must go on the 'way to Esau' (also known as the way to Emmaus) which was conversion to the Roman Catholic Church. Esau (Rome) belonged to the Good God where the power of death is made nought by the Resurrection and it is the dwelling place of 'the Virgin' (Matronita or the Maiden) who is the mystical Rachel ( The Church and Mary in her role as Mother of the Church). Frank taught that to the Virgin "all the King's weapons are surrendered" [i.e. Mediatrix of all Graces]. The Virgin is the much sought after Wisdom or Sophia. She is destined to be the victor over Death (Satan) and to be as the Zohar calls her ‘the Ark of the Covenant, Sovereign of all the Earth’. Until this time she is concealed in a Castle (the Church). This is the Woman in the Wilderness in the 12th chapter of the Apocalypse. She is the feminine aspect of Shekinah that went into Exile with Adam and Eve. The place of Esau symbolizes the nullification and dwelling in the Divine Will which is the home of the Virgin who dwells in the Divine Will (Keter) at the level of Gulgalta (Golgotha). Mary in Eternity dwells at the foot of the Cross at Golgotha totally united with the Divine Will. This is a hidden light that will be revealed to believers when these mystical insights about the Virgin will start to bear fruit. Frank saw that the time for this had not come but that a New Eve and virgin in the spirit of Eve before the fall and in the spirit of Mary would come to open this future Era of Blessing, Peace and Holiness that would lead to Revival of the Dead. He named his daughter Eve in the hope that it could be her that would be this New Eve of the future. He foresaw that a virgin of Esau (Rome) would lead the way to this Era of Holiness and the fulfillment of the Jewish mystical traditions.
Thus the Frankists had a liberated view of the role of woman and woman played an important role in their movement. They were prophets and mystics of great respect and Frank's daughter Eve was leader of the group after his death. Frank was a Hebrew Catholic Rebbe or Tzaddik and his daughter was a female Tzaddik. Like the Hasidic Rebbes they maintained a court. They saw that returning to Eden before the Fall reversed the curse that divided the sexes. They were new Adam's and the new Eve's - the Lords of Creation. The Virgin was seen by Frank as one of the Cherubim/Seraphim who guarded the Garden of Eden. She was the Queen of the Cherubim and Seraphim. Satan or Samael had once been Lucifer, the Ruler of the Cherubim and Seraphim. The Seraphim were holy fiery Serpents and thus Satan took the form of a fallen Serpent or Seraphim. Jesus is symbolized by the Bronze Serpent (a Seraph) on the Cross or Pole in the Book of Numbers. The Two Cherubim of the Garden are the two Cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant - they are Jesus and Mary in Eternity as Metatron and Matronita, the male and female aspects of Shekinah. Entry back to Eden (Paradise/ pardis/ bliss) is through these two Cherubic Hearts. The Frankists wanted to return to the conditions of Paradise where man was naked before God. Some Frankists like the Adamites took this literally and prayed and meditated naked causing scandal to others.
The Frankists had great devotion to this female (the Virgin) in the Zohar and they obeyed the Zoharic command to sing praises to this Woman who is the Ultimate Eve or Mother of the Living. That the Frankists allowed women and men to join these praises together caused misunderstanding and slander from other Jews. The Frankists saw that men and woman were restored to an Edenic relationship and thus the curses of Genesis were lifted through the triumph of the Virgin Daughter of Zion and her Seed the Messiah. In order to achieve the nakedness of soul that man had in Eden one must follow the Torah at the mystical level as revealed in Zohar. The Zohar reveals this level of Torah was offered to Israel at Sinai where they had a taste of seeing the Divine Mysteries clearly as a Sea parting in the Heavens just as the prophetess Miriam had. However Israel sinned with the Golden Calf and they had to be content with the lower level of understanding Torah that took in to account their need for rituals regarding forgiveness of sin and purity. The Frankists saw that baptism was a path leading back to this higher level of understanding Torah. Frank's aim was to lead his followers 'towards Life'. That Life was Messiah Jesus and his Virgin Mother, who allow the Jews (Frankists) to return to Edenic purity and enter the Garden of the Two Cherubim, where the Tree of Life is. There are no laws only love when one attains this total self-nullification and union with the Divine Will of the Good God. Jacob Frank wanted to unite Jacob, Esau and Ishmael (Jews, Christians and Muslims). The only way to do this was through the Virgin (Matronita) who was totally one with the Divine Will (her will was united to the Divine Will). "Frank's ultimate vision of the future was based upon the still unrevealed laws of the Torah ofAtzilut which he promised his disciples". They would take effect once they had come to Esau (Rome), when they had died to self and had been totally nullified through baptism. The level of the Messiah is the level of Keter/Ratzon (Divine Crown and Will) which is the stage of total self nullification to the Divine Will. This is the level of the Torah of the Hidden Ancient One (Torah of Atik or Atzilut). Joseph Wolff was later to be influenced by these Frankist teachings.
