I have written much about the Palmarian Catholic Church, and its history and teachings. My main contribution is the monograph A Pope of their Own: El Palmar de Troya and the Palmarian Church (2017). Although based on many traditional Catholic beliefs, from its foundation in 1978 until today the Palmarian church has come to include increasingly unusual teachings in its creed. Today, for example, the Palmarians have a Bible own their own, which has replaced the traditional Bible as their most important holy scripture.

The Palmarian Bible is hardly available in public libraries and it is not available online. As a service to researchers and others, I will scan one of the English versions: the Sacred History or Holy Palmarian Bible. Superior Grade. According to the Infallible Magisterium of the Church. (Holy Apostolic See, El Palmar de Troya, 2012). So far, I have only scanned the Old Testament, but as soon as possible, the entire Bible will be available here. However, a German version of the Palmarian New Testament is available here. 

Continue reading “The Text of the​ Palmarian Bible” →

Unlike most traditionalist groups with roots in the Roman Catholic Church, the Palmarian Catholic Church does not use the Tridentine Mass Order, but a very brief version which is thought to include ”the essential parts” of that rite.

Nevertheless, in his first papal decrees in 1978, Palmarian Pope Gregory XVII (1946-2005) declared that the only rite that should be used in the Palmarian Catholic Church was the so-called Tridentine Mass, promulgated in 1570 by Pius V. Shortly thereafter, however, he made changes in the rite and introduced several new elements, and, by 1980, he referred to the rite as Latin-Tridentine-Palmarian.

A much greater change came on October 9, 1983, when Gregory XVIII promulgated a new, much briefer Mass Order, which is concentrated to offertory, consecration and sacrificial communion. Making it very brief, about five minutes long, each cleric could and should read several masses a day; in fact, they say turns of Masses, not individual ones. Likewise, concelebrating was banned, as it would lessen the number of Masses that could be read per day.  In this way, the Palmarian views resembles the practise in the Renovated Church of French Pope Clement XV’s, who in the 1960s introduced a much reduced Mass liturgy, celebrating series of Masses instead. Still, unlike the Renovated church, the Palmarians only say Mass in Latin.

Continue reading “The Palmarian Order of Mass” →

One of the most important sources for the study of the teachings of the Palmarian Catholic Church is their catechism. Those who consult the book will find doctrines that have much in common with traditional Roman Catholicism, but also very different teachings. Throughout the years, the church has published many versions of the catechism, including basic, intermediate and superior levels. Below you will find a scanned version of Palmarian Catechism: Superior Grade, which was promulgated by Pope Peter III (Markus Josef Odermatt; Fr. Eliseo María) on June 29, 2016. The book was published by the Secretariat of His Holiness, El Palmar de Troya in 2016.

Palmarian Catechism-part 1

Palmarian Catechism-part 2

To read more about Palmarian doctrine and the history of the church, see my new book, A Pope of Their Own, which is downloadable here

In 2005, Manuel Alonso Corral (Fr. Isidoro María) succeeded Gregory XVII (Clemente Domínguez Goméz) as pope of the Palmarian Catholic Church. He took Peter II as his papal name. Manuel Alonso and Clemente Domínguez had been friends since 1969, and Manuel was an important organizer of the movement that followed in the steps of the alleged apparitions to Clemente: the foundation of a religious order, the consecration of bishops, and, finally, in 1978, the founding of the Palmarian church and the proclamation of Clemente Domínguez, as the true pope.

Below you will find scanned versions of all the 30 apostolic letters that Peter II issued during his pontificate (2005-2011).

Peter II apostolic letters 1-10

Peter II apostolic letters 11-20

Peter II apostolic letters 21-30

For a study of the pontificate of Peter II and on the general history of the Palmarian Church, please see my new book, A Pope of Their Own, which is downloadable here.