Är påven katolik?

Mitt syfte med boken Är påven katolik?: Traditionalistiska variationer på ett tema (Uppsala Studies in Church History, vol. 16; 80 sid) är att analysera olika traditionalistiska uppfattningar om huruvida de konciliära och post-konciliära påvarna–Johannes XXIII (1958–1963), Paulus VI (1963–1978), Johannes Paulus I (1978), Johannes Paulus II (1978–2005), Benedikt XVI (2015–2013) och Franciskus (2013–) verkligen varit sanna påvar eller om de har varit ledare för en ny icke-katolsk religion, av traditionalister ibland benämnd konciliereligionen, Novus Ordo-religionen, den vatikanska institutionen eller ”Kyrkan” inom citationstecken.

Det handlar i praktiken framförallt om diskussioner från mitten av 1960-talet till början av 1990-talet om huruvida Johannes XXIII och Paulus VI var motpåvar. För dem som hävdade att så var fallet var det självklart att även deras efterträdare var antipåvar.

Forskningen om merparten av de mer radikala traditionalistiska varianterna och deras syn på påven är begränsad och det finns, såvitt jag vet, ingen så bred och detaljerad översikt som denna på något språk.

Boken är tillgänglig i fulltext här:

Är påven katolik? Traditionalistiska variationer på ett tema Download

The Alternative Pope Project

In 2015 I started the Alternative Pope Project. The goal was to identify and study people who, during the 20th and 21st centuries, claimed that they, and not the vastly more known man in Rome, were the true leader of the Catholic Church. To refer to them, I coined the term alternative popes.

I soon realized that it would be difficult to find sources about many of the claimants as little material is found in research libraries. Trying to solve the problem, I constructed this website. Initially, I wrote brief posts on the papal claimants I knew, asking for more information.

I was amazed by the feedback. During the almost eight years that have passed, several thousand people have contacted me. Many have asked questions, wanting to know more, and many have helped me access source material or shared their experiences as (former) members of these groups. With their help, I have been able to amass considerable material, and I have been able to publish several more substantial texts that, in their turn, have led to new contacts and even more sources.

This project’s final outcome will be a sizeable monograph: Could the True Pope Please Stand Up: 20th and 21st-Century Alternative Popes. Hopefully, I will be able to finish it in 2025, thus ending a decade-long project.

To date, I have produced three monographs, five group profiles, and more than a dozen research reports listed below. I have also published ca. 50 blog posts, including brief studies on alternative popes and scanned sources.

Continue reading →

New Article on Pope Michael

I have recently published a substantial entry (some 30 pages) on Pope Michael which forms part of the important World Religions and Spirituality Project (WRSP), an online resource focused on new and emergent religious groups, edited by Professor David G. Bromley at Virginia Commonwealth University.

David Bawden (1959–2022) was elected Pope Michael I in a 1990 conclave in Kansas. He was neither the first nor the last man to become an alternative pope during the twentieth century. There have been dozens of others who claimed that they, not the vastly more recognized pope in Rome, are the true leader of the Catholic Church. Generally, they argue that we live in an era of general apostasy and that the modern church, particularly after the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), has nothing to do with true Catholicism. Several of the latest Roman pontiffs were antipopes and leaders of a new non-Catholic religion. Most alternative popes assert that they were elected through direct heavenly intervention, and David Bawden was the first elected in an alternative conclave. He claimed the pontificate for thirty-two years, leading a small group of followers.

My text is found here

The Pope of Eddystone, Pennsylvania

Chester Olszewski from the United States is one of the least known of the modern alternative popes. He was a cradle Catholic who converted to the Episcopalian Church and became a priest. From 1974, he served as a priest in Eddystone, Pennsylvania. In the following year, he became convinced that a statue of the Sacred Heart Christ, owned by a Catholic woman, Anne Poore, bled and bore the stigmata. Olszewski brought the statue to church, where he made it the central devotion.

Shortly thereafter, Olszewski and Poore claimed to be divinely chosen to restore the traditional Catholic faith; God had converted them to Catholicism. In order to re-establish the true Catholic Church, Olszewski needed to become a bishop and he soon found an independent bishop who provided him with the much sought-after apostolic succession.

On 31 May 1977, Olszewski proclaimed himself Pope Chriszekiel Elias at a ceremony in St. Lukes’s Episcopal Church in Eddystone, alleging that God himself had elected him and provided him with his new name. Later he began to call himself Peter II, the last pope in history.

Here you can read my article on the Pope of Eddystone, Anne Poore, and their church. It’s the first more extensive study on the subject.

The Pope of Eddystone Download

New Text on Giuseppe Maria Abbate the Celestial Messenger

The website of the World Religion and Spirituality Project (WRSP), coordinated by Professor David G. Bromley includes updated entries on a growing number of religious group, not least so-called New Religious Movements.

Recently, I finished a WRSP group profile about the New Jerusalem Church of the Celestial Messenger based on the my and James W. Craig’s book Giuseppe Maria Abbate: The Italian-American Celestial Messenger (2018).

Chriszekal Elias a.k.a Peter II: The Pope of Eddystone, Pennsylvania

For a new version, see https://magnuslundberg.net/2022/01/17/the-pope-of-eddystone-pennsylvania/

Modern Alternative Popes 21: Athanasius I

Bryan Richard Clayton (Athanasius I, 2011-?) was born in 1975 in Chicago. He worked as a policeman and a security guard and then briefly attended the sedevacantist CMRI seminary in Omaha, Nebraska. According to some sources, he thereafter received training from a traditionalist Franciscan in Mexico. Clayton was ordained a priest around 2005, and in 2007, he was consecrated by Bishop Patrick Taylor of the Society of the Virgin Mary, who resided in Buckley, West Virginia.

Continue reading “Modern Alternative Popes 21: Athanasius I” →

Modern Alternative Popes 20: A Papal Hoax

The Catholic Apostolic Remnant Church

This church with its alleged centre in Argentina is a complicated matter. Or not. The thing is that the church does not exist in reality. It is an internet hoax. The “church” has never been able to proof its existence despite claiming to have a large number of cardinals, bishops and priests, so it should be considered a hoax. Still, the Remnant Church has very active web pages, and the alleged pope publishes many formal documents. Consequently, it’s created by a person or a group with much knowledge of this type of traditionalist group. It is a well-constructed hoax. According to the creators since 2006, three men have been pontiffs of the Catholic Apostolic Remnant Church.

Continue reading “Modern Alternative Popes 20: A Papal Hoax” →

Modern Alternative Popes 19: The Catholic and Mercedarian Church

Joaquín Llorens Grau (Alexander IX, 2005-). According to the group’s own information, a traditionalist missionary in Guatemala, Antonio Velasco founded the Congregación Mercedaria Sagrada Tradición Nuestra Señora de la Merced, Generala de los Ejércitos Celestiales, Corredentora. They claim that Velasco was consecrated by Bishop Moises Carmona of the Unión Católica Trento, who was in his turn was consecrated by Archbishop Thuc. There is, however, no independent support for this assertion. Together with six priests and nine novices, Velasco transferred to Elche (Elx) in Spanish Alicante.

Continue reading “Modern Alternative Popes 19: The Catholic and Mercedarian Church” →