The Frankists and Cardinal York
Cardinal York was at the centre of the movements of the Jacobites and the Frankists. He encouraged the Polish Bishop who accepted Jacob Frank and his followers in to the Catholic Church. The Frankists were misunderstood and slandered by many inside and outside the Church. The Frankists believed that it would only be by joining Rome that the true mystical message of the Jewish people would become universal. They had a vision of being a Jewish leaven in Catholicism, which would move the Church Universal in a more mystical and spiritual direction. They wished to renew the Church on its early Jewish foundations leading to a 'new' Church of all people in an era of peace. Jacob Frank appointed 12 apostles to continue this work within the Church. He saw the importance of the Frankist Jews remaining as a group entity within the Church to preserve the election of Israel in the Church. The Frankists encountered much hostility and misunderstanding and distortion of their teachings. A group of Jesuits, along with Cardinal York, sought to protect the Frankists. Cardinal York's relationship to the family of Jacob Frank was concealed. Cardinal York spent most of his inherited fortune on protecting and supporting the papacy and the Frankists. Cardinal York's patron saint was the Jesuit St. Francis Xavier and his group of followers, including Father Manuel Lacunza (a Chilean Marrano Jesuit priest),were devotees of the spirituality of Francis Xavier.
A Survival Plan
In Cardinal York's last years he saw the rise of Napoleon and the near destruction of the Church and Papacy. He decided on a plan to preserve the Church in a far away Protestant Britain - his true kingdom. He ordained his great-grandson Sir Henry Drummond as a secret deacon, priest and bishop and appointed him as a secret apostle to Britain with the urging of his granddaughter Lady Anne Strange (nee. Dundas). Lady Anne was Henry Drummond's mother. Cardinal York reestablished good relations with his Hanoverian cousins in England recognising George III and his heirs as his successors. Cardinal York was especially close to George the Prince Regent (later George IV) who had a secret Catholic wife Maria Fitzherbert whose maternal grandmother Maria Levery was a crypto Jewess. Jacob Frank's granddaughter Esther Mayer was the mother of Joseph Wolff a 7 year old Jewish wonder child. Henry Stuart (Cardinal York) through his network of Frankists and Jesuits insured that Joseph had a good Jesuit education and that he was introduced to the life of Francis Xavier. Joseph at the age of 11 decided he wanted to be a great evangelist like Francis Xavier. Joseph's father was Rabbi David Wolff of Bavaria.
At the age of 17 Joseph Wolff under the influence of the Frankists was baptised in 1812 as a Catholic and he was sent to Rome to further his studies under Jesuit direction. He was now a Hebrew Catholic. In Rome he studied with the Jesuit disciples of Ribera and Lacunza. He also taught Hebrew to Giovanni Ferretti (later Pope Pius IX) and had many debates with him and others about such subjects as Papal Infallibility. Jacob Frank had learnt much amongst the 'Muslim' followers ofSabbatai Tzvi and Joseph Wolff later also moved among these circles where he was known as the English Dervish. On a number of occasions Joseph would strip naked and walk out of difficult situations as mentioned above. The Muslims recognised this as a custom among 'mystical holy men'.
