| Founded | July 15, 1957 (1957-07-15) |
|---|---|
| Founder | Jorge Ángel Livraga Rizzi |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Focus | Philosophy,esotericism,philanthropy |
| Location |
|
| Origins | Argentina |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Method | Culture,volunteerism |
Key people | Delia Steinberg Guzmán, honorary president. Carlos Adelantado Puchal, president. |
| Website | www |
New Acropolis (NA;Spanish:Organización Internacional Nueva Acrópolis;OINA;French:Organisation Internationale Nouvelle Acropole, association internationale sans but lucratif) is anon-profit organisation originally founded in 1957 byJorge Ángel Livraga Rizzi inArgentina positioning itself as a school ofphilosophy. As of 2010, it claimed branches in more than forty countries.[1] As of 2020, its president is Carlos Adelantado Puchal.[2]
New Acropolis describes its founding principles as follows:[3]
1. To promote an ideal of universal fraternity, based on respect for human dignity, beyond racial, sexual, cultural, religious, social and other differences.
2. To encourage the love of wisdom through the comparative study of philosophies, religions, sciences, and arts, to promote the knowledge of the human being, the laws of Nature, and the Universe.
3. To develop the best of the human potential, by promoting the realization of the human being as an individual and his or her integration as an active and conscious part of society and nature, to improve the world.
According to the organization's 2018 assembly resolution, New Acropolis has "three lines of action": philosophy, culture and volunteering.[4]
The organization describes itself as a school of philosophy, which it defines as "a way of life [and] as a means of access to spiritual knowledge and collective and individual realization."[5] According to the organization's webpage, its official introduction program includes the philosophies of Buddhism, Tibet, China, Greece, and Rome among others. The school also offers advanced studies in courses such as psychology, history of philosophy, andsymbology.[5] An article published by the organization inThe Parliamentary Review describes NA as an educational charity promoting the renewal of philosophy in the "classical tradition".[6]
Scholar ofWestern esotericismAntoine Faivre asserts that Jorge A. Livraga Rizzi wanted to create an "eclectic and rational approach" to Eastern and Western thought. In addition to the study of ancient sources, New Acropolis also tries to promote modern authors such asCG Jung,Mircea Eliade,Joseph Campbell,Gilbert Durand,Henry Corbin,Paul Ricœur,Dane Rudhyar,Jean Chevalier,Jacob Boehme,Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, andEdgar Morin. Some ancient authors it promotes in its literature arePythagoras andPlato; it draws on Livraga's understanding ofneoplatonism, Alexandrinehermeticism,renaissance philosophy,eastern philosophy (Hinduism andTibetan Buddhism) as well.[7]
French writer Jean-Pierre Bayard describes New Acropolis as a school of philosophy focused on esotericism and symbolism.[8] It is described by Clifton L. Holland as "a post-theosophical movement that combines elements from many sources:Theosophy,Esoteric thought,alchemy,astrology, and Eastern andGreek philosophy".[1]
According toPeter B. Clarke, NA teaches a certainesotericapocalypticism regarding the imminentAge of Aquarius which according to the group "will give rise to great pain and suffering at the outset".[9] It has also been described as anspiritist group.[9]
The organization reported in 2010 having around 10,000 members around the world in more than forty countries.[1] According to the organization, the governing board of the association is composed of a representative of each of its member associations and it functions through a decentralized financial system.[10]
The organization's music competitions attract many participants, such as one in Peru which in 2018 attracted more than 6,000.[11] The organization's 2018 commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi, which took place inMumbai, India, was endorsed byright-wingIndian Prime ministerNarendra Modi, theDalai Lama, andDevendra Fadnavis.[12]
New Acropolis has been promotingWorld Philosophy Day seminars around the world; its India branch was supported in this effort byUNESCO.[13]
In 2020, the Peruvian branch of the organization was awarded the Congressional Diploma of Honor by congresswomanMaria Teresa Cabrera, for its educational work promoting culture, philosophy and volunteering.[14][15]
According to 1976'sManual del Dirigente (Leader's Handbook) the organization's structure is pyramidal and hierarchical.[16][17] The highest level is the World Command, an office that once belonged to Livraga.[16] Under the World Command is the Guardian of Seals, followed by the Continental Commands, the Central Commands, the National or Federal Councilors, the Unified Zone Commands, and Branch Chiefs in descending order.[16]
The handbook itself expresses in its page 3 that its contents should be kept secret not only from the public but from every non-directive members of the organization.[16] It also establishes that it is valid for the leaders to hide their Acropolitan ideas, beliefs, and concepts when speaking in public or adapt them to the listener's wishes,[16] and that most of the symbols, salutes, and customs of the organization should be kept secret as other political movements have used them in the past staining its image in the public eye.[16]
TheReglamento para miembros (Members’bylaws) of the organization establishes a series of norms for the participants including the obligation of at least 12 hours per month of voluntary work (although this can be increased if the person is sanctioned or if they can't afford the monthly payments),[18] the prohibition of any kind of critique to the leaders and fellow members "to the former in any sense, to the later in their personal affairs",[18] the requirement of the students to stand up anytime the teacher enters the room,[18] the mandatory use of tie and jacket for men and skirts for women in all official events,[18] and to refrain from any kind of so-called "immorality",[18] among others.
