The centuries that followed the Reformation, whether consequentially or coincidentally, saw an end to serious contenders to the Papacy. The era of the antipope appeared to be at an end.
Since antipope Felix V, challengers have dwindled to the point of extinction. However, I recently learned that a short drive away from my apartment in southern Spain’s Andalusia region, “Peter III” (Swiss-born Joseph Odermatt) reigns over the Palmarian Christian Church. His story is as sinister as any of his brother antipopes.
The Palmarian church was founded in the 1970s in El Palmar de Troya, a tiny town outside Seville, by Clemente Domínguez y Gómez, an office clerk who had been rejected by the local seminary, the Dominicans, and the army.
After members received episcopal consecration from a bishop dubbed the “Archbishop of Chaos,” the church proclaimed itself the only true Church, and Gómez became Palmarian Pope Gregory XVII, the first of its four pontiffs.
In its short history, the church has been accused of kidnapping, canonised several thousand new saints (including General Franco and Christopher Columbus), removed the office of Cardinals, banned the use of the Bible, had a Pope abdicate and run off with his girlfriend, and survived a full-scale rebellion from its clergy. Recently, the church has opened its doors to visitors. Being so close, I decided to stop by.
Visiting the Palmarian church was intimidating and I was hesitant about entering. The church is easily visible from about 5 kilometres away as it is situated in a desert-like portion of Andalucía. It is separated from the outside world by a 10 feet tall wall with security cameras looking down on the iron doors.
Upon arrival, I was greeted by a doorman who did not seem particularly interested in my reasons for being there, but more in my clothing. Having dutifully read the Norms of Christian Decency, which covers Palmarian dress code, I was deemed acceptable with minor modifications (doing my shirt’s top button up and rolling down my sleeves, much like happens at the school gate). I was then directed towards the colossal Basicalica.
At the door of this giant church stood an Irish Palmarian bishop dressed in cassock, one Father Jeronimo of the Holy Face. Whilst the experience up until this point could be described as at least daunting, this Palmarian prelate possessed the sort of disposition that could instantly put you at ease. He was neither forward nor too distant and did not betray the slightest bit of suspicion.
What followed was a sixty-minute catechism class on Palmarian beliefs. I learnt many interesting and illogical tenants of their faith. I learnt a Palmarian priest could say upwards of fifty masses a day, Pope Benedict was a freemason, and that Mary existed before creation and is present in the Palmarian eucharist.
On the subject of Palmarian eschatology, I was informed that after death a soul had a convenient fifteen-minute window to repent and become a Palmarian, in which time Our Lady will deliver a sermon. Posing a huge philosophical challenge to Pascal’s Wager, this was a welcome and softer view in what had otherwise been quite a bizarre and anti-Semitic explanation of the way the world worked.
The heretical Palmarian faith stands as a powerful reminder of what happens when individuals assume the responsibility of deciding who is the rightful successor to St Peter. Regrettably, this has become an increasingly common phenomenon amongst lay faithful and even some priests.
Recently Fr James Altman, an American priest known for his traditionalist views, released a flashy video declaring Pope Francis is not the Pope (while mispronouncing Bergoglio throughout). The central message of the aggravated assault on the Holy Father, which lists about twenty alleged mistakes, is that through his own actions and teachings he has excommunicated himself, and therefore cannot be the Pope.
Among the criticisms of the Pope, he is denounced as a “commie socialist”, is criticised for his appointment of Archbishop Fernandez as head of Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and is chastised for being photographed alongside Bill Clinton. Without wishing to offer a blow-by-blow denunciation of Fr Alman’s arguments, it is worth pointing out that Pope Francis is not the only Pope to have made a bad Curia appointment, and that Pope Saint John Paul II also allowed himself to be photographed with the Clintons.
In a similar manner, Patrick Coffin, former host of Catholic Answers Live and who will be familiar to those who took refuge in Jimmy Akin’s coherent explanations of the Faith in the 2010’s, released a video in 2022 called “Seven Pieces of Evidence That Francis Is an Antipope”.
His theory is that Pope Benedict had retained the office and therefore Pope Francis is an antipope. Coffin lists various “reasons” as to why Benedict never truly resigned and finishes with the conspiracy theory that the so-called “Saint Gallen Mafia” had violated Pope St John Paul II’s apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis by lobbying for Francis and therefore left the 2013 conclave invalid.
What Altman and Coffin would do well to remember is that the The Papal Bull of Pope Nicholas II, In Nomine Domine,puts the responsibility of choosing a Pope firmly in the hands of the Cardinalate and removes any other members of the Church’s responsibility to carry out this important task.
These so-called traditionalists seem to have succumbed to the very centre of modernist heresy: to put their own likes and dislikes above the Law of Christ and His Church. But more than showing themselves to be at best bad Catholics and at worst schismatics, they carry the grave responsibility of leading others astray, just as Gómez did in the 1970’s and as Odermatt does today.
We do not get to choose our Popes, but we do choose to be part of the One Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Faith, and part of that means being under the Petrine Office.
Photo: The Palmarian Church basilica; screenshot from www.palmarianchurch.org.
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