Off to England
A merchant trader reported to Sir Henry Drummond the activities of the young Joseph Wolff in Rome. Sir Henry purchased an estate called 'Albury Park' in 1819 and he renovated it (he later built a new Anglican Church and an Apostolic Church in the area). Sir Henry travelled to Rome to speak with Joseph Wolff and to invite him to England to continue his studies under his patronage. In 1819 Joseph came to England. He met Robert Haldane in Paris on the way. Joseph began his University studies at Cambridge under the great orientalist Professor Samuel Lee and he also studied under Charles Simeon. Joseph Wolff was eventually appointed as an evangelist with the London Jew's Society. Sir Henry Drummond and Lewis Way were his supporters on the board of this Society. We must take note that at this time it was still an open question about the validity of Anglican Orders and many considered the Anglicans a valid branch of the Church similar to the Eastern Orthodox.
Sir Henry Drummond was the son of Henry Drummond of the Grange and Lady Anne Dundas, the daughter of Lord Melville and Henry Stuart's Jewish daughter Elizabeth Rennie. Henry Stuart in his younger years had a Jewish mistress Reyna (Rennie) Barzillai of Venice whom he married in a secret Jewish ceremony. His son Jacob took the name of Henry's paternal grandmother Mary of Modena and was known as Jacob Modin and later in England as James Maiden. He was also called David Rennie like his father. His daughter Elizabeth took the name of Elizabeth Rennie after her mother. Henry Stuart
and Reyna Barzillai were known as David and Rennie Modin in Jewish and crypto Jewish circles. Henry later became more devoutly Catholic and ended his intimate relationship with Rennie and entered the clerical state. Their daughter Elizabeth Rennie married Lord Melville and they were the parents of Lady Anne Dundas who married the Jacobite banker Henry Drummond of 'The Grange' and she secondly married James Strange an illegitimate son of John, 3rd Duke of Atholl.
After the death of Sir Henry Drummond's father when he was a boy his mother Lady Anne Drummond leased 'The Grange' to George Prince of Wales from 1795-1800. Lady Anne remarried in 1798 to James Strange the illegitimate half-brother of Lord Henry Murray. They also spent time in India. In 1804-5 Henry had 'The Grange' entirely renovated and it became a centre for the secret movement of Sir Henry Drummond and his mother Lady Anne Strange. George IV and Maria Fitzherbert were also involved in this movement. This movement was strongly influenced by crypto Jewish elements and the new British Israel (or Anglo-Israel) movement. The Catholic Apostolic movement was later based at Albury Park. Sir Henry Drummond's wife Lady Henrietta Hay-Drummond was the sister of Lady Sarah Maria Hay-Drummond wife of George Murray, Bishop of Rochester, nephew of Lord Henry Murray and John 4th Earl of Atholl.
The Movement
Before 1835 the Catholic apostolic movement of Drummond was a hidden movement led by secret apostles. This movement was ecumenical, evangelical, charismatic, and sacramental and drew heavily on Biblical and Jewish roots. The post 1835 Catholic Apostolic Church was a more open movement which started to move in its own direction under its openly appointed Apostles. Many of the original members of the pre 1835 group remained loyal members of the Anglican Church and their other respective
denominations. This movement was a forerunner of the Convergence Movement in the late 20th century that has led to the formation of the Charismatic Episcopal Church which is growing at a phenomenal rate at the present time.
Joseph Wolff and Sir Henry Drummond and their associates envisioned the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches as branches of the one Catholic Apostolic Church. They believed that all the baptised who adhered to the ancient creeds belonged mystically to the one Body of Christ. They taught the continuance of the charismatic gifts using Francis Xavier as their model. As the Frankists had influenced the Roman Catholic Church - it was hoped that the Anglican Church (Church of England) could also be influenced in a more spiritual direction. Some of the early secret pre-1835 Apostles of the movement included Lewis Way, Edward Irving, Joseph Wolff, Robert Haldane, Lord Orford, Samuel Lee, Charles and George Simeon, Sir James Bartram, Lord Sefton and Samuel Lewis (illegitimate son of George, Prince of Wales). Their secret patron was George Prince of Wales. Later in the new developments of the movement after 1835 as the Catholic Apostolic Church, which many of the secret apostles did not fully agree with. Henry Drummond was openly made the Bishop or Angel of Scotland for the Catholic Apostolic Church.