New Acropolis officially condemnsNazism,racism, and politicalextremism,[19][20][1] but the organization has been accused of supportingneo-fascism andneo-Nazism.[1][21] ProfessorNicholas Goodrick-Clarke stated in 2003 that "the structure, organization, and symbolism of the Nouvelle Acropole [New Acropolis] is clearly indebted to fascist models."[22] According toJean-Marie Abgrall, "New Acropolis has borrowed elitist andAryanist symbols and ideas."[17]
As stated in 2010 byReligions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices : "The alleged use ofparamilitary language, symbols, and forms of organization, along with more recent charges ofbrainwashing, have led to many criticisms of the New Acropolis inEurope, especially inFrance, since the mid-1970s.”[1]
TheTheosophical Society, of which Livraga was a member before founding New Acropolis, officially denies any links to New Acropolis,[23] saying that Livraga was expelled from the organization due to his connection with "extremism of the ultra right and Nazism".[24]
TheFrench Commission on Cults (1995) as well as a Belgian parliamentary commission have, as of 1997, registered it as acult in their respective countries in an annexedblacklist to their report, along with 171 other associations. On May 27, 2005, the public cult blacklists were abandoned by the French government.[25] However,Serge Blisko, director of the French Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combatting Cultic Deviances (MIVILUDES) said toVice magazine in 2014 that "the French government still considers New Acropolis a cult and it remains under surveillance".[26]
A more recent Spiritist movement of Argentinian origin is the New Acropolis movement founded in 1957, also in Buenos Aires, by Jorge Angel Livraga Rizzi (1886–1951). This politically conservative movement describes itself as a school of classical philosophy. New Acropolis teachings are based on such diverse sources as the Greek philosophy of Plato (428/27–347 BC), the Theosophical ideas developed by Madame Blavatsky (1831–91) (see Chapter 5) and those of René Guenon (1886–1951) on the theme of the philosophia perennis. One of this movement's main beliefs is in the advent of the Age of Aquarius, which, it warns, will give rise to great pain and suffering at the outset. Like the Escuela Cientifica Basilio the New Acropolis has also become an international movement with a presence in some fifty countries.
A recent example of the neo-fascist potential in Theosophy is provided by Nouvelle Acropole movement of Jorge Angel Livraga (b. 1930), the charismatic Argentinian Theosophist who by the 1980s had built up an argent youth following in more than thirty countries. The structure, organization and symbolism of the Nouvelle Acropole is clearly indebted to fascist models.
1. Livraga's theosophical devotion was a strong attachment expressly to H.P.B. with the exclusion of the leaders who followed her. 2. New Acropolis was established as an academy of theosophical and philosophical studies with definite subject matter and grades. 3. He and his wife acquired from the beginning a character, a temper of "instructors" assuming a strong "spiritual authority". 4. There are many evidences about the real nature of that institution which wasinternally connected with extremism of the ultra-right and Nazism. 5. Those and many others evidence that we omit show that he was never suitable to the structure of the Theosophical Society which never could support such disposition.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
