Solar Temple Order

L'Ordre du Temple Solaire (OTS), “The Order of the Solar Temple,” is a generic title for a small, primarily European religious movement that consisted of groups with various names all led, directly or indirectly, by Jo Di Mambro (1924–1994). The Francophone apocalyptic new religion was founded in 1984 by Di Mambro and Luc Jouret (1947–1994). Between 1994 and March 1997, members of this secretive neo-Templar, quasi-Catholic group died in a series of ritualized murder-suicides in Switzerland, Quebec, and France. At its zenith in 1989, it appears to have had 442 members: 187 in France, 90 in Switzerland, 86 in Canada, 53 in Martinique, 16 [Page 1194]in the United States, and 10 in Spain. Notably, many members were wealthy and respected (e.g., Robert Ostiguy was Mayor ...