Most of the early leaders of the movement were of crypto Jewish ancestry connected with the secret Scottish branch of the Society of the Nistarim (Hidden Ones). Recent DNA testing has confirmed the existence of Jewish ancestry (both Ashkenazi and Sephardi) among these Scottish families. The early Scottish rite Freemasons were a development of the Nistarim and Templar movements in Scotland and they were mainly Jacobites and pro-Catholic. However anti-Jacobite and anti-Catholic elements seized control of Freemasonry sometime after 1745 (some believe in 1776) and turned Freemasonry in to a more occult and revolutionary direction at odds with Christian beliefs. The Drummond family were a Nistarim family through their connections with the Hay family.
The Catholic Apostolic Church of Drummond practiced exposition of the Blessed Sacrament which they called Proposition. This custom was especially strong among the early pre 1835 movement drawing on the Eucharistic Adoration movement of the Roman Catholic Church which was strong at this time in Catholic Europe. Joseph Wolff was familiar with this practice in Bavaria in his childhood and also in Rome. The aristocratic and gentry families connected with this early movement practiced Adoration of the Sacrament in their private chapels in their homes. They also had a devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary influenced by the Catholic and Orthodox devotion to Mary growing at this time.
In the 1820's James Haldane Stewart promoted an ecumenical prayer movement for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in England. Sir Henry Drummond's father's cousin Spencer Perceval was also involved in the movement. He was the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated. Spencer Perceval was the son of John Perceval, 2nd Earl ofEgmont by his wife Catherine Compton, Baroness Arden. Baroness Arden's sister Elizabeth Compton was the wife of Henry Drummond the grandfather of Sir Henry Drummond.
In the 1860's a prophecy was given that no new apostles of the Catholic Apostolic Church should be appointed. A break away group in Germany disagreed and formed the New Apostolic Church. The last of the Catholic Apostolic Church's apostles Francis Woodhouse (who had been appointed the apostle of America) died in 1901- the year the Pentecostal movement broke out in America. The last Catholic Apostolic priest died in 1971 at a time when the Charismatic movement was sweeping the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Apostolic movement of Drummond, Irving and Wolff bore fruit in hidden ways. It influenced the Evangelical Movement and the Anglo-Catholic movement and was the forerunner of the Charismatic movement. Even the Seventh Day Adventists looked to Joseph Wolff as one of their forerunners. Cardinal Newman came from this evangelical background and became a leader in the Anglo-Catholic movement within the Anglican Church. After Newman's conversion to the Roman Catholic Church his ideas strongly influenced the Catholic Church especially in the teachings of Vatican II.
Hebrew Christians
The Christian Zionist movement, the Hebrew Christian movement and its development into the Messianic Jewish movement, all trace their origins to Albury Park and the teachings and missions of Joseph Wolff. The Albury Park meetings were from the beginning ecumenical and they hoped to be a leaven in all churches of apostolic faith to bring them back to apostolic simplicity and purity of the early Church. They also taught appreciation for the Jewish roots of the Church. They sought to revive the charismatic gifts as had Francis Xavier in his time. The movement of the Catholic Apostolic Church was distorted by a too heavy emphasis on the messages of prophets. However it was a seed sowing for many interesting movements that would converge in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Ratisbonne brothers were the forerunners in the 19th century for the later Hebrew Catholic movement. In 1979 Father Elias Friedman and Andrew Sholl were to begin the formation of the Association of Hebrew Catholics in the English speaking world in seeking to maintain the Israelite election factor within the Church. The Hebrew Catholic Movement is also strong in the French speaking world and the Hebrew Catholics of Israel are influenced by these French Hebrew Catholics. Cardinal Lustiger of Paris is a strong Hebrew Catholic and recently the Pope appointed a Hebrew Catholic Bishop for the Hebrew speaking Catholics of Israel- Bishop Gourion who converted as a young man to Catholicism from Judaism. Recently a Hebrew Catholic movement has arisen in the Spanish speaking world led by the Hebrew Catholic Rabbi Richard Gamboa and this movement is spreading to many Latin American countries where many are of Marrano descent. There is also a strong movement among the Russian Orthodox Church of Jewish intellectuals converting to the Church especially in the 1960's and 1980's. These Russian Orthodox Christian Jews have started to deepen their understanding of their Jewish Identity within the Church. Judith Deutsch Kornblatt has written a book discussing this Russian Jewish phenomena. Father Alexander Men was one such Hebrew Orthodox Christian who led many Jews and intellectuals into the Church during the communist era. He was murdered in 1990.
