Sedevacantist antipope
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Sedevacantist antipopes (more correctly but less commonly, conclavist antipopes), are religious leaders of breakaway Roman Catholics who claim that the current commonly recognized Pope and his immediate predecessors are not valid holders of the office and that, by electing someone else as Pope, they have prevented the see of Rome from remaining vacant.
These groups, called conclavist, have in common with sedevacantists the belief that the generally recognized Popes of recent decades were heretics for various reforms in Roman Catholic Church practices adopted under Popes John XXIII and Paul VI and by the Second Vatican Council. Chief among these reforms were the replacing of the Tridentine Mass and the modern form of ecumenism engaged in by the Holy See. Since certain Catholic theologians hold that a heretical Pope would cease to be Catholic and therefore cease to be Pope, these groups believe that the Popes involved in the reforms were not actually popes.
On the other hand, sedevacantists, as their name indicates, believe that the see of Rome is vacant. They recognize nobody as Pope.
Those individuals who have been chosen or have set themselves up as replacement popes are sometimes called antipopes; but, in contrast to historical antipopes, the number of their followers is minuscule and they do not qualify for the title of "antipope" as defined by the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1998 CD-ROM edition: "in the Roman Catholic church, one who opposes the legitimately elected bishop of Rome, endeavours to secure the papal throne, and to some degree succeeds materially in the attempt." Some of them have developed their own religious infrastructure, thus being popes of their particular sect, while for the Roman Catholic Church as generally recognized they are merely excommunicated schismatics.
A significant number of them have taken the name "Peter II", due to its special significance; see Antipope Peter II.
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[edit] Palmarian Catholic Church
- Clemente Domínguez y Gómez (Gregory XVII), mystically self-proclaimed (1978–2005) in Spain, pope of the Palmarian Catholic Church.
- Manuel Alonso Corral (Peter II), succeeded Gregory XVII as the Pope of the Palmarian Catholic Church in 2005 in Spain
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- The Palmarian Catholic Church regards as true Popes those until 1978, including Pope Paul VI, who is revered by them as a "martyr pope". Palmarians do not claim the see of Rome, but hold that the Pope of Rome is excommunicated and that the position of the Holy See has been transferred to the see of Palmar de Troya, on the grounds of claimed Marian apparitions.
[edit] Colinites
In 1950, Frenchman Jean Colin claimed to receive revelations and to continue and to fulfil the 1873 message of Melanie Calvet, the seer of La Salette. Subsequently, Pope Pius XII publicly declared him by name a "vitandus" excommunicate (one who should be avoided).
Colin claimed to have been made Pope (even while Pope Pius XII was alive) as "Pope Clement XV", and in 1963 founded the ultra-liberal, ultra-modernist "The Renewed Church of Christ" or "Church of the Magnificat", based first in Lyons, then at St. Jovite, Quebec,Canada. The Colinites have since disintegrated into several factions, with one successor "Pope" in France.
Another, larger, faction is led by Jean-Gaston Tremblay, one of Colin's disciples, who declared himself constituted "Pope" by apparition even before Colin had died and who calls himself "Pope John-Gregory XVII". He is now based in St. Jovite, as head of the "Order of the Magnificat" and "The Apostles of the Latter Days". The 1873 "secret" of Melanie Calvet, which called for the constitution of these "Apostles of the Latter Days" is central to his claims and mission.
[edit] Other movements
These antipopes are (for the most part) not self-proclaimed in the strictest sense; they organized elections by "faithful" Catholics, none of whom was a recognized cardinal. The verifiable smallest of these "conclaves" was attended by only 6 electors, the largest is claimed to have been larger than the conclave of 61 cardinals that elected Pope Pius XII.
- David Bawden (Michael I), self-proclaimed in 1990 in Kansas, United States of America ("conclave" of 6 electors)
- Victor von Pentz (Linus II), either self-proclaimed in 1994 in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom or elected by several sedevacantists in Assisi (disputed)
- Lucian Pulvermacher (Pius XIII), self-proclaimed in 1998 in Montana, United States of America, Pope of the self-proclaimed "true Catholic Church". Claims to have been elected by a conclave of a secret number but at least 61 electors. May have died in January 2006.
- Reinaldus Michael Benjamins (Gregory XIX) self-proclaimed in 1983 in New York, United States of America.
- Oscar de la Compasion (Leo XIV - León XIV) self-proclaimed in 2006 in Luján, Argentina.
- Gino Frediani (Emmanuel I) (1973-1974–1984) in Italy, Pope of the "New Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus"
- Valeriano Vestini (Valerian I) (1990) in the Chieti, Italy
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- Their followings range from several hundreds of adherents, to about ten.
[edit] People who have taken the name "Peter II"
- Chester Olszewski of Pennsylvania, USA, self-proclaimed in 1980
- Aimé Baudet of Belgium (1984)
- Pierre Henri Buboisof Brussels, Belgium (1985)
- Maurice Archieri of Le Perreux, France, self-proclaimed Vicar of Christ for the Last Days (not Pope of Rome) in 1995
- Julius Tischler of Germany (1998)
- William Kamm of Australia, (future) Pope of the "Order of Saint Charbel" movement of Australia.
[edit] Discordianism
Discordianism, which presents itself as a religion, issues cards that grant papacy to the holder and that declare that every man, woman and child in Earth is a Pope. It rejects all dogma, and its granting of Pope status to every person is a way to express this idea.
As noted above, one who believes himself or herself to be Pope, without "to some degree succeeding materially in the attempt to secure the papal throne", does not fit the classic meaning of the term "antipope".
