William Kamm
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William Kamm also known as The Little Pebble or the (future) Australian Antipope Peter II the Roman (born Cologne, Germany, 1950; currently living in Australia) is the leader of a religious sect or group called the Order of St. Charbel, which claims however to be part of the Roman Catholic Church and due to be approved by the hierarchy.
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[edit] Start
Since 1968 Kamm has said to have received heavenly messages from God, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints, some of them being secret. Kamm started an apparitionist group in 1985 and gained relatively little notice until being formally repudiated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wollongong in 2002, a decision confirmed by the Holy See. He favored an apocalyptic view of Roman Catholicism that some feared paralleled the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. His proclamation of mystical marriages, often with teenagers and generally consummated, angered his wife Anne who divorced him.
[edit] Malcolm Broussard: close associate
[edit] Illegal episcopal ordination
Kamm's Order was and is sacramentally taken care of by a former diocesan parish priest from Texas, Malcolm Broussard, who in 2003 was consecrated a bishop in Bavaria (although this episcopal ordination was not recognised by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church) and ordained many of the lay men of the group of Kamm to the priesthood, most of them being married older and younger men who did not take vows of clerical celibacy. He ordained Kamm a deacon in 2003.
[edit] Expulsion from the official diocesan presbyterate
Rev. Malcolm Broussard has since had his faculties as a priest revoked by the Vatican and his native Diocese in Texas. He was also said to have incurred excommunication latae sententiae because of having received episcopal ordination which was not approved of by the Holy See.
[edit] Rejection of priestly celibacy
Kamm claims the Latin Rite obligatory celibacy (or continence) does not apply to him, not even if finally declared "Pope" sometime in the future, nor does it apply to the male priests of his order. This rejection of normative church discipline, his critics say, proves the illegitimate and fraudulent nature of his revelations and religious Order.
[edit] Sexual assault: polygamy and mystical marriages
In October 2005 Kamm was sentenced to five years in prison for a string of sexual attacks on a 15-year-old girl. He claimed that she was one of his 84 mystical wives. He was convicted for aggravated sexual assault on the girl.
The assaults occurred when the girl was living within Kamm's Order of St. Charbel, a community (living in a compound) near Nowra, New South Wales. Kamm claimed to have received advice from the Blessed Virgin Mary that this girl should be chosen as one of 12 queens and 72 princesses who would all become his wives (polygamy), with whom he would spawn a new human race after the world was cleansed and burnt by a ball of fire. Kamm himself continues to defend his polygamy, as he seriously believes Mary instituted him to be the "new Abraham" spawning a numerous people.
Kamm's letters to the 15-year-old girl, which were made public during the court session, display an explicit sexual style and were major evidence in his prosecution by Australian justice.
In February 2007 another case involving a 14-year-old girl reached trial.
[edit] Nature of prophecies
He has declared, that he will take the name "Pope Peter II" as a future pretender to the Papal throne; as such he is a future antipope. He was also noted for a series of unusual "prophecies" which were never fulfilled (including the start of World War III). For instance, Kamm claimed, that Pope John Paul II, who remains widely venerated throughout Kamm's movement, would consecrate Kamm a bishop and appoint him as his official and sole successor to the Papal Throne. When this prophecy went by unfulfilled in April, 2005, Kamm and his not approved religious Order quickly issued a press statement, saying "heaven clearly changed its plans" and declaring, that they would accept Pope Benedict XVI as a legitimate Roman Pontiff. They claim prophecies have changed and stated, that Kamm is to be the successor to Benedict XVI now, instead of to John Paul II as previously claimed. One of the visionary's claims is also, that Pope John Paul II will rise from the dead and re-appear on the surface of the world again to fight evil with Benedict XVI, and possibly to appoint Kamm.
[edit] St. Joseph's School of the Order of St. Charbel
He functioned as the 'spiritual leader' of a primary school (St Joseph's School) built inside the Order of St. Charbel, which had 31 students and only one schoolteacher (David Williams) who also functioned as the principal.
[edit] School principal left
Mr David Williams left the school at the end of 2005, claiming Kamm's order and organisation were becoming increasingly "cultish". He also said he could no longer believe the mystical claims and weird messages by Kamm, as he wanted to remain solely a devout Roman Catholic layman living a normal, good, Christian life.
[edit] Closure
The school was subsequently closed by authorities following Kamm's conviction (because of sexual harassment). The official reason was that the school's chosen replacement teacher had insufficient qualifications to teach all the year levels present at the school, but it is likely that media and government scrutiny of Kamm contributed to the school's closure.
[edit] Trivia
- Kamm once claimed that Hollywood planned to make a movie about his life, purportedly starring Mel Gibson.
- Kamm also submitted lyrics for Celine Dion to sing.
